Comments on: Managers Explain this One to Me

By: Alan Hull

Alan Hull — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:20:03 +0000

This is an interesting idea. I don’t know how it would work exactly because you have a few things at play:

Your Idea:

1) You would give yourself a better chance to win when the ace is on the mound, but
2) You give yourself significantly less of a chance when you drop Kyle Kendrick against Brandon Webb.

vs.

The Convention:

1) Decent chance against an ace and
2) Decent chance all the way down the rotation.

I don’t know which is better. I wouldn’t do it with a strong team because they can win on any given night, but like you said, it’s a good idea for teams with poor offenses.

Cool idea.

By: SpinMax

SpinMax — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:25:14 +0000

We certainly agree on this one. I’ve always thought it stupid to put your ace up against another ace. It’s like I said about Zito, don’t move him to the pen, put him at the back of the rotation against the worst guys and he’ll get you a win now and then. In 5 of his 7 starts he’s given up 4, 3, 1, 3 and 2 runs…in those same 5 games the Giants have scored 4 runs TOTAL against guys like Penny, Sheets and Webb.

By: Gene

Gene — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:43:12 +0000

Great article. Of course you are corect, but starting pitching isn’t the only way a manager has become predictible. Why does a team have to have definitive roles for relief pitchers? Why can’t a manager just select a reliever to pitch the eighth inning, and if he’s going good, to finish the ninth? This is especially valid when you have two excellent relievers, like the Dodgers have with Broxton and Saito, and the Angels have with Shields and Frankie.

I sat at Angels Stadium for the seventh game of the 2002 World Series, and watched in amusement when Frankie Rodriguez pitched a masterful eighth inning, only to be replaced by Troy Percival for the ninth. Percy was not on his game and all of us Angel fans had to sweat a bit until the final out was achieved. By pulling a successful pitcher, you are taking a chance that the next guy will be on his game. If you leave the first guy in, then you can always bring the other guy out of the bullpen later, instead of having used two relievers. The next night, you can rest the guy who threw two innings the in the previous game.

Obviously, agents and stats have limited the manager’s flexibility. Egos and arbitration decisions have more to do with managerial moves than sound baseball strategy.
I know there are many other instances where managerial moves have become stereotyped. It has hurt the game and it’s too bad.