to start putting Russel under the spotlight. He could be the worst manager we’ve had in Pittsburgh in a while and that is saying a lot. I like his lineups on most nights and the fact that he was able to recognize the talent in McClouth and Doumit. But I question EVERYTHING else. Why start JVB in the 2nd game of the doubleheader when Dumatrait could have gone and the Braves struggle against lefties. Why place a rookie (Salas) in a tie game in the bottom of the 9th with the heart of the order coming up? Agains a division leader no less. Leaving every one of our pitchers in too long. And as you stated earlier, bunting McClouth with no out so that Bay could walked and up to the plate would come the perennial double play and automatic out (who had a very nice game). Russel has been lucky so far but I’m wondering how many games he’s cost us already and even more importantly how many will he cost us by the end of the year.

Jack Flash back in a week. Paulino needs to step up. Bench production (minkie, gomez, michaels) could use some improvement. As long as McLouth and Nady don’t cool down this may be the strongest offense we’ve seen in years.

He walked three, but one was intentional (Schumaker) and one might as well have been so (Pujols). Why JR wanted Schumaker walked, I don’t know, but really, only one walk was directly Salas’s fault. All told, I thought he looked pretty good last night.

I think it’s a little premature to start calling Russel “the worst.” We’ve been without a major league shortstop since the beginning of the year, our bench has been dreadful, the starters were pretty awful for the first month, we had zero production from the entire infield for the first month, we had a short bullpen for the first month - none of which you can really put on Russel - and we’re still playing competitive baseball. If Dumatrait pitches the second game of the doubleheader, then Duke pitches next time on 3 days rest, which isn’t a good idea. So who’s supposed to start instead?

There have been a number of moments when I really did wonder what he was doing, and, yes, it could all go down hill from here, but for now I agree with Charlie, and we shoud cut him a break.

I do suspect, though, that he won’t be as good a manager now as he was when he had the services a .350 hitting catcher.

This is by no means exclusive to Russell, but he deserves to be called on it just as does nearly every manager in baseball. This bullpen role nonsense has to end. What was Grabow doing pitching to righthanded sluggers in the eighth inning? You have a one-run lead, so bring in Capps then. You can always use Grabow in the ninth. Why can’t managers think strategically, and deploy their talent as needed, when needed, based on clearly available performance indicators, rather than roles that either are ill-suited to the situation in front of their faces? Matt Capps might have given up a dinger to Pujols in the eighth, but I bet you he wouldn’t have.

I can’t get bent out of shape over using Grabow against Pujols. Grabow has been pretty much lights out against both righties and lefties so far this year. I think there a number of reasons why he might not want to use Capps there.

I do agree, though, that Russell (like most other managers) seems overly dogmatic about how he uses his closer.