MLB Off-Topic

[dubcity]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Also glad it kills the latest emerging trend before it becomes a thing, where you bring in a lefty to face a lefty, then move the pitcher to 1B/LF and bring in a righty to face the next righty, then move the lefty reliever back onto the mound to face the next lefty.

The Rays experimented with it a few times last year and it feels wrong on pretty much every level.

If that has actually happened, then managers should have even more "strategy" privileges taken away just on general principle lol. This is why we can't have nice things.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Never noticed the wording. No more 40 man rosters, but ALL TEAMS MUST have 28 guys on roster in September (so with new 26 man rosters next year, that means you MUST add 2 guys from minors).

As for 3 batter minimum, I wonder if that means we'll see more longer relievers. Not just guys going for a 3 batter minimum, but teams focusing on guys who could go multiple innings. No point having a reliever who can really face just 3 and only 3 batters. Situational relievers you could use for 1,2 or 3 batters. Less versatility with relievers, so focus more on getting good arms who can pitch more innings out of bullpen.

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

How does leaving the same guy in there increase the amount of strategy needed? A manager is potentially making 1/3 as many decisions per late inning.

You could say that he has to pick the right guy at the start of an inning, but then you just kinda watch it unfold with very little input or ability to change on the fly.

Because you have to decide if you're confident in a guy facing the possibility of at least three batters. You then have to account for possible pinch hitters that the guy will face.

The only decision isn't making a pitching change. There are also decisions about who that pitcher might have to face if he's forced to throw to at least three hitters.

If I want to bring in a left handed pitcher to gave a left handed hitter, now I have to see who is behind that guy and who is on the bench. If they have a bunch of RHHs on the bench, then maybe I'm not as comfortable putting my LHP out there. Now I have to decide am I more confident in a RHP getting LHHs out or in a LHP getting RHHs out.

In my mind, those are tougher decisions than planning to use my LHP for 1-2 hitters and having another reliever ready right behind him.

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[Blzer]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

In my mind, those are tougher decisions than planning to use my LHP for 1-2 hitters and having another reliever ready right behind him.

Yes, but hopefully managers are less droning than just "righty-righty" and "lefty-lefty" with everything. Bochy has succumbed to this mistake before, and it cost him dearly. I posted a long rant on that one as well, and although the post was after the fact, absolutely none of this was a result of having hindsight of the outcome.

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...post2048532415

Spoiler

[Below] is a perfect example of how not to over-manage due to costly consequences. Let's take the NLDS Game 4 ninth inning against Chicago:

When up by three runs, Bochy begins by inserting his strongest right-handed reliever (Derek Law) to face Kris Bryant with Anthony Rizzo on-deck, a switch-hitter in the hole, and a lefty in the six-spot (likely switching to Contreras later because of the match-ups). Bryant punches a single through the shift. So okay, he got his ground ball even though they didn't get the out, and now Bochy goes to our lefty Lopez against a struggling Rizzo. The second he motioned to the bullpen, I'm thinking "bad idea!" for a number of reasons, but the main two were: 1) you just lost Law; 2) he nibbles and is prone to walking players, and in this particular scenario he is not the tying run.

So, what happens? He walks him. Not to my surprise at all. Now Zobrist is coming up, and Bochy goes to Romo so Zobrist switches to the left side, and he is nearly a dead-even slugger from both sides. The problem with this is with the first baseman holding the runner close and Romo with not much speed, pulling the ball means a big hole on that right side! Line drive near the corner, as it was.

This whole thing continued (as he put in five pitchers only to get one out), and I'm not saying his match-ups were bad for those batters provided what he was left with, not at all. But they were awful for the situations provided, and it made him lose pitchers that could have been better served for the batter after the match-up that he was looking for.

What were Bochy's other options?

1) Although it appears as me going against my better judgement (based on earlier in this post), ride a hot pitcher in the ninth for as long as you can, until the point that you can't. Derek Law or Will Smith, take your pick. He lost his hottest hands far too quickly. Get your greatest shutdown threat, and don't lose them because of a single insignificant batter... and by insignificant I don't mean an easy out, I mean a batter where their threat is diminished to a walk being almost equally as valuable as a big fly. At the very least, Keep Law in against Rizzo, and if you want a righty to face Zobrist he can keep him in for that match-up and the Coghlan/Contreras match-up (this way even if Contreras does pinch-hit, it's not against a lefty in Smith or Lopez and Bochy, once again, gets his match-up). At that point, if you want to remove Law and go in for the lefty against Heyward, that sounds about right to me. But he mismanaged this. I'm not saying this after thinking about it for weeks on end, I was saying it as it happened. It was not difficult to render. He overthought the match-ups in the short-term and underthought the situations.

2) Everyone's favorite one: keep in Matt Moore. Though the guy has thrown 120 pitches already and is about to face Bryant and Rizzo for the fourth time in a row, I still see this as possibly acceptable. A small counterargument is just that we should be able to trust our bullpen to protect three-run leads, though. And the biggest thing outside of that: people don't really seem to remember, but his spot was due up in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Eduardo Nuñez was warming up on deck in his place only for Blanco to ground into a double-play. The question you ask yourself is: "In what situation would have Bochy left Moore in to hit, provided that he would consider him for the ninth inning?" You could have had as routine as a strikeout or a single, meaning 1st w/ two out or 1st & 2nd w/ one out, and either-or you might see him keep him in. A double? Maybe not anymore. It just depends. But if Bochy pinch-hits for him for a qualified hitter, there is nothing illogical about that move, and that means he must pull him out. So his spot didn't come up in the ninth and that's a big deal, you say. I don't know... it only took a double play for his spot to not come up. We should play this out like the pinch-hitter comes up here and they fail to score, because that was probably the most likely scenario of them all. Bottom line, a bullpen needs to protect that lead.

The point is that I love the art of managing and don't want rules to restrict them, but coaches shouldn't just do things simply "because." They really have to consider what they're putting in place when they do.

EDIT: I just realized my closing statement in that post was in response to somebody opposed to too many pitchers coming into the game, and I wasn't liking the idea of limitations.

[CMH]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

I'm almost certain I've seen Jose Alvarado playing first base. I feel like I've seen the Cubs do it as well

It happened. And it's definitely a Rays Brain trust move since Maddon also pulled it.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-rays-played-a-pitcher-at-first-base/

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[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Because you have to decide if you're confident in a guy facing the possibility of at least three batters. You then have to account for possible pinch hitters that the guy will face.

The only decision isn't making a pitching change. There are also decisions about who that pitcher might have to face if he's forced to throw to at least three hitters.

If I want to bring in a left handed pitcher to gave a left handed hitter, now I have to see who is behind that guy and who is on the bench. If they have a bunch of RHHs on the bench, then maybe I'm not as comfortable putting my LHP out there. Now I have to decide am I more confident in a RHP getting LHHs out or in a LHP getting RHHs out.

In my mind, those are tougher decisions than planning to use my LHP for 1-2 hitters and having another reliever ready right behind him.

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Boils down to more decisions or less decisions to me. The other team could already bring in a pinch hitter to counter no matter how many batters the RP has to face. Whether it's a batter-by-batter basis or inning-by-inning basis, the manager is still considering each matchup (and potential counter) as it comes up--it's just that he has fewer levers to pull with a 3-batter minimum.

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Boils down to more decisions or less decisions to me. The other team could already bring in a pinch hitter to counter no matter how many batters the RP has to face. Whether it's a batter-by-batter basis or inning-by-inning basis, the manager is still considering each matchup (and potential counter) as it comes up--it's just that he has fewer levers to pull with a 3-batter minimum.

And it's the impact of the decision to me. Now if you bring in a reliever, there are more variables to consider, which makes it a move with more strategy to consider.

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[TheMatrix31]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Didn't see that they also cut mound visits nonsense down from 6.

Man they really wanna force a consequence to that huh

[CMH]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Judge with a "face of the MLB" muscle move.


Says he's out on the $1MM prize for the Home Run Derby until it returns to New York.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Also said he doesn't want to get hurt again, the first real confirmation we've gotten that the Derby ****ed his shoulder up and ended up costing him the stats that would've gotten him the MVP he deserved anyway.

I really wonder what he's pulling in endorsements. That bonus would be more than his yearly salary and just for being in the Derby.

[ShowTyme15]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Angels and moving to Long Beach is gaining some momentum.

https://www.12up.com/posts/6320828-a...e&view_medium=[mlb]

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

For anyone that has a subscription to The Athletic, there is a great article on the experience of Minor League Baseball players and their pay. It's long, but well worth it.

[Majingir]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Angels and moving to Long Beach is gaining some momentum.



https://www.12up.com/posts/6320828-a...e&view_medium=[mlb]

So they'd be the Long Beach Angels of Anaheim?

[Jr.]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

So they'd be the Long Beach Angels of Anaheim?

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, via Long Beach

[SPTO]

Re: MLB Off-Topic

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, via Long Beach

The Long Beach Angels commuting from Los Angeles and Anaheim.