San Francisco Giants closer Santiago Casilla has blown three saves already this season, and manager Bruce Bochy was not about to give him a chance to blow a fourth on Thursday night. When Casilla got himself into another 9th-inning jam, Bochy pulled him.
You can imagine how the right-hander felt about it.
With the bases loaded and the Giants leading 4-2, Bochy turned to left-handed reliever Javier Lopez to face Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jake lamb, who hits lefty.
“I think I can pitch to the lefty,” Casilla said after the game through an interpreter, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. “But it shows the manager didn’t have faith in me.”
For what it’s worth, one of Casilla’s blown saves came on April 18, and guess who homered off him to tie the game? Jake Lamb. That likely made Bochy’s decision easier. Casilla admitted that part of the reason he was upset is that he wanted another shot against Lamb.
“It’s my opportunity to find out who’s who,” he said. “Just because he beat me once doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. You have to let me try and see if I can get him out.”
Lopez got Lamb to ground out and the Giants preserved their 4-2 lead, but that didn’t seem to be any consolation for Casilla. He felt Bochy should have offered him an explanation when he came to the mound to take the ball.
“I understand we have an excellent option in Lopez,” Casilla said. “But if you’re going to take the ball, at least talk to me. Tell me the reason, ‘You’ve been pitching too much.’ Don’t just take the ball and say nothing. It is not a kid. It is a man on the mound.”
As Baggarly described, Casilla stormed toward the dugout after Bochy came to take the ball. Bochy yelled something to him, and Casilla threw his arms out and spun around.
“Come back here!” Bochy said, scolding the 35-year-old veteran. “Now you can go.”
No competitor who has confidence in himself wants to be pulled in that situation, but Casilla has no one to blame but himself for his three blown saves. He didn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt in that situation, and Bochy has been around long enough to know not to give it to him.
Photo: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
