He hasn't been bad. He's been awful. Sure, he leads the NL in saves, but with four blown saves after tonight, I'm not sure why Tony LaRussa is giving him the ball.
After Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright pitched a gem, going seven innings, giving up no runs on four hits, Isringhausen entered the game with the Cards up 3-2. Of course, as Isringhausen has showed so far this season, he found a way to blow the lead, on a triple to Chris Iannetta.
When I check the preview of the game, and see that Wainwright is pitching, I expect the Cardinals to be in the ballgame. That they were, until the eighth inning.
This is now the fourth game that Isringhausen has let get away from him. Wouldn't you think that LaRussa would realize that Izzy doesn't have the same arsenal of pitches that he had in the past?
A 6.60 ERA is pitiful for a closer. A once reliable closer, Isringhausen now worries all of the Cardinal faithful when he jogs towards the mound from the bullpen.
After he had early struggles, I shook it off as the beginning of the season. But Isringhausen has continued his mediocrity. This is inexcusable, Izzy is getting paid way too much to pitch like this.
Giving up 11 runs in 14.2 IP is not what the Cardinals thought they were getting out of Izzy this year. Unfortunately, Izzy is not showing any signs of changing his sub-par pitching.
I just hope that other pitchers such as Flores and McClellan, who both contributed to the loss tonight, can step up and fill the void that Izzy has created at the back-end of games.
Izzy, please, fix your problems, or tell Tony you aren't comfortable pitching in tough situations. You are letting your team down.
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from 8 days ago
In all fairness, Izzy only let up one run tonight. I also don't think the Cardinals have much of an alternative.
The only thing that pisses me off about Izzy is that he publicly admitted he "isn't always sure if he can still get the job done at times." Even if you're feeling unsure, I wish he'd keep that more private.
from 8 days ago
I can't really see what the problem is with him. At times he says he just made a bad pitch, so it was just location. He said he can still throw the ball and still has his "stuff". It's got to be a mental thing as Peter pointed out.
He can get the job done but then can't. The Cards will just have to weather this storm because teams really aren't willing to trade away their bullpen help.
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