We Surrender

As I've written a lot recently, the Major League Baseball season is long.  Because few major leaguers can play all 162 games in a season and remain productive, managers tend to give even the best players periodic off days to make sure they stay fresh.  Most managers essentially keep the same lineup each game, resting one starter at a time but keeping the rest of the lineup more or less intact.  Braves manager Bobby Cox, however, usually goes with a different approach; Cox often rests many / most of his starters on the same day, essentially conceding that game to the opposition.

Today was such an afternoon for the Braves.  With the team on the road (in Pittsburgh) and playing a Sunday afternoon game following a Saturday night contest, Cox sat starting 3B Chipper Jones (Omar Infante started instead), starting C Brian McCann (for David Ross), starting RF Jason Heyward (for Melky Cabrera), and starting LF Eric Hinske (for Brent Clevlen).  As a fan, I hate when Cox does this.  For one, it puts a ton of pressure on the starting pitcher (in this case, Kris Medlen), forcing him to be near perfect to win.  Medlen was solid (only 2 earned runs through 5 2/3 innings), but couldn't get the win (and only avoided the loss when Hinske finally got in the game and belted a game-tying pinch hit homer).  Also, I feel bad for the people who paid money to see the game today and had to watch four of their favorite stars sitting in the dugout.  I know what it's like to root for an out-of-town team and have been to numerous Braves games versus the Mets at Shea Stadium or Citi Field where Cox has sat a number of the team's top players at once.  It's not fun.  Not only do you not get to see the stars play, but you're likely going to see a Braves loss, too.  Predictably, the Braves lost 3-2 in 10 innings, but given how well Medlen and the bullpen pitched it was a game they should have won.

 Fans looking to see Chipper Jones (or Jason Heyward, Brian McCann or Eric Hinske) swing the bat were disappointed on Sunday.

Bobby Cox is one of the best managers ever, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing with what I call this "surrender strategy."  As a fan, though, I'd much rather see the team's off days spread out, giving the Braves a realistic chance to win every game.  To have the team's five-game win streak snapped today was disappointing, but to lose it with the core of the team on the bench was especially frustrating.