RRS could definitely just be a 75 pitch pitcher, but in this specific case he was jobbed by luck and his defense. Bases loaded two outs (even getting to bases loaded was a bit of bad luck with the HBP on an 0-2 count) and RRS gets Jason Kendall to fly out harmlessly to end the inning, but OH NO neither Figgens or (gasp) Ichiro runs hard to the ball and the wind blew it a touch and it falls in for a Bloop base hit (I was actually quite flabbergasted that neither player seemed to go for that ball hard at ALL, maybe they both thought the other was going to get it. It sure looked extremely catchable to me)! Then RRS was rattled and threw a fastball to a guy that should have gotten 10 straight sliders (just like he did to DeJesus in the 3rd IIRC resulting in several garbage swings for an easy K, I think he literally threw like 7 straight sliders to him).
It is actually my opinion that with RRS it is NOT a physical issue but a mental one. He was cruising along just fine and then all of a sudden it is the sixth inning and he starts getting the yipps a little bit. Once it got to the sixth inning it seemed like RRS got nervous. Then Pods got a hit and I could almost feel the dread coming from RRS. He quickly gets Butler into an 0-2 hole and then... overthrows and plunks him right in the back. What happened to the super smooth unflappable guy we had just seen mow through the KC lineup for 5 innings??? Jose guillen then did RRS a favor by flying out on a sucker pitch, but again with the next batter RRS starts overthrowing and spikes a slider for a wild pitch and then walks Calsspo. Then the unlucky, defense didn't help out bloop single, and then RRS threw a FB to a guy that should have gotten 10 straight sliders. Really at that point RRS was mentally toast and should have been pulled out of the game after the butler HBP. Not because of anything PHYSCIAL, but because he was obvious mentally gripping.
Shannon mentioned the same thing on the post game show, all of RRS's issues are in his head and with his self-confidence. I think that RRS has the Physical traits and skills to be a work horse, innings eater, #3, but (just like Snell) he needs to get a grip on his mental demons.
=== Ryan Rowland-Smith ===
RRS has an amazingly smooth BABIP split for his career. These refer to his first, second, and (gakk) third times through a lineup:
- PA #1 in game - .221 BABIP
- PA #2 in game - .243 BABIP
- PA #3 in game - .289 BABIP
- PA #4 in game - .389 BABIP
- Total - .268 BABIP (!)
Also bear in mind this career split:
- Pitch 51-75: 79 OPS+ (.369 slugging)
- Pitch 76-100: 132 OPS+ (.503 slugging)
That's not after 100 pitches. It's after 75 pitches. Also bear in mind this career "split":
- 7th inning = .381 / .418 / .591
- Ty Cobb = .366 / .433 / .532
After two trips through the mighty KC offense Wednesday, RRS' line was 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 4:2 CTL. In the sixth inning, the Royals came up for their third look.
Two hits, a HBP, and a walk later, the Royals had two runs in, two out, and two on. My man Wok had Brandon League ready to go, but let RRS face Maier:
- Offspeed = called strike, Maier doesn't flinch
- Offspeed = called ball very near the strike zone, Maier doesn't flinch
- Offspeed = called ball, up a bit
- We'll give you three guesses why Maier was ignoring offspeed pitches
- Mushy 89 fastball = vaporized triple, there goes the ballgame
At least Wok had League up and throwing after 75-80 RRS pitches, which indicates to me that the M's are catching on. ;- )
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=== League, Lowe, Aardsma ===
Huindekmi's Reliever Readiness Index warned that Aardsma and League were in the caution zone. However, with the day off coming Thursday, Wok was again free to lay down his heaviest 1-2-3 suppression fire. 38 pitches, 25 strikes. 3.1 IP, one hit, three strikeouts, no walks.
Back in 2001, Lou Piniella configured his two nuclear setup men, RH Nelson LH Rhodes, to face whichever parts of the lineup gave them the platoon matchups. Rhodes would usually get two lefties either in the 7th or in the 8th, so that's where he pitched that day.
And most bullpens shake out like that in one way or another: you use the best batter-pitcher matchups you can get in the 7th or 8th.
Wok, however, has a closer. And he has a hand-the-ball-to-the-closer guy. And he has a hand-the-ball-to-the-setup guy.
It's not what SSI would prefer: in an ideal world, you would match up Lowe and League to the batters who hated them the most. But right now, Wok seems to be nursing League along a bit, with Lowe there ready to catch him. The game's played by human beings.
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=== Exec Sum ===
Team ERA+ = 124. Oakland's at 130. Guess Cliff Lee is coming back just in time.
Comments
But RRS' BABIP trends will still be there after we're done arguing. :- )
It's true that with a little luck, RRS coulda been out of the inning. Grant you that. This is true with most rallies, however... let me know the next time you see a 4-run inning that might not have been over if a ball had been hit 10 feet in a different direction...
.................
We continue to compare this to shooting 3-pointers in basketball in the 4th quarter. You're just tired enough to miss. It doesn't show in velocity of the basketball, doesn't show in mechanics - you're just too fatigued to feather the ball. There isn't a way in the world you can prove the shooter is tired, except that he's missing...
RRS' stuff looked mushy to me in the 6th, but will cheerfully admit that's nothing more than my own opinion.
The last AB, where Maier gleefully kept the bat glued to his shoulder until RRS finally dared to try a heater, and then BP'ed it into the corner, was telling.