“So I got up in the eighth and after Feliciano got Cano I sat back down, and they told me in case something else happened and someone gets on base, I will be in there.”
Asked if it was difficult to do that, to keep warming up, Rodriguez said it was a matter of being smart.
“You have to save your bullets and not waste them back there and throw too much,” he said.
But sure enough, in the top of the ninth, Rodriguez was quickly warming up again after another reliever, Ryota Igarashi, gave up a walk and two hits. In came Rodriguez to get the final two outs, although it was not easy. Derek Jeter doubled, and after a groundout, Mark Teixeira reached on an infield single.
– David Waldstein, N.Y. Times.
When I saw this story on the back page of the Daily News this morning, I figured it was just a slow news day and the News was mucking up a fuss for lack of anything else to print.
But the News’ story didn’t include the above details and didn’t mention that the spat between Frankie Rodriguez and bullpen coach Randy Niemann stemmed from a dispute over how the reliever has been used.
This is nothing new: Jerry Manuel’s quick hook severely taxes the arms in his bullpen, and his apparent insistence that every reliever warm up at some point in every game must get frustrating for a crew of already-overworked men. Relievers hate warming up without pitching — they call it “dry-humping” — and the decision to get them throwing represents one of the real, impactful managerial moves that are never represented in the box score.
Sure, it may look like Fernando Nieve sometimes goes a couple of games without pitching, but scour tapes of those games and you’ll note that Nieve is almost perpetually warming up in the bullpen. K-Rod reportedly threw 100 pitches in the bullpen before he entered the Mets’ 20-inning win over the Cardinals. I can’t say for certain, but I’d guess that’s the type of thing that will make you want to fight the bullpen coach.
The Daily News mentioned Rodriguez’s history of spats with Tony Bernazard and Brian Bruney, but this story shouldn’t be about the fiery closer. It should be about Manuel’s myopic bullpen management, and it’s unfortunate that Niemo should have to bear the brunt. I don’t know all the mechanics behind the decision to warm a guy up, but I’ve got a feeling the fault here falls on the man making the call, not the one receiving it.
Tedquarters 
I don’t understand why the teams training staff and pitching coaches aren’t stepping in to stop this. How can an organization allow a manager who’s clearly on the hot seat so much free reign to do so much damage?
Not to mention these kind of stories are probably the reason free agents don’t want to sign with us and players won’t take us off their NTC. Why would anyone want to come to a place where no one’s going to be looking out for their best interest health wise and will willingly throw them under the bus.