SEATTLE – Bob Melvin won’t dare say winning is secondary these days.
The disgusted look on his face after a defeat, even when young players fill his lineup card and losses are expected, makes that absolutely clear.
Priorities have changed, however, and the Seattle Mariners have other objectives the rest of this season. Hopelessly out of contention, they’re looking at their best minor league prospects and gauging who can help them and who can’t in the future.
In the process, Melvin is managing a different game.
Lineup decisions aren’t based solely on who matches up best against a particular opponent. Late-game strategy is dictated more by the need to see young players in tense situations and not necessarily by the presence of a veteran pinch hitter who’s available on the bench.
“We’ve got to find out what these guys can do,” Melvin said.
And in doing that, Melvin will stray from the managerial book. He’s already done it.
On Thursday, the Mariners trailed the Indians 1-0 in the seventh inning with a runner on base and rookie Justin Leone due to hit. He had two difficult at-bats early in the game, striking out miserably.
In a similar situation on the previous road trip at St. Louis, Melvin lifted Leone and inserted Edgar Martinez as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, playing the numbers and hoping for a clutch hit against Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan.
“Edgar was 16-for-31 off Suppan, and I knew that was the only time I was going to be able to get him in against Suppan when he was the tying run,” Melvin said.
Martinez didn’t deliver, but it was a sound managerial move. Melvin did the same in a later game when he pulled Leone in place of veteran pinch hitting specialist Dave Hansen.
That won’t happen much anymore, if at all.
“Now, we’re in a different situation, a different mode,” Melvin said.
Now, Melvin and the Mariners want to see how prospects like Leone handle themselves in situations that determine who wins and loses games.
In the seventh inning Thursday against the Indians, Melvin left Leone in the game and his best pinch hitter, Hansen, on the bench. Leone delivered a two-run homer that won the game 2-1.
“I want to see how he does in those situations now,” Melvin said. “With a guy like Leo, you’re doing him a disservice to pinch-hit for him and have him looking over his shoulder in the eighth or ninth inning, or in a game that you’re behind. I don’t want that.”
Melvin says he must ignore the urge to use some of his veterans in crucial situations – even if a player like Hansen has good numbers off a particular pitcher – in order to see how his young players react.
“Let’s say Hansen is 8-for-10 off a guy and Leone’s due up in the eighth inning with the bases loaded,” Melvin said. “I’m going to have to go with what mode we’re in right now, and that’s finding out about the kids.”
In some ways, that approach makes managing easier. In others, it’s more difficult.
“It’s easier in that it’s the mindset we’re going with now,” Melvin said. “But it’s tougher in that when you’re trying to win a game, you want to do whatever it takes to win. Resisting that is sometimes tough to do, especially when you’ve got a guy on the bench like Hansen or Edgar Martinez at that particular time.
“It’s tempting to go with them, but I’m going to have to back off a little bit.”
And if it costs the Mariners a meaningless victory in a season that already is lost, then Melvin will have to swallow it. Just don’t tell him that winning isn’t important.
“Winning is not secondary because you’re still working to be in a position where you can win,” he said. “But you have to find out if you’re going to win with certain guys or not.”
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