Bob Geren walked out of the Oakland dugout the other day and headed to the mound, unsure of what decision he would make, weighing short-term and long-term considerations, thinking about how to best help one of the Athletics' young pitchers grow.
Brett Anderson, 21 years old, left-handed and talented, had thrown 105 pitches one out into the seventh inning, and his results in the seventh against Boston might have been viewed as evidence of a tiring pitcher. With Oakland trailing 2-0,
Jason Bay doubled with one out.
Mike Lowell, who had homered early in the game, was intentionally walked, and then Anderson walked
Nick Green unintentionally. Bases loaded, one out.
With lefty-hitting rookie
George Kottaras due to bat, left-handed reliever
Jerry Blevins was warmed up and ready to go in the Oakland bullpen. Geren had options as he strolled to the mound, undecided about whether to take Anderson out of the game.
On the face of it, Anderson's pitch count was seemingly at a red line. But Geren and pitching coach
Curt Young evaluate pitch counts in three-game bunches: If a pitcher throws a relatively modest number of pitches in two of the three starts in a bunch, Geren is comfortable with a pitch count climbing in the third start. Anderson had thrown just 84 pitches in his first start, and from Geren's perspective in the Oakland dugout, he didn't think the left-hander was spent.
"I thought that physically, he had more," Geren said. "His pitch count was under control. I thought that giving him one or two more hitters to let him try to work out of it might be beneficial to him.
"I was kind of 50-50 in my mind."
He has come to learn that Anderson is unfazed by circumstances around him. Even in a crucial part of the game, Geren said, the conversations with him on the mound tend to feel casual, as if he had just finished a bullpen session in an empty ballpark and was just standing around and reviewing his work.
Geren approached the mound. "You doing OK?" he asked the pitcher. "I'd like you to see you get a chance to finish the inning." Anderson assured his manager that he was OK.
The score was a factor in Geren's decision, as well. Boston was already ahead by two runs, and from Geren's point of view, he had less to lose by leaving Anderson in the game; if he gave up another hit, well, the Red Sox would merely extend their advantage. On the other hand, if Anderson stayed in the game and worked out of trouble, he would stand to grow from the experience, regardless of whether Oakland won or lost the game.
Geren finished the conversation, turned around and walked back to the dugout, leaving Anderson behind.
The rookie left-hander went after Kottaras, getting ahead in the count, one ball and two strikes -- and then Kottaras bounced a ground ball to third, where
Bobby Crosby fielded the ball and threw home for a force, the first out.
Kurt Suzuki, Oakland's catcher, took the throw, turned and fired to first base. Double play.
Anderson walked off, his day of work completed on that high note. The Red Sox would score six runs in the eighth inning off Blevins and
Sean Gallagher, but the day was not a complete loss for the Athletics, the manager and Brett Anderson, who got a chance to work through trouble.
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Buster Olney
