Somewhere in the cosmos there must be a logical explanation for Joe Torre's dedication to Charlie Haeger

What do the eyes of Joe Torre see that the rest of the world does not?

Try to get into his head and imagine what he sees when he looks at Charlie Haeger. If you squint really, really hard, can you possibly see Hoyt Wilhelm?

I see an unimpressive journeyman with a wildly inconsistent knuckleball. Nothing that would merit Torre’s prolonged dedication.

It’s a mystery right up there with the Great Pyramids and Donald Trump’s hair. Listen, his options for the fifth starter aren’t exciting, but they all look better than Haeger.

That would be Haeger, who is 0-4 with an 8.49 ERA this season. Right there, you can see why Torre would be so giddy. Not that it’s some kind of one-season illusion. In parts of five seasons in the majors with three different clubs, Haeger is 2-7 with a 6.25 ERA.

And headed right back into the rotation.

I kid you not. Torre has been hinting at this for several days, but prior to Saturday’s game he came right out and said:

``I'd like to give (John) Ely an extra day so that fifth starter will have to pitch on Tuesday, which means (Carlos) Monasterios is not an option. We're leaning toward Haeger. For this ballclub, the best thing is to keep Ely pitching the way he's pitching.’’

So it’s Ely’s fault? Because for some unexplained reason he needs an extra day of rest?

It should be clear by now that Torre has had a not-so-secret thing for Haeger all along. During spring training, he clearly wanted to give the fifth spot to Haeger.

Haeger had a fine spring, but did pitch in six games. Eric Stults, who like Haeger was out of options, barely got a whiff, appearing in two games and suffering through one bad inning before being shipped off to Japan.

Monasterios actually had the better spring, but Torre is giving him tough love, which has been his history with most rookies.

Monasterios didn’t exactly light it up in Friday’s start, but he didn’t pitch poorly either. He gave up two earned runs in his five innings and did pick up the victory.

Which is more that can be said for Haeger in his five starts this season.

Haeger is currently on the disabled list, with one of those extremely fortunate injuries that allowed the Dodgers to activate Ely, even though he had been sent down two days earlier.

The Dodgers said Haeger developed plantar fasciitis. That night brace must have worked wonders.

Haeger was shipped to Class-A San Bernardino to work with pitching coach and former knuckleballer Charlie Hough.

Hope Hough worked wonders. He must have given Torre some glowing reports, right? There has to be some explanation. Because right now, there’s nothing that can be seen by the eye that accounts for this inexplicable love affair.

__ Steve Dilbeck

Comments

[BartA58]

That's not hard to understand. When the owner desires that the roster be filled with as many players making the minimum salary as possible.

[AMJR]

Can't wait for Torre's retirement. He has made some very questionable moves during his career as a manager and he is very tough on some players, in particular, the rookies. I remember how Ethier struggled getting in the lineup as a regular player during Torre's first year. And how he treated Hudson last year was inexplicable. And yet he plays favorite with Haeger who wouldn't be picked up by the Pirates even if you paid them to do so.

[N.P.Krohn]

Nothin' i can add Steve. Good writing, terrible pitcher.

[Mike Dudnikov]

I think the answer is that Joe's mother was bitten by a knuckleball pitcher when she was pregnant with little Joey. And this also gives me the chance to tell one of my favorite baseball stories. Some years ago the late Skip Caray was complaining that he was getting nasty letters from Braves fans accusing him of frequently referring to Phil Niekro as Nutsy. He bade them to listener a little closer, explaining that he was calling Niekro Knucksy, the term most on the team used to refer to Phil because of that special pitch he threw.