1
If so then using the bullpen makes even more sense. Also, they can use whichever starter has his throw day today.
'Bullpenning' the Wild Card Game
O's have THE Joe Saunders out there to contain Texas
.
Dave Fleming, at BJOL, points out that in Game 162 the Atlanta Braves had their best pitching performance: 9.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 11 K.
And that this performance was chalked up by eight (8) different pitchers:
|
Pitching
|
IP
|
H
|
R
|
ER
|
BB
|
SO
|
|
Ben Sheets
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Luis Avilan
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
|
Julio Teheran
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Randall Delgado
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
|
Cory Gearrin
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Eric O'Flaherty
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
Jonny Venters
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
|
Craig Kimbrel
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
Assuming that a Wild Card team does not have a staff ace available, Fleming believes that it's better to use the bullpen in a game like this. He gives the following advantages:
A. The platoon advantage you get every time you choose a LH/RH reliever to bring in.
B. You're not letting a Joe Saunders "work through" control issues if he runs into them. You switch pitchers, maybe go an extra inning if a Shawn Kelley is throwing great.
C. You set your rotation perfectly for the first round of the playoffs (Saturday will be an off day).
D. Relief pitchers, if working 1-2 innings, are essentially more effective than starters.
E. In an NL game, you get a pinch-hitter for the P every time through the lineup - therefore you get a DH and the other team doesn't* (a reader added this).
...................
Mariners fans might vaguely recall a 6-pitcher game that jigsaw'ed together a no-hitter. Let's see -- we'd rather have Furbush, Wilhelmsen, Kinney and co. rather than which starting pitcher? Over Beavan and Millwood, without a doubt. Over Vargas? Hmm.... I'd do it.
Bill James was asked about this way back in the early 90's, after the Pirates and Jim Leyland did this, if I recall correctly. He was asked, "Is this a legit strategy, or is it kind of chickenfeathers?" He replied, it definitely works, but then everybody could do it, and then you'd have a zero-sum situation with more work for everybody....
I wonder if the Commissioner's Office dropped the Invisible Hammer and told the teams not to try it. It's quite possible, though I'd guess not. If Geoffy's reading, I'd be interested to know whether this is an Invisible Hammer issue.
.....................
Bonus round: Here's Bill on the Orioles and A's. Did we mention that it's $3 per month to buy this stuff?
Hey Bill! The O's and the A's both came out of nowhere this year to have big seasons and make the playoffs. Which team do you think has the better chance of sustaining that success over the next few seasons?
Asked by: mikeclaw
Answered: 10/4/2012
Well, in 2004 the Detroit Tigers were playing Alex Sanchez and Nook Logan in Center Field. I asked Josh Byrnes which one of them he liked, and he said "Is neither an option?" The Orioles have two good young players (Wieters and Adam Jones), and I don't really see either of those as MVP/Hall of Fame material. They made the playoffs with a fantastic 5-man bullpen. . .I would suppose that it must be one of the best bullpens in the history of the game.
The A's. ..and I would choose the A's, in the sense that I would choose Alex Sanchez over Exavier Prente Logan. . ..have two good young outfielders (Cespedes and Reddick) and some starting pitching, and they also have a bullpen.
.
The Orioles, of course, are the ones who have Joe Saunders going against the fearsome Texas Rangers. I wonder at what point they sub the schlub.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
2
Showalter went with 11 pitchers for this game ... I guess they get to re-set for the first round of the playoffs?
3
And to Joe Saunders, the man no one thought could do it.
4
Fister is basically equivalent to Verlander.
5
I don't know what he learned on the flight from Seattle to Detroit, but it turned him from a good pitcher--more than worth the return Z got--into a great one. Sigh. You win some, you lose some. I'll choose to think of it as Jack Z's preemptive penance for getting Jaso for Lueke.
6
Yes, that does make it feel a little better.