Bobby Valentine’s quotes and actions have gotten more erratic by the day. If he isn’t complaining about Alfredo Aceves and the rest of his “weakest roster ever,” he’s making a bizarre in-game choice, like inserting pinch-hitters mid-at-bat.
That’s what he did in the seventh inning of a scoreless game today against the Blue Jays. Valentine opted to stick with a .071-hitting Jose Iglesias with a man on first and two outs in the top of the frame. However, after Pedro Ciriaco stole second base, Valentine had a change of heart, inserting Daniel Nava into the game with a 2-2 count on the hitter.
Nava, predictably, grounded out to end the frame, and the Red Sox went on to lose 5-0.
Now, the Red Sox were 66-80 anyway. They’re certainly at the point of the season at which they should be evaluating youngsters. No, that one at-bat isn’t going to tell us much more about Iglesias than we already know (he’s not ready to hit in the majors), but if you’re going to let him start it, then you sure as hell ought to let him finish it.
Instead, Valentine chose to embarrass his young shortstop nationally. Make no mistake: he knew when he made that move that the Boston media was going to take it and run with it. No, maybe it won’t make Sportscenter, but everyone in the baseball community was going to notice it. Blown out of proportion or not, the Red Sox manager made a statement that he has no faith at all in Iglesias’ ability to hit.
At this point, it’s really a sick joke that the Red Sox haven’t fired Valentine. Everyone assumes it’s coming as soon as the season ends anyway, so why keep up the charade?
