New Manager Bryan Price Opposed To Loogie

The baseball lingo defines a loogie as the left-handed relief specialist assigned to get one key left-handed batter out (left-handed one out guy).

Bryan Price prefers pitchers that get both right-handed and left-handed batters out.

Manny Parra could be the only left-hander in the bullpen besides Aroldis Chapman if Sean Marshall is not ready.  That appears to be the case.  Marshall is throwing his first bullpen on Friday the 14th but will probably start the season on the disabled list.

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Left-hander Lee Hyde is in the mix to take Marshall's place, along with Pedro Beato, Jumbo Diaz and Nick Christiani.

Hyde and the others will be expected to get batters from both sides of the plate out.

"Even if we have Parra and Marshall healthy with Chapman closing, my feellings about wear and tear on a bullpen. When you're trying to match up in the seventh and eighth innings before you get to your closer, it makes a lot of ups and downs for your bullpen," Price said.

It isn't that Price won't match up here and there but will be judicious with it.

"There will be times when you're going to go with a right-hander to get that right-hander out, based on the history of the pitcher that's been in there  at the time," Price said.  "I don't like match up situational bullpens because they get beat up.  I've never liked it. I'd prefer to have guys in my bullpen to get lefties and righties out.  I'm going to get some criticism when they don't do the job. But you don't come out and get Sean Marshall or Jonathan Broxton to get one hitter out.  I feel very strongly about that."

Price wants to avoid taking out a right-handed reliever to bring in a left-hander for one batter, then bringing in another right-hand as Tony LaRussa often did.  There were games when La Russa would use five pitchers to get three outs.

Price does not want to do that.

"Then you haven't got to your closer yet.  You've guaranteed you're going to use four pitchers. Four pitchers who came in got loose, aired it out, threw, got one hitter out or didn't.  Then you might want them to do that the next day and the next day.  There have been managers that have had great success doing that but to me for the longevity of the reliever and for the success over the course of a full season as a pitching coach I never liked it," Price said.

"You never want to lose a game because you don't have the right match up in," Price said. "If you're going to have the right match up every game, you're going to blow out your bullpen. I understand what it's like to be a pitcher.  So we don't have so-and-so available because we got him hot two times yesterday and he pitched two games before that.  It is not really a day off because he didn't get into a game.  Hitters can take 200 swings every day but pitchers can't throw pitches every day."