Trey Hillman: Killing the Royals Softly

For those not familiar with the in-game management genius of Trey Hillman, let me lay it out for you in bullet points:

• Gil Meche threw 128 pitches last night. Fortunately for Meche, he got the last batter he faced (David Murphy) on one pitch. Yes, with two down and runners at second and third, Hillman let Meche pitch to David Murphy having already thrown 127 pitches. Moreover, Meche had begun to struggle with control again in the eighth, walking the first two batters he faced. The offense is so egregious that it bears re-stating; having walked seven and two in that inning, Hillman let Meche face another batter with a pitch count that had already hit 127.
• SABRTrey pinch-hit for first baseman Kila Ka'aihue with Jose Guillen in the top of the seventh inning in a game tied at two runs apiece. Nevermind that the differences in Ka'aihue's career platoon splits in the minors were nominal (.275/.398/.423 vs. LHP, .266/.395/.486 vs. RHP). Nevermind that there are multiple candidates for being pinch-hit for sitting lower in the line-up than the rookie who in his first start since being recalled from Omaha was batting clean-up.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Hillman left Guillen in the game, inserting him into left field and shifting Mitch Maier to first base. For those not in the know and who weren't watching the first six innings of the game, Maier is clearly their best defensive outfielder. He had two stellar plays in center in this game alone. SABRTrey, who is historically averse to shifting players from one position to another within the bounds of a single game, put a range-less designated hitter in right field, shifted the man that the organization decided didn't have enough range to play center in 2009 to that very position, and moved their very good center fielder to first base. WTFuck?
• "What could go wrong now?" you might be asking yourself. Well in the eighth inning of a tie-game with two outs and runners on the corner, the ball is hit to right. Were a right fielder with any range whatsoever (read: David DeJesus) sitting in right, disaster is averted. Instead the ball falls because a player who should never be on the field is standing in right. Now, yes, Jose got hosed on the call at third, and his throw was ridiculous, but the run still scores if Josh Hamilton is correctly called out at third and Meche's pitch count is only spared one pitch. The go-ahead run can be directly attributed to Trey Hillman's attempt to "manage" the team.
  
• Defensive wizard Chris Getz booted a grounder at second in the eighth. I'm not asserting that one play is a large enough sample size to evaluate a player defensively, but Getz has not looked like a world beater in the least.
• The day after Yuniesky Betancourt dropped a two-out pop fly in shallow center leading to an unearned run, the fined shortstop was still starting at short.
• What those last two bullet-points also meant was that Mike Aviles was not in the starting line-up on Saturday. Remember when Trey Hillman said that Mike Aviles was their "most fundamentally sound infielder?" That sounds like a guy who should be in the game in a tight spot. Or always.
  

One thing I would like to touch on is the abuse of Gil Meche. It was great to see him pull things together after a rough first two innings. The problem is we all know what 132 means when someone throws out that number in a conversation about Gil Meche. Since that historic start, Meche has had an 8.37 ERA. Opposing batters have hit .328/.423/.593 off Meche since June 21st of last year. In short, since Hillman effectively ruined Gil Meche on June 21, 2009, Meche has allowed all opposing hitters to put up Pujolsian numbers.

In the first start since June 6, 2009, Meche had a start with a game score over 50. Having not learned his lesson at all, Hillman rode Meche's arm to 128 pitches, and it could have easily been more. Yes, Meche clearly muttered, "Fuck me," as Hillman walked up to the mound in the eighth, but it is not Hillman's job to just listen to his starter and let him throw nearly 130 pitches in what has been the only encouraging start for the $11 Million Man thus far this season. Listening to his former star pitcher is what got them here in the first place.

While the bullpen has not been Trey Hillman's fault, days like this seem to reinforce the fact that Trey Hillman is best suited for something other than managing the Royals.