Haranguing Reds Manager About Harang

Whatever that "old school" was from which Reds manager Dusty Baker graduated, apparently he skipped class the day they taught how to effectively use a bullpen.

On May 25 Baker found himself entangled in what would become an 18-inning marathon in San Diego, and with a 1-run lead chose not to bring in short man and future closer Bill Bray but instead mop-up man Josh Fogg. And Fogg promptly gave up that 1-run lead.

By the time Baker figured out it was Bray he should bring in, it was too late, and he had to exhaust his entire bullpen - even bringing in starters Aaron Harang and Johnny Cueto.

Harang - who had started just three days earlier, throwing more than 100 pitches - went 4 innings that night. And he hasn't been the same since. Harang was sharp that night in San Diego, striking out 9 in four scoreless innings. When he left the game, his ERA was 3.32.

Harang has started three times since, and only one of those outings was passable; the other two were terrible:

• May 29th: Gave up 10 hits, 6 ER in 4 innings
  
• June 3 - Gave up 9 hits, 3 ER in 6 innings
  
• June 8 - Gave up 11 hits, 7 ER in 5.1 innings
  

So before what should have been an unnecessary bullpen outing, Harang had a good ERA and league-leading strikeout numbers. Since that bullpen outing, Harang has pitched 15.1 innings with just 10 strikeouts, giving up 30 hits and 16 earned runs.

It's no wonder Baker has such a horrible reputation for handling pitching staffs.