Save Bob Howry!
I don't need to read the 5,000-whatever comments from Monday night's awesome victory to know that many of you must be calling for Howry's head, especially in light Al's "Bob Howry Must Go" story this past Friday. I can't blame you all in light of Howry's 5.22 ERA, including 12.27 ERA and numerous leads lost in the last week.
Regardless, I have been sent here to defend him and to appeal to your gentler, more patient instincts.
Do you not remember Bob's consistency over the last 3 seasons? --
|
|
Innings |
ERA |
WHIP |
|
2005 |
75 |
2.47 |
0.89 |
|
2006 |
76.7 |
3.17 |
1.14 |
|
2007 |
81.3 |
3.32 |
1.17 |
And do you not remember the playoffs last season, when Howry pitched 3 innings in 2 games, allowing 0 BBs, 1 H and striking out 6?
Finally, note Howry's 1.38 WHIP for the 2008 season and the correlation between WHIP and ERA according to some smart dude at Berkeley:
Howry's been unlucky. A 1.38 WHIP does not usually translate to a 5.22 ERA. Let's give him some more time to straighten his S out before we pronounce him D-O-N-E. At least wait until he gets his Howry Cow! shirt in the mail.
Search your feelings, BCBers. You will know it to be true.
Addendum: OMG, for those of you who missed it, here's SWL's salute to the W from the last overflow thread:
Al, I call upon you to embrace the hate and put this on the main page for your recap story!!!
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.
2 recs |
40 comments
Comments
He's old
He’s gone after this year.
If we can find someone better via a trade then I would say dump him but till then he’s just meh.
I wish the Brewer's an everlasting misery and pain, so naturally I put them in Milwaukee.
by BrewCrew'sPrinceofDarkness on Jul 29, 2008 3:26 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
He turns 35 next week.
That’s not all that old in pitcher years.
"This is the kind of thing … that makes you want to see the Chicago Cubs team lose." Marty Brennaman
by Bildo1805 on Jul 29, 2008 8:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
What about dog years?
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 29, 2008 8:04 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I love this game
The amount of scholarship, passion and stuff you can argue over is truly a great pastime.
Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!
by cubnational on Jul 29, 2008 6:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
When Branyon came up I told the wife
he’s either gonna strike out – looking bad doing so – or hit a 450’ shot. Just before that shot, it seemed like Howry badly missed the spot. With 2 strikes on that guy, and this is an old story, it’s up and in. He can’t extend his arms and he’s not good staying in. Howry of all Cubs relievers should know that and I can’t imagine he “missed his spot”. What a way to blow Lilly’s chance for a “W”; glad the big-W came anyway.
As for the plots, nice job Joe. Note the “tightness” of ERA to WHIP on that last scatterplot.
Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.
by blackhawk24 on Jul 29, 2008 7:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
the real problem
is the usage patterns for these relievers. Why on earth was Howry left in to face Branyan who can’t hit lefties (career .204/.284/.446, this year 0-14 8 K’s)?
Is Scott Eyre still alive?
I mean if you’re not going to use him to get just 1 out in a game vs a LH batter who can’t hit lefties, what the hell is he doing on the roster????
Howry should’ve never been left in to face Branyan last night, that was an absurdly poor decision by Pineilla
by DartmouthCubsFan on Jul 29, 2008 7:24 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Very good point.
If the Cubs are indeed shopping Eyre and don’t want him pitching (for fear of injury), then Cotts should have been inserted. Branyan might have been called back, but it would have forced Yost to burn up his bench.
Although Howry’s M.O. has always been to pitch away, I think he needs to come inside at least once during the pitch sequence. He has the stuff to back guys off the plate, making his tailing fastball all the more effective. He’s not pitching aggressively at all and it’s killing him.
"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns
by tville on Jul 29, 2008 7:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The only problem with your argument is
that Cotts doesn’t get lefties out. Both he and Eyre perform better against righties than they do lefties.
As far as Howry pitching inside, he has never done it so to expect him to change to pitch to that pattern is kind of unrealistic. Guys who constantly pitch away do it necause they don’t feel comfortable pitching inside. If he didn’t do it when he had pinpoint control, he certainly won’t do it now when he isn’t sure where the ball is going.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 29, 2008 7:53 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Branyan
is 0-14 with 8 K’s against anyone LH this year
i don’t think it matters as much whether they’re tough on lefties or not, the guy is not hitting them at all
by DartmouthCubsFan on Jul 29, 2008 7:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree that it was a terrible matchup, I'm just saying
that Lou may have been thinking about Cotts and Eyre’s performance against lefties. Or maybe he was’nt thinking at all. Personally, I would not have had Howry in there in that situation.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 29, 2008 7:58 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lou is paid to think............
.............and certainly had those stats at his fingertips. It would have been best for Howry and the team in general if Lou would have inserted Cotts or Eyre in that situation.
"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns
by tville on Jul 29, 2008 9:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
if Branyan's called back
you’ve forced them to use 2 players for 1 AB, so at the very least you’ve got that out of the way
by DartmouthCubsFan on Jul 29, 2008 7:53 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Precisely.
And with Cotts/Eyre being better against righties, it plays into Lou’s hand.
In addition to burning Branyan, it would have gotten Durham or Kapler out of the game too.
"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns
by tville on Jul 29, 2008 9:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
+1
I was rather shocked and dismayed to see Howry out there in the first place. Lou should have taken the two outs and pulled Bobby to help build his confidence. I understand that Eyre and Cotts aren’t LOOGYs in the classic sense, but they still would have been better options than Howry.
Nanika Ga Okoru!
by dat cubfan daver on Jul 29, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Counterargument
Most of your reasons relate to past performance. Yes, he was a very solid contributor last year, stepping in as closer when Dempster was out and providing a reliable late-inning arm.
But, this year he’s been terrible. While he seems to have regained the velocity that was AWOL at the start of the season, he’s had a tendency to give up extra base hits. He’s given up more HRs (10) so far this year than he has in any but one of his previous seasons. Opposing hitters are OPSing .876 against him (including 1.481 in the last 14 days).
I don’t know if DFAing him is the answer, but at the very least he cannot be used in high or medium leverage situations until he figures it out.
by John Q Freejazz on Jul 29, 2008 7:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Howry looked better last night
Despite Branyan Howry was fooling batters with a couple strikeouts and was hitting the zone. The HR was a bummer but this was a HR hitting team. In the end they won the game last night.
I dunno, maybe I’m just being optimistic we can get the Howry we saw the last two years in August and September.
by ak123 on Jul 29, 2008 7:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
remember when howry was up for the closers role?
oh how things change…
by cubswynn on Jul 29, 2008 7:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
How bout Lou's decision to bring his worn arse into the game
with a 1 run lead yesterday? Doesn’t Lou understand he does this almost 1/2 the time if not more? Gives up too many hits, often runs, and just plain stinks up the joint.
Calm down.
by Kinky Reggae on Jul 29, 2008 8:18 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
When a reliever give up a homer in his last three appearances in a row, I would think the manager would
be a little hesitant to bring him in with a one run lead late in the game.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 29, 2008 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Odd thing about Howry is
He is the kind of pitcher who all of the sudden could become dominant for the remainder of the season. I think that’s his saving grace on the team. Lou and everyone in Cubs org. expect Howry to revert back to the last two years. Is it going to happen? Dunno but he’s getting a lot of chances to prove it.
by ak123 on Jul 29, 2008 8:23 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Too many chances. I'm getting tired of his pitches leaving
yard like they are shot out of a cannon.
"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris
by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 29, 2008 8:26 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's why...
...Lou keeps trotting him out there (and because the pen is worn down). He knows Howry has a good track record, and it would be a beautiful thing if he could find his grove the final two months.
Howry is in the equivalent to a hitters slump, because he has not been able to locate. And, more than any other pitcher on the club, Howry relies on location to be effective, because his off speed stuff is just not there and never has been.
"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel
by MPH73 on Jul 29, 2008 9:36 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Howry
My biggest hope with Howry was that his #s would be good enough to get us a compensation draft pick; if the Cubs think he can right his ERA by season’s end, you don’t want to DFA him for that reason. That said, Howry isn’t giving many reasons to think he can right the ship.
The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.
by DGU on Jul 29, 2008 9:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I have a hard time...
...buying the idea that Howry has been “unlucky.” It doesn’t seem like he’s been the victim of too many bloop hits or infield singles. Opposing hitters are crushing his pitches. DeRo bailed him out during the Marlins series, but there’s no outfielder alive who could’ve caught up to Branyan’s shot last night.
Nanika Ga Okoru!
by dat cubfan daver on Jul 29, 2008 9:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
He could be in a slump
But he has to find his way back to normal Bob Howry in a blowout game, not in the most important series of the year so far with a one run lead!!!!!!!
"Check the magic of a winning season and there are always reasons beyond the talent." Ned Colleti
by wrigleyrocker12 on Jul 29, 2008 9:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The other thing to think about
What if we did DFA Howry and a team in the NL Central picks him up. Howry could revert back to old form. Even if a team like the Pirates picked him up we’d still play them 6 games. What if Howry pitches 5 of 6 and holds us to 0 runs. Lou might not pitch him as much down the stretch but I can’t see him being released this year.
by ak123 on Jul 29, 2008 10:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Wait....
don’t you WORk for Bob Howry?
Calm down.
by Kinky Reggae on Jul 29, 2008 11:09 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Don't start THAT again!
:)
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
by Al on Jul 29, 2008 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lots of fastballs? Hitting Spots? Tipping Pitches?
Looking at the pitch tracker from last night, Howry was grouping his pitches well. If you look at the strikeout of Cameron, all his strikes came on pitches on the outer half, though the final strike, a swinging strike, seemed to catch too much of the plate.

Howry’s velocity is still there, he was hitting 91-93 on his fastballs, so that is not the problem. His pitches seem relatively straight, not a lot of late movement, but I don’t recall him ever having a lot of late movement.
What is kind of worrisome is that Howry threw 19 pitches, only three of which were not fastballs (all sliders). Of those three sliders (or changeups, or whatever they were), two were balls, one was fouled off. It looks as if the opponents can see he is having a hard time with his non-fastballs and are just sitting back waiting for the juice.
Howry is at a place where is failures are amplified and his accomplishments minimized. Yes, he made a mistake to Branyan – the first four pitches were all at or above the belt, the home run pitch just above the knees on the outer half – but that is what Branyan is paid to do. He succeeded on that pitch. Still, Howry threw nothing but fastballs. One would think that at 2-2, a breaking ball of some sort would have had Branyan flailing away.

Once issue that I haven’t heard anyone mention the possibility of is that he could be tipping his pitches. I gotta think they are looking into that.
Weeks’ AB
Kendall’s AB
In the middle of a good time, Truth gave me her icy kiss. Look around, you must be joking. All that way, all that way for this -Oysterband
by Ross on Jul 29, 2008 11:38 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Look at his slider though
He threw it 3 times, 2 for balls and one for a foul. He does not have an overpowering fastball and when his location is bad, like it has been, he is going to get hit hard. When you throw 4 fastballs to Branyan in a row, he is going to know where each pitch is going, especially since Howry rarely varies movement or speed on his pitches. So Howry most likely was trying to throw a fastball on the low outside corner and misses a little up and in. Crack! Branyan ties it up.
Looking at Howry inning by inning is pointless because it does look like hitters get a little lucky and he makes one bad pitch. But this is a recurring phenomenon and when a pitcher is forced to be perfect, like Howry is, they are bound to fail.
by swimfan on Jul 29, 2008 12:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I assumed it was maddog when I first saw it.
Nanika Ga Okoru!
by dat cubfan daver on Jul 29, 2008 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That is what I thought too!
Calm down.
by Kinky Reggae on Jul 29, 2008 3:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Looks like the blue-balls are the ones that hurt him the most.
As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.
by santoswoodenlegs on Jul 29, 2008 1:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
ZING!
They hurt us all my man! They hurt us all!
Calm down.
by Kinky Reggae on Jul 29, 2008 1:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe he needs to work on his release point then.
Nanika Ga Okoru!
by dat cubfan daver on Jul 29, 2008 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well played.
Or maybe he needs to adjust to their “stroke” so he can “beat” the hitter.
Calm down.
by Kinky Reggae on Jul 29, 2008 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

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