Much is made of bullpen failures but what has happened to the role of hitting specialist? - when you really need a late inning hit in high leverage situations to save the game - or even just a sacrifice. These used to be a thing on the good teams of the 80s. Why don’t we have anyone who can fill this role and we depend on?
Even after Helsley let the game tied- we had a chance to walkoff in the 9th, Burly, Valade and Scott all failed miserably- barely even made contact. Then needing a run in the 10th, Noot couldn’t even put the ball in play, and Winn hit a sac with 1 out when we needed a hit, then Donny k’d.
What if we had a competent PH for Vilade and he hits a HR or a double? Maybe it’s a win instead of a L.
The PH slugger - the correlary to the bullpen specialist/ closer
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