Grady leaving his starter(s) too long

Let me be absolutely transparent with you: I have nothing against Grady Little and the way he's been coaching the Dodgers this year to date. Nothing but a glitch which I out forward right when LA signed him: Little's leaving his (often struggling) starters too long in games.

When I first mentioned my concern within the Dodger world (probably somewhere on the usenet, AFAIR), I was hushed. The only recollection that stood out at that point was the infamous Red Sox ALCS game in 2003 (was it?) against the Yankees, where the decision to keep Pedro Martinez in a game backfired with Boston NOT going to the World Series.

Now the evidence starts to pile up in Southern California. Mind you, not that I'm proud I saw it coming. Odalis Perez should have been taken out of the game when the Dodgers still had a lead and bases were NOT loaded. Little left him there - citing something to the lines: "he's our starter, he should fight through it". Hmmm, currently win-blowup record of Perez in his starts this year is close to 3-3. Some of this damage could have been avoided by a quicker hook by the manager.

Grady Little has proven he can draw his own conclusions hitting-wise. I expect him and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt take a longer look at Perez's next start. That is, hopefully, if Jae Seo gets on cruise control tonight against the Padres and does not need any major managerial decisions.

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