San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy used five different pitchers to unsuccessfully attempt to navigate the 9th inning against the Chicago Cubs Tuesday. Notably, a man who served as his closer for much of the season was not one of them.
Santiago Casilla, who was the Giants’ closer all the way up through September 17, was not even called upon to warm up as the Giants’ bullpen allowed four runs in the 9th as part of a season-ending defeat to the Cubs. That left Casilla in tears in the clubhouse after the game.
“I’m a pitcher. I’m part of the bullpen,” Casilla said after the game, via Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News. “I know I have had some bad moments in September and during the season, but I have good numbers in the playoffs and I know I can pitch in that situation. I know I can pitch in the big leagues.”
Casilla, a free agent after the year, has allowed just two earned runs in 19.2 career postseason innings, but he struggled mightily down the stretch. Casilla thought his playoff record should have spoken louder than his recent struggles.
“I never had that moment before during five years here,” Casilla said. “I had a little struggle. But everybody has had their bad moments. I think they forgot all the great moments I’ve had here. I’ve pitched a lot in the playoffs and done my job. I know I am a good pitcher.”
The fact of the matter is, Bochy lost much of his faith in Casilla during the second half of the season, in which the reliever posted a 4.63 ERA and blew five saves. It came to a head in September, where his ERA was 5.87 and he blew three of his five save attempts. Back in May, Casilla was angered when he was pulled from a save opportunity, but he’d probably prefer that to being passed over entirely, as he was Tuesday night.
