A's Try Novel "Exhaust the Bullpen" Strategy, Doesn't Work
by danmerqury on Jul 27, 2010 8:33 PM PDT
Email
PrintCliff Lee was sharp. Gio Gonzalez was sharp. The difference? Lee had 118 pitches through nine innings. Gonzalez had 111...through six. With Andrew Bailey out with back spasms, the A's had to throw together three innings of work out of a depleted bullpen. In a tie game. And, to their credit, they did, using the three most reliable relievers they had—Jerry Blevins in the 7th, Craig Breslow in the 8th and part of the 9th, and Michael Wuertz at the end of the 9th. But to get a fourth inning out of that crew? Much more difficult. Michael Wuertz started hanging sliders left and right in his second inning of work, and surprise surprise, Nelson Cruz wasn't fooled.
I can't write a recap of this game without quickly mentioning that umpire Kerwin Danley had one of the most abnormal strike zones I've ever seen. The corners were strikes. Then they weren't. Then the batter's box was a strike. Then it wasn't. It's no surprise that Jack Cust was ejected. Even Mr. Calm Mark Ellis was screaming bloody murder (in his head...maybe).
There is, believe it or not, a silver lining to this game. When your third starter and a depleted bullpen can match Cliff Lee inning for inning nine times in a row, you've got to be doing something right. Make no mistake—Colby Lewis and C.J. Wilson are difficult to face, but they're not Cliff Lee. This series is still absolutely winnable.
Current Series
Rangers lead the series 1-0
| Tue 07/27 | WP: Neftali Feliz (2 - 2) LP: Michael Wuertz (2 - 2) |
1 - 3 loss |
|
Oakland Athletics Wednesday, Jul 28, 2010, 5:05 PM PDT Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85. |
||
| Thu 07/29 | 5:05 PM PDT | |
97 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
At least the A's kept it close
despite the 13 strikeouts by Lee. Gio pitched a good game. I hope he’s OK.
Go get ’em tomorrow.
except for the result
this was a high-caliber baseball game with every pitch a battle. Our guys don’t have the same talent as those guys but we stuck with ’em as best we could. Not having Bailey for the 10th hurt us bad.
Hello, I'm Vince Cotroneo for the Marmaduke B. Mushmouth School of Public Speaking...
888-979-4627
The A's are a fairly quiet team, and then there's Ben Sheets. Sheets, as a kid, must have been thrown out of every library in Baton Rouge. ~ Scott Ostler
Truthfully, Bailey might not have made the difference
just because he probably would have been saved for a lead and still never gotten in — which I think is a mistake, but that’s how most managers play it. (I’d go to Bailey against the heart of the order in a tie game and then play for crooked numbers thereafter.)
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
doen't mean he shouldn't be DL'd if he can't go tomorrow
"The ego, the super-ego, and the Ed" - dannycakes
My understanding is that he felt a lot better today
but Geren thought he shouldn’t rush back, and that he may be out for the series but will be fine for Friday at the latest.
What I would do, personally, is send Bowers down tonight and call up Mortensen just to add a decent reliever, who can go 2-3 IP, for the rest of the series/road trip. Basically make sure you have a non-short reliever who you can pitch in more than a mop-up situation.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Which means Bailey's probably out for the year
Conor Jackson has already missed almost a month with a friggin’ hamstring tweak. Geez, it’s ridiculous. I’d be surprised if Gio doesn’t miss a start or two.
I needed a team so I wouldn’t turn into one of the eighty million pink hat-wearing Bud Light-drinking mulleted idiots at Fenway.
Gio is the only starter who has pitched the full season for us.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
took my walk in the 8th only to return and avoid looking at any media
until I made my salad, got the grill going, and waiting the burger to marinate…had a cookie…made lunch for tomorrow and then I said, “do I have the balls to go cold into AN see what the headline is? without throwing a sht fit if it does not go our way?”
But, sure, the series is winnable (grits teeth).
alaska A currently residing in northern Idaho.
I think in the 10th after Hamilton walked I would like to have had Ziegler in the game to pitch. He can go multiple innings, and I think we had already got the best out of Wuertz
It's kind of ironic that we got hosed by the fact that
Hamilton didn’t hit a double or that Wuertz didn’t throw a wild pitch. Because if Hamilton’s at 2B, they walk Cruz and now it’s up to Bengie Molina and Chris Davis. Cruz was their last good hitter for a while — but obviously you’re not going to IBB Cruz with Hamilton only at 1B.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I can't blame Geren for sticking with Wuertz, because
the pen is so thin right now. If you go to Ziggy, the best you can hope for is to go into the 11th and then Ziggy is going to face a bunch of lefties (C. Davis. Borbon, maybe David Murphy off the bench). In that situation, you pretty much have to get as much as you can out of the guys you put in.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
OK, so Chris Carter is 2 for 4 with his 24th HR,
and his average is now .254. It’s over .250. I can haz a real power hitter now???
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Oh, and Boof Bonser has a one-hit shutout through 7 IP.
Go Boof!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Was that the magic number?
The funny thing about baseball is that people will believe what they want to believe. -Joe Posnanski 8/29/09
3
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
If we take this series,
MAYBE. maybe.
The funny thing about baseball is that people will believe what they want to believe. -Joe Posnanski 8/29/09
I know average isn't everything, but he doesn't walk a whole ton so the numbers wouldn't be pretty.
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
He'd probably be Juan Uribe
Which is not that great a player, but would also be a player that helps the A’s right now. Unfortunately, he plays 1B, and not DH or LF, for reasons that escape me.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I still don't understand why the A's still play him at 1B
unless they’re going to trade Barton before the deadline.
Carter either needs to DH or play LF so he can actually play when he gets called up.
To be honest, if Carter’s not gonna play every day, even as a September call-up, don’t bother calling him up at all then
September call-up to sit on the bench still makes sense,
once the Sacramento season is over.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Nah if he comes up he's got to play.
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
But once the Sacramento season is over,
he’s done playing for the year regardless. May as well get a little bit of hanging out in the big-league dugout, maybe a handful of ABs in blowouts.
It’s not like we’d be taking him out of action elsewhere, and he’s already on the 40-man roster. It’s a no-lose situation.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Except the odds of him getting whacked in the pelvis
in batting practice are probably right around 86%.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
in september
sacramento’s season is already over… though he should play then to prep him for next year and maybe, hopefully spur the team for the final dash to the finish
by heartstopper on Jul 28, 2010 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions
I would like to play him in LF
But if they plan for him at DH, there is no reason for him playing 1B in Sacto.
and if barton goes down....
or if carter proves he can hit then barton could be traded though i like the guy this year. he’s been real consistent and is finally hitting after very lackluster performance at the plate the last two seasons
by heartstopper on Jul 28, 2010 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions
Honestly at this point I'd rather see Carter in AAA the rest of the year and playing (learning?) LF *every day*
Pam liked my old sig better.
Me too
But he keeps playing 1B, which I really don’t understand why
Perhaps has already decided not to promote Carter this year, regardless of his numbers
I'm trying to figure out what the A's plan actually is
They could be planning to trade Barton and they could be planning to trade Carter. Barring either of those — and I think both are very bad ideas, personally — why have they played Carter almost exclusively at 1B, not giving him a chance to learn LF, not getting accustomed to the art of DHing.
If both are on the team, what happens in April, 2011 if Carter is totally ready?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Maybe the A's will do to Barton/Carter next year in ST
what they did to Chavez this year.
Have Barton/Carter play the field in ST and then before the start of the season…
Oh yeah, BTW, you’re the full-time DH…go get ’em
Yeah...
Me too. We aint winning this year. Make Carter Learn LF and Taylor RF.
"Carter's 25-game hitting streak isn't any normal streak. He's 46 for 97 (.474 average) during the run, adding 16 walks and compiling 81 total bases in the process. I'm out of superlatives for what he's doing." - Kevin Goldstein
Career?
I think he’ll be better than that, he seems to have a hell of a bat. It just takes him time to adjust to a league.
I don’t think he’d help the team much this year though – he has the raw power, but as you say he’d be taking at bats away from Barton or Cust. Unless they run him out there in LF.
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
No, I don't mean career
I meant right now. You’d probably get something like a .235/.320/.450 guy at first — a guy who had a lot of holes in his swing and had a not-so-good BB/K ratio but who bombed a few HRs along the way.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
That's not a bad line for someone like Carter
So if you master AAA pitching, does that mean you’ll be a good MLB hitter? No.
You can only do so much in AAA. Carter needs to see MLB pitching. If he starts the year in AAA again next year and hits .370 and gets called up and hits .230, then what?
I think what happens in this series will determine if Carter is called up or not.
This may have been the thinking with Cahill
2009 was needed to produce 2010.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
No, actually.
I’m fine with it if he spends all of 2010 in AAA, if the A’s feel he’s not ready. Especially since he doesn’t really have a position — he isn’t even accustomed to DHing where you could put Cust in the OF. If you call Carter up, you should put him where he’s comfortable and the only place that is happens to be 1B.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Carter walked 58 times this year and has a 12.8% walk rate
Juan Uribe never walked more than 38 times in a year at any level (although he might this year). I don’t really understand where this “Carter doesn’t walk a lot” stuff came from.
"Rollins helps them with the small ball when he's not in the lineup." - Joe Morgan
It's not coming from me.
I just think that in his initial stint in the big leagues, he’ll probably walk less, and strike out more, but still HR and show power.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Just double-checked his stats,
and his OBP is .105 above his BA, so it’s not like he’s just been hacking. That is, he hasn’t been Cust but he also hasn’t been Kouz.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Oh yeah he's not a hacker - but he's not got amazing plate discipline either.
I think once he develops he’ll be a good hitter (possibly very good). I just think he’d be eaten alive by ML pitchers to begin with – and we don’t have a history of being patient with struggling hitters.
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
He may also have good plate discipline
but not always great pitch recognition. In other words, he’s willing to work the count and take a walk, but can’t always “walk the walk” (figuratively and literally).
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
If this team cared about winning this season then they should have brought Carter up
starting with this series, they face Lee, Wilson and Danks this week and he rakes against lefties instead we get to see a terrible Matt Carson for no reason whatsoever.
Enough with the babying guys around the guy can help us win games against left handed pitching so he should be here.
Chris Carter is the next Hank Aaron right?
by streetisclosedin08 on Jul 28, 2010 5:58 AM PDT up reply actions
I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH DELUSION!!!!!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Did Kerwin Danley ever find his dog?
“Don’t pet him; he’s working.”
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I wonder what's gonna happen this offseason
Are the A’s gonna try to trade Barton?
Will they make him switch positions?
Are Carter and Barton gonna platoon 1B/DH next year?
I’m quite curious
Interestingly, the pitch f/x doesn't say the zone was that bad
Called the inside pitch a lot, but it was the same both ways. Other than that, not too many outliers.
rebuildingseason.blogspot.com
by Rebuilding Season on Jul 27, 2010 10:46 PM PDT reply actions
This is courtesy
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zoneTrack.php?month=7&day=27&year=2010&game=gid_2010_07_27_oakmlb_texmlb_1/&prevDate=727 btw.
rebuildingseason.blogspot.com
by Rebuilding Season on Jul 27, 2010 10:50 PM PDT up reply actions
That's not that bad?
Look at all of the balls in the lower half. And the huge amount of inside strikes to lefties. If that’s not bad, then we really need electronic umps.
I guess I was mostly looking at where the strikes were called
You’re right, he did call a lot of balls in the lower half of the zone, but at least it was mostly consistent.
rebuildingseason.blogspot.com
by Rebuilding Season on Jul 27, 2010 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions
So what's what? Triangles are strikes and squares are balls? (or vice versa)
Or is one swinging strikes and one called strikes?
"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig."
Red is Strike, Green is Ball
Square is is Texas, Triangle is Oakland. Pitches swung at are not graphed.
rebuildingseason.blogspot.com
by Rebuilding Season on Jul 27, 2010 10:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Why isn't it showing up on BB?
All the other games are showing up, but I don’t see no squares or triangles
""Imagine if you go there to see Miss Universe and you end up having Miss Iowa..." - Miguel Batista
Gio Learning. Me Likey......
More and more and MOAR groundballs – check
Palatable number of walks – check
Getting to 6 innings most of the time – check
Please sign him to a deal like Anderson’s
Kthanxbye.
Is this the real life-
Is this just fantasy-
Caught in a landslide-
No escape from reality-
Could Be Good
Well, we signed Anderson big time, and he’s injured a lot. Gio isn’t, and he got skill, so it could be seriously useful.
Tough loss. I now hate Nelson Cruz. First he robs Kouz’s game winning shot, and blow sup the game in the 10th.
gio hasnt had good "stuff" in months
yet he is so god damn awesome and understanding how to deal with it. he gets better every inning.
His stuff was much better last night than it had been.
His curve was quite good.
The thing about Gio is that his changeup really helps make his fastball look better, the more he throws his changeup (seemingly at least, I’d be interested to draw up a correlation graph), the more swinging strikes he gets on the fastball. The problem is his changeup sucks. Fangraphs has its linear weights value as -1.61 per 100 thrown, that’s awful. So there’s a real contrast there between game theory and not wanting to throw a pitch that isn’t good.
"Life is a horizontal fall" -Jean Cocteau
by King Richard on Jul 28, 2010 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Same as Sheets --
even when a pitch is bad, sometimes you have to throw it enough just to make your good pitches better. It’s really, really hard to thrive as a 2-pitch pitcher.
I wonder if just as Cahill jettisoned the slider for the spike curve whether there’s a better “third pitch” Gio can find. Splitter? Cutter? Obviously what needs to happen is that his changeup improves. But even until that happens, he needs to throw it more than twice a game.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Forkleball
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
I love the idea of the splitter.
Gio could really use a pitch like that, which he could throw low and outside to righties in the mode of Mark Mulder.
Splitter (as long as your hands are big enough), is actually not that hard a pitch to throw too, I would imagine someone could teach him.
Gio just really needs to be able to throw something on the outside corner to righties, because as it is, it’s ALL inside, he can never locate the fastball on the outer half.
"Life is a horizontal fall" -Jean Cocteau
by King Richard on Jul 28, 2010 11:56 AM PDT up reply actions
For a 90s-fastball 70s-curveball guy,
an 80s-changeup could work wonders. Not sure why he refuses on throwing it.
Very impressed with Gio last night
and very umimpressed with the Umpiring. Probably one of the worst cases of calling a game I’ve ever seen- he was inexcusable. I hope MLB Umpire monitors review this game.
The greenmachine
new rule:
no more going to extra innings @ texas, or in any road game for that matter.
BK: This guy is on fire, he is really smokin'.
KenKo: Oh yeah, Bill? What's he smokin'?
The Big Q:
What’s worse? Bob Geren’s managing or Kerwin Danely’s strike zone last night?
I say Bobo. He manages like Ronald Mcdonald
What did he do wrong last night?
"We were shit, pathetic," Guillen growled early in spring training. "We hit too many home runs."
by lenscrafters on Jul 28, 2010 8:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Nothing
Last Night, Bob Geren didn’t mess up in anyway. However, I can name a few games where he fell apart:
A’s v.s. Twins: Bobo orders an intentional walk of justin morneau that sets up a walkoff for Minnesota
A’s v.s. Chicago:
The A’s won, but three late runs could have been avoided. if bobo hadn’t pulled out Dallas Braden early and gotten id of ziggy after one batter
Ronald McDonald seems to be doing pretty well for himself.
I wish the A’s were that successful.
"We've come a long way, and I'm not talking about Virginia Slims, either." - Art Howe
Isn't CB Bucknor home plate ump tonight
Oh shit. Ejection time.
""Imagine if you go there to see Miss Universe and you end up having Miss Iowa..." - Miguel Batista
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
