It's Time to Fire John Farrell

(June 26, 2016 - Source: Brian Blanco/Getty Images North America)
Evan Marinofsky
Contributing Writer

Honestly, it's time. After last night's 7-2 rout that started in the 9th inning, it's time to give John Farrell the boot. Goodbye. Adios. Sayonara.

The specific move that triggered the writing of this blog was Farrell's decision to put in All Star-closer Craig Kimbrel into a non-save situation. The reason I added in "All-Star closer" was to debunk the theory that he's not an All-Star. When Kimbrel is called upon to be a closer, which is why the Red Sox traded for him, he has an ERA of 1.45.

When he's in a non-save situation, he has a 6.75 ERA.
What I have a lot of trouble understanding is that Farrell sees these numbers; he sees Kimbrel continuing to struggle in non-save situations, yet he still puts him out there.

So I take it Farrell's logic goes as follows: "Alright, so it's the bottom of the ninth, we're down 3-2, and we need 1 run to tie. Let's put our closer into a situation where he's been bad all year. That'll work!".

This is where Farrell has to go.

Ever since he went 10-16 in the month of June, Farrell's in-game blunders have been laid out to dry and exposed. You could argue that Farrell cost the Red Sox the game last night. If Heath Hembree comes into the ninth instead of Kimbrel, there's a good chance that the score stays at 3-2. Now that doesn't automatically score you a run to tie and another to win, but it does give you a lot more confidence going into the bottom of the 9th.

There's absolutely no doubt that Kimbrel should be able to pitch in these situations. But by now, Farrell should know better than to put Kimbrel into non-save situations. It's brutal that it's gotten to the point where the fireballer can't pitch when there's no pressure, but that's just the case. It's another reason why the Red Sox must get a reliever before the Trade Deadline.

With the middle of the season fast-approaching and the judgment time that comes with the Trade Deadline coming soon as well, it's time for Dave Dombrowski to give this team a kick in the pants and put in a level-headed manager whose thoughts lie only on the baseball game at hand rather than which female sideline reporter he brings home.

But seriously, it can be argued that Farrell has cost the team a lot of games and it's getting to the point where the Red Sox are teetering between contending and falling out. The last thing this team needs is for the manager to be costing them meaningful games with his in-game decisions.

It's time to fire Farrell.

Follow Evan Marinofsky on Twitter for all of his Red Sox opinions. 

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