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Scott Servais made some unorthodox pitching changes Friday, they didn't work out, and the press shamefully tore him apart.

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/POLITICAL DISCLAIMER SKIP THREE PARAGRAPHS IF YOU WANT NO "LIFE" WITH YOUR "SPORTS"/

This syndrome in all its forms --  "Hey!  Why didn't you follow the mob and cover your keister!" -- is one of the things that keeps mankind from advancing intellectually, faster than it does.  Ask any Goolag employee who deviates from the groupthink.  (That's not a cheap shot out of proportion; however bad you imagine the thought enforcement is at Goolag specifically, we assure you it is many, many-fold worse.  Their employees are literally afraid to "like" Facebooks and Tweets in offhours privacy.)

We could go a whiiilllllllle longer on that.  :- )  We'll just leave it right there, two paragraphs for one of the most critical Sports Is Life topics you'll ever find.  As for you, Dear Denizen, feel free to encourage human beings who dare to expand the idea exchange of the moment.  Fill in comments below if y'like.  :: innocent smile ::

Frying a manager to a crackly crunch because they didn't like him thinking for himself on a pitching change, that's as old as baseball, yeah.  Doesn't make it right.

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The whole idea of "bullpens" was once a new thing; I think it was about Lou Gehrig's day that the first "relief aces" began to appear, like the first swallows of spring.  The whole idea of 5-man rotations was really weird when that idea was launched.  Was it the early 70's when the Dodgers added Al Downing for the first 5-rotation, DaddyO?  .. it was weird when people went to 12-man bullpens.  etc., etc., turtles all the way down.

A Tony La Russa platoon rotation has 9 starters sharing duty, 3 SP's each 3rd day, and you have 3-4 men in the bullpen.  Scott Servais, a couple of days ago, decided on a HYPER intelligent variation on that -- Emilio Pagan, Casey Lawrence, and others would take the ball after 4.1 :- ) innings from a scrub SP.  

THREE GIANT BENEFITS FOLLOW FROM AN ULTRA-EARLY LONG MAN WHEN YOU'RE AHEAD:

1.  A pitcher comes in who has a K:BB of 28:7 or so.  Compared to like Yovanni's or Gaviglio's ratio.

2.  The scrub SP does not see the enemy lineup the 3rd time through.  BIG!  (Wright Rule:  Never under any circumstances let any starter see batter #28.  Here we merely add a very logical corollary:  never let any lousy starter see batter #19.)

3.  The enemy team is not booked up on the RP.  Big difference between Emilio Pagan "sneaking up" on people vs. facing a video'ed-up offense, laid out to exploit his weaknesses.  Note that, within limits, you can select your RP.

Many other small benefits accrue, but you get the point.  If your #4-5 starter doesn't pitch that good, you do yourself a HUGE favor to yank him after 2 times through the lineup and put in a surprise 94 MPH reliever for two innings. 

Swap out Gallardo for Pagan it's like you hit the "Turbo" or "Gamebreaker" button in a video game for two innings.  End of story.

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Servais is varying this subtly.  For instance, Marc-O held the Angels to 1 ER and was throwing pretty good, so Pagan was merely getting loose.  If Marc-O gets hot, throws great, and gives you a few more outs, great!  It's like taking the sideline fly pattern if it's there.  But plan on the down-and-out.  La Russa's 3/3/3 idea lacked the threat of opportunity fire.

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In this system, he can't leave Moore out there for 1.2 innings?  How then are you going to leave him out there for 5-6 innings next Tuesday?  At some point you've got to trust your best 25 players.  Kudos to Servais for the fact that he never throws any of his players under the bus.  He stands at the postgame podium and pretends like his decisions were the pivot point?  Hey, the guys in uniform gotta play good.  That's all.

Yanking your starter after 4 IP pokes holes in your bullpen balloon?  Um, no.  The long man takes you as far as the SP would have, or farther.  If there was an odd move on Friday it was pulling PAGAN, not whether to pull Moore.  The Gonzales move had nothing to do with anything with the "platoon starter" concept.  Servais wanted to get Moore some time.  Keep in mind, the rest of the month, that Servais' #1, #2, #3 and #4 starting pitchers are injured and he's got to pitch somebody.  He's too classy to say that straight out.

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Let's get back on the sunny side of life.  :: old timey banjo ::  The 3/3/3 rotation could be a revolutionary edge in baseball.  Especially when the SP's are dubious.  It could be the edge we need with Paxton out.

BABVA,

Dr D