According to Paul Hoynes’ report in this morning’s Plain Dealer, after Mitch Talbot made 83 pitches in three innings, “Acta was thinking he would have to let Talbot twist in the wind for at least two more innings to save his bullpen.”Translation: Man Oh Manny does not panic. He isn’t ready to yank a pitcher the first time he makes a mistake or even the fifth time. Manny Acta is the man. In fact, he puts the Man into Manager.
And guess what, Talbot came out in the fourth inning and went on to retire six straight batters. You will recall that just a few games earlier, when Fausto appeared a little shaky on the mound, Manny took the same position: Let’em play ball.
Manny is a realist. He knows his pitchers need to work in order to improve and gain confidence. He also knows the rest of his team needs to score a few more than two runs to win games.
In his own words: “You pitch, you hit, you catch the ball. That’s how you win.” Nothing about groaning or whining or yelling. Manny expects each player to do his job, and he expects to win.
I love this guy.
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