Getting Creative With Strasburg
So we now know he's going to make his debut against El Buccos. Guess they wanted to continue seeing if he could get Triple-A lineups out. Ooooh! Lastings Milledge! I'm sure Stras is trembling at the formidable lineup.
Apparently some are kvetching about the bait and switch the Nats did with the 6/4 date, getting a sellout on a game that otherwise would've seen 18,000 miserable souls. Really... what the hell are these people thinking? They've got no reason to complain. The team (almost to the point of absurdity) didn't say a damn thing about when he'd start, and they went out of their way to say that they WEREN'T going to announce it.
So some people speculated and now they're complaining?
I don't understand what was so magical about 6/4 anyway. Really, if you're the team, wouldn't a Saturday or Sunday start -- and all the attendant press and attention -- have made more sense than a Friday game? I dunno. I would've bet the Sunday game had I decided to buy a ticket.
But to fault the team? That's horseshit. And that's coming from someone who isn't inclined to ever give these morons the benefit of the doubt.
If anyone bares responsibility for the 6/4 flurry its those most irresponsible of types: internet bloggers. These Keyboard Kommandos, on such sites as Nats Insider, Goessling Game and Sports Bog were the ones taking their shoes and socks off, counting days, and speculating. That was highly irresponsible of them, but what else would you expect from the mothers' basement sort? Leave it to the professionals -- nats.com -- to correct the record and dispel the sputum these quasi-wannabe journos were spewing.
I, for one, think you should ask these guys for your money back. Failing that, go watch the Reds and imagine which players, were you Jim Bowden and still in charge of the team, you'd be looking to acquire.
The Nats are making a mistake with Strasburg.
OK. I can't say that with certainty. But I sure wish they'd be a bit more creative.
We know he's going to give us about 100 IP. Let's assume best case scenario, he gives us 6 IP per average. Considering pitch counts, it may be less. But considering his groundball ways, it may be more. 6 innings, means he's getting about 18 starts.
It's hard to complain about that. But at the same time, I kinda wished they had tried something a bit different.
For one, I wish that rather than focusing on total innings, that they focused on total pitches. I know he's had an either/or cap, but it doesn't seem like all IP or pitches are the same. For the most part, this guy cruises. His average pitch is less stressful, you'd assume, than another guy. If he's at 90 and cruising in the 7th, keep him out there. If it's the 3rd and he's laboring, maybe you hook him early, instead of hoping he guts through 5 or 100 pitches.
Let's say he cruises in 2/3 of his starts, and hits that innings cap in mid-September. Maybe, considering his hypothetical less stressful workload, they should let him throw a few more games.
Or maybe move him to the pen? Maybe let him start a few games, then 'save' him, letting him pitch as the Batista-like garbage time reliever for a week or two. Then move him back to the rotation to close the season.
The Orioles of ye olden days used to start their starters in the pen. The Twins have recently -- someone named Johann... is he Belgian?
I'm not saying the Nats should do that, but maybe instead of running him straight through and then having to shut him down early, they could 'rest' him and save him a little bit at some point in the middle of the season.
Of course if he's 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 56/17 K/BB ratio after 7 starts, ain't nothing gonna take him out of the rotation.
I'm gonna say the Wednesday Bucco game. Why the hell not?
Apparently some are kvetching about the bait and switch the Nats did with the 6/4 date, getting a sellout on a game that otherwise would've seen 18,000 miserable souls. Really... what the hell are these people thinking? They've got no reason to complain. The team (almost to the point of absurdity) didn't say a damn thing about when he'd start, and they went out of their way to say that they WEREN'T going to announce it.
So some people speculated and now they're complaining?
I don't understand what was so magical about 6/4 anyway. Really, if you're the team, wouldn't a Saturday or Sunday start -- and all the attendant press and attention -- have made more sense than a Friday game? I dunno. I would've bet the Sunday game had I decided to buy a ticket.
But to fault the team? That's horseshit. And that's coming from someone who isn't inclined to ever give these morons the benefit of the doubt.
If anyone bares responsibility for the 6/4 flurry its those most irresponsible of types: internet bloggers. These Keyboard Kommandos, on such sites as Nats Insider, Goessling Game and Sports Bog were the ones taking their shoes and socks off, counting days, and speculating. That was highly irresponsible of them, but what else would you expect from the mothers' basement sort? Leave it to the professionals -- nats.com -- to correct the record and dispel the sputum these quasi-wannabe journos were spewing.
I, for one, think you should ask these guys for your money back. Failing that, go watch the Reds and imagine which players, were you Jim Bowden and still in charge of the team, you'd be looking to acquire.
OK. I can't say that with certainty. But I sure wish they'd be a bit more creative.
We know he's going to give us about 100 IP. Let's assume best case scenario, he gives us 6 IP per average. Considering pitch counts, it may be less. But considering his groundball ways, it may be more. 6 innings, means he's getting about 18 starts.
It's hard to complain about that. But at the same time, I kinda wished they had tried something a bit different.
For one, I wish that rather than focusing on total innings, that they focused on total pitches. I know he's had an either/or cap, but it doesn't seem like all IP or pitches are the same. For the most part, this guy cruises. His average pitch is less stressful, you'd assume, than another guy. If he's at 90 and cruising in the 7th, keep him out there. If it's the 3rd and he's laboring, maybe you hook him early, instead of hoping he guts through 5 or 100 pitches.
Let's say he cruises in 2/3 of his starts, and hits that innings cap in mid-September. Maybe, considering his hypothetical less stressful workload, they should let him throw a few more games.
Or maybe move him to the pen? Maybe let him start a few games, then 'save' him, letting him pitch as the Batista-like garbage time reliever for a week or two. Then move him back to the rotation to close the season.
The Orioles of ye olden days used to start their starters in the pen. The Twins have recently -- someone named Johann... is he Belgian?
I'm not saying the Nats should do that, but maybe instead of running him straight through and then having to shut him down early, they could 'rest' him and save him a little bit at some point in the middle of the season.
Of course if he's 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 56/17 K/BB ratio after 7 starts, ain't nothing gonna take him out of the rotation.
posted by Chris Needham at
9:51 PM
4 Comments:
Bait and switch? By StanK? Hell, no. He told you all along that undercoating was put on at the factory. There's nothing we can do about that at the dealership.
By
Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me, at 5/27/2010 1:33 AM
Great post Chris! The NATS FO have been fair about this. Stan (the man witha plan)using media hype to see tickets-who would have thunk it? On the other matter, I think they will be guided by Strasburg's first few starts as to how they proceed over the course of the rest of the season.
By
Sec 204 Row H Seat 7, at 5/27/2010 9:31 AM
I've wondered for years why IP is still the barometer for pitcher durability, etc., when pitch count seems to determine how long a guy stays going in each individual game. Like you say, there's so much fluctuation in pitches per inning that at best, measuring by innings is an estimate. From what I've seen of fangraphs and other similar sites, though, the inning is still the standard over periods longer than a single game.
By
Rocksteady, at 5/27/2010 10:26 AM
You stole my thunder. I was going to post a summary of fan reaction as "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", but I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of people pointing out the fact that the official position of the team was...no position at all.
Bonus points for your proper use of the subjunctive case in the Bowden graph. That's always nice to read.
By
Bote Man, at 5/27/2010 1:50 PM
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