Because the earlier post generated so much discussion, I thought it might be of interest to take a look at what some other folks around the interwebs who follow the Royals closely have to say. Like Joe Posnanski:
I’m not even going to write about Royals manager Trey Hillman … well, not entirely. I think it’s fair to say that Trey has not yet figured out how he will use the bullpen — and that’s probably not a good thing since, as far as I can tell, these games count in the standings. I remember Bill James wrote that it really would make sense for every big league manager to spend time simulating hundreds and hundreds of baseball games on a computer. People took that wrong; Bill was not saying that managers could LEARN about their teams from playing these simulations. What he was saying by playing these games again and again, some parts of the game would become second nature — he was saying they should simulate baseball games for the same reason that astronauts simulate and race car drivers and pilots and so on. I suspect if Trey had done that, he would not have left Kyle Farnsworth in on Opening Day to face Jim Thome when he had a fresh lefty in the bullpen. I suspect if Trey had done that, he would not have used a fresh bullpen in the odd way he used it Sunday.* * *
But I don’t get this. I just don’t. Leaving Soria in the pen on Sunday to me was an affront — Joakim Soria was a gift. If you don’t pitch him, you are wasting that gift. And wasting gifts — that’s about the most frustrating thing in sports. Life too.
Or Rany Jazayerli:
Joakim Soria is out indefinitely with an apparent inability to pitch.
I say “apparent” because there has no been no confirmation from the Royals on the subject. I hesitate to say that Soria is injured, because there is no evidence of an actual injury.
Nonetheless, it appears quite certain that the Mexicutioner is suffering from an ailment that prevents him from pitching. That is because the alternative explanation is that Trey Hillman has the IQ of a barnyard animal, and I think we can all agree that barnyard animals possess neither the intellect nor the communication skills necessary to obtain a job as major league manager in the first place.
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But please, don’t blame Hillman for this. Rest assured that there’s no way someone could spend a quarter-century playing, coaching, and managing in professional baseball, and ascend to the highest rank of his profession before he turned 45, and make the decisions that Hillman appeared to make today. It’s simply not possible that Hillman would not use Soria to protect a tight lead, even as the inning was falling apart, just because it was the eighth inning instead of the ninth. It’s not possible that instead of Soria in the ninth, he would call upon KYLE FREAKING FARNSWORTH, who now has more losses (3) than the rest of the team combined (2) in exactly 3.1 innings of work, just because it was a tie game instead of a save situation. Trey Hillman is not that stupid. No one is that stupid.
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I mean, if Soria doesn’t have AITP, that means the Royals lost today’s game because their manager is a complete and utter moron. AITP is curable, but I’m afraid there may be no cure for imbecilic bullpen management.
Fortunately we don’t have to worry about that. Hillman’s a brilliant manager – Dayton Moore said so himself. Let’s just hope that Hillman…I mean Soria…finds a cure for his AITP soon. The Royals can’t afford to lose any more games this season because of it. I’m not sure they could afford to lose the games they already have.
Or Rob Neyer:
Got that? You just can't use your best pitcher in a close road game because the percentages are against you. Yes, folks: this is the manager who is going to lead the Kansas City club out of the wilderness.Not that we're bitter or anything.
So yeah, I'm thinking Hillman isn't the managerial messiah some have suggested.
Again, to be clear...I think Ron Washington was a lousy hire. Jon Daniels deserves quite a bit of criticism for hiring him. It was a mistake.
But quit trying to say that The Great Trey Hillman was the solution.