Bunting With Two Strikes?

    Joe Girardi was a thinking man's player and is probably going to make a fine manager, but his inexplicable decision to have Hanley Ramirez bunt with two strikes may very well have cost the Marlins tonight's game against the Mets.
    The Mets jumped out to a 6-0 lead and the Marlins scratched and clawed their way to cutting the deficit to 6-5. After Joe Borowski escaped a bases loaded, no out situation (of his own creation) in the top of the ninth, the Marlins came to bat facing the same pitcher against whom they mounted a dramatic comeback the night before. Billy Wagner, struggling with control of his slider and command of his fastball, gave up a single to Wes Helms; hit pinch hitting pitcher Brian Moehler (who was squaring around to bunt); and faced Hanley Ramirez----the same Hanley Ramirez who had homered in the last two games; the same Hanley Ramirez who was the prime acquisition in the trade that sent Josh Beckett to Boston; and the same Hanley Ramirez who is supposed to be one of the cornerstones of the Marlins rebuilding. Ramirez tried to bunt twice and failed. With two strikes, he squared around again and bunted the ball foul, striking out and essentially taking the heat off of Wagner. Wagner struck out the next two hitters saving the game. Just like that, Wagner went from blowing two straight games in dramatic fashion, to getting a save. And the Marlins went from winning another game in the bottom of the ninth inning against a premier closer for a first place team, to another learning process. This time, though, the learning process was more for the Marlins manager than the players.
    I don't care who the hitter is, if there are two strikes on an everyday player, there is simply no justifiable reason to have him bunting. Girardi, in having Ramirez bunt with two strikes, did Wagner the biggest favor he could do short of not sending a batter up to the plate at all. Wagner was struggling and becoming flustered on the mound. His confidence was beginning to shake and instead of Girardi being agressive and waiting for Wagner to make a mistake, he kept the bunt on; Ramirez bunted the ball foul, gave Wagner a gift first out of the inning, let him settle himself down and Girardi watched as Wagner struck out the last two batters to end the game.
     Even if Ramirez had gotten the bunt down and the Marlins had gone on to win the game, this was still a bad play. This is supposed to be a year of learning for everyone involved with the Marlins. Ramirez is not some rookie outfielder hitting .210; he's the prospect that every team was asking the Red Sox for in the last couple of years; he's supposed to be the Marlins shortstop for the next ten years; and he's batting second in the lineup. Having him bunt with two strikes is not only the wrong play for the one game, it is the wrong play for advancing the career of Hanley Ramirez. Joe Girardi is the one who made the decision. I doubt he'll admit that it was a mistake to the press; but time will tell if he learned anything and does something that absurd again. That will go a long way in determining his fate as a manager.