Big Move of May 16th

Vin Mazzaro giving up 14 earned runs on 11 hits in 2 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians Monday night. This was the worst performance by a pitcher since Rick Vaughan was taken out of the first inning in major league two, which prompted this classic line from his doorman "Mr. Vaughan, didn't you pitch tonight? Oh, I only turned the game on in the second inning.'' In all seriousness though, this was the worst performance by a relief pitcher since world war II and further highlights the reason why kids don't grow up with dreams of becoming the long reliever on a major league team. This position is generally reserved for minor league players with no potential that can come in and hopefully eat up some innings and stop the bleeding in a lost cause game. The only reason they're in the majors is for this reason and because anyone with potential or talent is a starter or a late inning specialist such as the closer or set up man. If you're on the cusp of cracking one of those positions or seen as a prospect you'll be in the minors working on mechanics or gaining experience to enter the major leagues at some point. The long reliever on the other hand doesn't fit any of these labels and has just enough velocity and accuracy to pitch three innings from time to time and hopefully hold the opposing team to 4 or 5 runs during their outing. Essentially the long reliever is cannon fodder in order to save the better relievers on the team for more meaningful games. This doesn't sound like a fun job and often managers have no compassion for such relievers (Ned Yost last night) but in exchange for this the long reliever does get to earn a major league salary. Therefore, it's not all that bad and lots of meddling minor leaguers would kill for this opportunity. Mazzaro had been doing a decent job of this before last night but after this performance the Royals might have to look towards a more proven long reliever such as Brian Tallet. You might be asking why the Royals would bother making a move since it's a meaningless position but managers can't turn the game into a complete mockery and have any Joe Blow tossing 10 run innings. The main reason being that in blowouts most teams just want to get out of the ballpark early and not be there any longer than they have to be. It's kind of like when you walk into a multiple choice exam and realize you didn't study enough. You know you're going to get a terrible mark so instead of grinding it out you'll likely pencil in 'C' for every question and leave early to prepare for other exams you might have a chance of doing well in. The odd time 'C' might just be the correct answer though and you can laugh about pulling a horseshoe out of your ass much similar to the way a manager smirks when the long reliever gets a victory during a wild comeback.