Misdirected Anger

Kevin Gregg is becoming a tired act with Jays fans has been getting on our nerves for a while now sucks. I know, he's third in the AL in saves, or whatever, but clean innings aren't his thing, which always makes people nervous. He was (inexplicably) incredible in April, barely walking anybody, but BBecame a BBad pitcher not too long after that. That reached its climax in that disgusting game against the Rays, in which he nibbled and nibbled, walking five(!) guys and blowing the game in spectacular fashion. Then he blew up at the ump, even though he was clearly sucking all on his own.

Tonight? Almost the same. Three walks in the ninth before being pulled by Cito while the Jays were still up. This time, it looked to me that Gregg didn't have a remotely fair strikezone (Camp, who took over, got a strike call on a pitch much farther outside than pitches Gregg didn't get), but I guess he was afraid of getting ejected again. I'm glad he didn't yell at the umpire this time, as having a reputation for being a hothead can never help you in any way, but having words for your manager after being pulled for sucking? That's weak.

Good for Cito too. Or is that him? The Manager used three pitchers in the 8th and had Camp ready if Downs hadn't gotten a DP to end the inning. Matchups, eh? I thought keeping your players' confidence up was the key to success? In any case, you can't argue with pulling Gregg in that spot. He now has a very unprofessional-looking 21 walks in just 36 innings. That's mopup man stuff right there, not closer material by any means.

For those of us sick of Gregg, we won't have to wait long. The deadline is only 2 weeks away, and with Gregg slated to be a Type B free agent in the offseason (and a low-ish salary), there's got to be some desperate team willing to toss us a few prospects for him. He also has some wacky options tied onto that contract of him for 1 or 2 years at over $4MM a season. Maybe some special GM will see those as having some value. I'm quite excited to see what guys like Purcey and Roenicke can do in high-leverage situations with some of our expiring relievers heading out the door in the next two weeks. Hopefully Gregg is one of them, because that's one walk I don't mind seeing Gregg doing.