What Reds’ manager Jerry Narron did on Friday night was darn near unforgivable.
Not only did he cross a few lines, he also brought his common sense and wisdom into question.
It almost seemed as if his intent was to hurt rather than help his team.
By his curious and dubious actions, he simultaneously embarrassed a player and killed any chance the Reds might have had to stage a comeback victory.
Far from earning his pay last night, Narron might as well have stolen it. You truly wonder what was going on inside the man's head.
Let's provide the backdrop.
Left-handed starter Brandon Claussen was getting rocked again. Clearly Cincy's biggest disappointment of the year, the 27-year-old hurler was adding to his season of woe.
Having already yielded four runs in the first, Claussen allowed the White Sox to tack on two more in the second. It was obvious to all that once again he didn't have it. He showed absolutely no signs of being able to gather himself and turn things around.
At this stage of the game, the Reds were within hailing distance, trailing 6 to 3. Given the quick-strike capability of their lineup, the home team was hardly out of it.
It was here that Narron suffered from brain lock. Totally ignoring Claussen's continued struggles, the manager inexplicably sent the lost lefty out to pitch the third.
What followed was painfully predictable. Claussen continued to get his brains beat in and didn't record another out. By the belated time he was removed, Claussen had been strafed for eight hits not to mention the two walks he yielded. The lefty's already bloated ERA rose to an even uglier 6.19 after being charged with a career-high nine runs.
Now you can hammer Claussen all you want for being such a punching bag and that criticism would be more than justified. He's been an albatross to the Reds and his many feeble efforts have greatly crippled the team.
Most likely, Claussen has pitched himself out of the rotation. To many Reds' fans, their sentiments would be good riddance.
No one but Claussen himself is responsible for his current sorry state.
But that hardly excuses what Narron pulled on Friday.
Narron, more than anyone, was fully aware that Claussen had been fighting himself all year. The manager knew that the left-hander's stuff was iffy and that his psyche was fragile.
Claussen required close monitoring and careful handling. Sadly, Narron gave him neither.
No matter how the Reds' skipper tries to spin it, what he did to Claussen was a true disservice to the laboring pitcher. By not removing him earlier, Narron turned Claussen into a sacrificial lamb. And to what end?
The manager let Claussen endure a pounding that's almost impossible to justify. It was cruel. It was unnecessary. It was borderline sadistic.
You don't stay with a pitcher when he's virtually helpless. Nothing good can possibly come out of such a scenario. Only someone with the sensibilities of Marquis de Sade would pursue such a course.
But for some unknown reason that's exactly the tack that Narron took. And what was the result of his seemingly callous thinking?
The Reds were basically done before their third at-bat and an already confused pitcher suffered another significant psychological blow. Nice work Jerry!
It’s interesting to note that in a recent article appearing in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Narron talked about balancing the feelings of individual players against the well being of the team.
Apparently, Narron didn't listen to his own words. Because on Friday night, the manager didn't seemed concerned with either.