hi all,

this is my first post on VEB, love the site. nowhere else have i found such dedicated cards fans. anywho, i've been really giving this bullpen issue some thought lately, and i think you have to look to the resident pitching expert on the team for some answers. we know the guy's a pro when it comes to rec projects, especially starters. worthy contributions here seem to be made almost yearly: darryl kile, jeff suppan, jeff weaver, the list goes on (we'll exclude kip wells, there's a dud in every lot, but what went wrong with $mulder?). developing young arms within the organization has to be considered a weakness, however, as we all remember the struggles of alan benes and rick ankiel, and the problems with keeping matt morris and jason marquis sharp, although both had enjoyed major league success before their personal fallouts. overall, i'd say dunc has a positive record with starters, especially when playing mr. fix-it.

however, when reviewing the bullpen, it seems that dunc has much less influence over these guys. as independent and crazy as a few of them may be, it has to be agreed upon that our motley crew is his responsibility. outside of the injuries to johnson and kinney this year (both admittedly big blows to what had been a strong pen) we've been pretty healthy. but, how does an established randy flores end up being sent down to work on mechanics? franklin had composure in the first few saves he recorded, but it seems like his confidence has been shattered from a combo of overuse and rough outings. this, from a guy who closed in seattle and as your set-up man, has to be ready when your closer goes down. which leads us to the biggest puzzle of the year, mister enigma himself, jason isringhausen.

izzy's had his struggles, his ups and downs, as all closers have. i was heartbroken in 06 only because he didn't get his ring as our go-to-guy in the ninth. but then with a strong rebound in 07 things seemed to be righted, only to crumble again this year. doesn't he fit the bill perfectly, of an aging but talented vet who needs a few mechanical tweaks? one would think so.

yet, i would propose that the reason dunc has such problems with an ankiel, and an izzy, and marquis as well, is because he doesn't have a pitcher's mentality. i think that because he spent his years in the MLB as a catcher, he's been taught to look for discrepancies in delivery and mechanics, but lacks the know-how and empathy really needed to get inside a pitcher's head. i'm not saying that he doesn't know a lot about pitching here, but suggesting that a physical knowledge of pitching is only half the battle of being a good pitching coach.

almost every move this year has puzzled me when it comes to relieving our starter or putting another reliever in after one has proven himself to be effective (ahem, pulling villone after getting a lefty out when he has proven himself as a starter who can handle righties just fine.) is there no consideration of "the hot hand"? maybe you use a guy for a full inning if he's throwing well, instead of stretching franklin over two innings and causing him to blow yet another save? (i was there for the last milwaukee game and witnessed that SHOT ryan braun hit off of a visibly fatigued franklin, asked once again to get 5 outs for the save.)

i don't trust tony to make the right pitching decisions. he's a mastermind at using the bench well and keeping guys fresh, but nothing else. i would love to know if anyone knows for certain how much duncan influences the pitching change decisions. just for fun, i'd also like to see commenters rate duncan's overall job performance, 1 being dismal and 10 being phenomenal. i'll give him a generous 6.