Craig Albernaz calling out Orioles' bad defense is rich after he let Padres off the hook

In the top of the ninth inning of the Baltimore Orioles series finale against the San Diego Padres, the Orioles committed a trio of errors that allowed the Padres to push across an insurance run that put them up three. Obviously, errors are never good, and for Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday, it was an embarrassing end to a tough weekend where the Orioles lost two out of three. In Craig Albernaz's post-game press conference, he had something to say about that particular inning.

“Very [disappointing], especially when you know Mason Miller is on the mound already, and it’s a two-run game that you want to just get back in the dugout. It’s already a tough task, but it’s two runs, and adding the third run, it makes it even more difficult"

Craig Albernaz's managerial decisions cost the Orioles a lot more than a couple of ninth inning errors

On the surface, this seems like a fairly unremarkable response from a manager being asked about his players making multiple errors in a single inning. However, when you combine this response with how Albernaz butchered the Orioles' sixth inning rally, it makes fans want to roll their eyes.

It comes across as a manager who is in over his head. When it's his decisions that are leading directly to losses, there is no talk about his role in the team's defeat, but when a defensive mistake happens in a game that's already decided, now is the time for accountability.

If accountability is something that needs to be discussed, how about some accountability for how the Orioles handled the bottom of the sixth inning?

When the game was still up in the air, the Padres reliever put the first two batters he faced on base and looked like he didn't have it. The Orioles responded by having their best RISP hitter lay down a sac bunt in front of a hitter with a K% close to 30%.

After Cowser struck out, they then yanked Jeremiah Jackson from the game, even though he was the only Oriole creating any offense, to have Jackson Holliday match up with a pitcher with reverse splits, resulting in another strikeout.

These savvy managerial moves turned a two-on-no-outs rally into nothing. That kind of poor management makes it much harder to win than a couple of errors committed long after the game is decided.

Of course, Alerbernaz didn't take any responsibility for his managerial errors in the sixth and instead claimed that the situation was something they had planned for and uttered some nonsense about how Jackson would have hit with one out, but Holliday was the plan if there were two outs.

If, as a manager, you can't look at what Jackson was doing at the plate that day and decide that he should be the one to face the right-handed pitcher with reverse splits, then what is the point of even having a manager in the dugout? Why not have a binder with a bunch of decision-making flow charts and just have the players read it themselves?

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow