Should the Giants Start Petit in the Playoffs?

[Rog]

Should the Giants start Yusmeiro Petit in the post season?

My first thought was, why not?  My second thought was, he's probably doing it only against the bad teams.  Then I took a look.

Yusmeiro's ERA is 3.18 against winning teams.  Take out the Pirates, and it's half that.  All but two of his 19 outings against winning teams have come in relief, but still ...

I'd say that as hot as Petit has been (only a start in Colorado with the entire atmosphere seeming to be blowing out has been poor), if he keeps it up, why not?  I'm back to that point again.

It isn't likely to happen.  More than likely it shouldn't.  But if Petit is the hot starter going into the post season, why not?  At the moment, Tim Lincecum is a rotation afterthought.  With all the good relievers the Giants have, it could be hard to even fit him into the bullpen.  But the odds are heavy that the Giants will do just that.  Frankly, Tim could be just some good relief work and two consecutive poor starts from Petit away from the rotation.

Barring injury, Tim certainly seems to be out of the post season rotation.  The question is whether he'll be on the roster as a reliever, and the answer will almost certainly be yes.

With regard to some role or other, the answer for Petit should be positive, as well.  The primary question would be the role. 

[rxmeister]

I just hope we get to the point where we're playing enough games to need four starters! I'm certain it will be Vogelsong instead of Petit, unless Vogey blows up and Petit is dominant in their remaining starts.

[Rog]

Ryan certainly held serve last night.

[klaiggeb]

I agree, Mark. I can't see him in the rotation either.

Then again, Vogey caused my blood pressure to spike somewhere around 5,000 last night with his inability to command the strike zone early.

This was the same type of performance that Rog and I have been discussing; his outing in Colorado last time.

Nibbling is one thing, continuing to miss, and with an umpire with a gigantic strike zone(!) as he did... well, there really is no excuse for that. Especially when he's considered a 'dart thrower.' A guy with good control.

For me, this was 2 iffy outtings in a row, but I'm not ready to roll Petit into his spot either.





boly

[Rog]

All I can say is Petit certainly isn't (petite). Darn mobile dude for his size though.

An 84-pitch complete game while striking out 9 is VERY impressive. The weird thing about baseball is that you're trying to get the batter to swing and miss or else make enough contact to put the ball into play but not so much as to have the get through or fall in for a hit.

With two strikes, it's better to get the batter to swing and miss than get his bat on the ball. With fewer than two strikes, a swing and a miss costs no more than a foul ball -- and is infinitely better than a ball put into play.

Sometimes a batter is rewarded for little contact; sometimes he is penalized for making hitting the ball hard. When they said that baseball is a funny game, they forgot to mention that it's no fair.

Petit did a marvelous job of balancing swings and misses, called strikes and balls hit poorly enough or in bad enough luck to become outs.

Overall, Petit doesn't seem to be a particularly good pitcher, yet in the past year he has:

. Come within one strike of a perfect game.

. Broken the major league record for consecutive outs.

. Pitched an 84-pitch complete game which is rare and almost remarkable for this day and age -- especially while fanning nine batters.

[Rog]

One nice thing about Vogelsong is that he doesn't miss out over the plate a lot. Paints corners very nicely.

[klaiggeb]

Rog, again, you're basing your opinion on stats that you've cherry picked... and if we're talking playoff roster spots, cherry picked stats are the last thing I'm looking at.

I mean, in the playoffs, the selective stats are moot. Seriously.

Close to a perfect game, 84 pitch outing... record for consecutive outs...

What about his last start in Colorado? That, to me is so much more important than ANY of the things you referenced.

Heck, Don Larsen once pitched a World Series perfect game... but that doesn't mean I think any more of him than I did before that.


What I want to see is consecutive solid starts. Not yes, no, yes, no... which at the moment, is where we're at.

boly

[Rog]

I prefaced Petit's three excellent accomplishments the past season by saying "Overall, Petit doesn't seem to be a particularly good pitcher." He's a bit of an enigma in that his career has been mediocre at best overall. But he has put up a few stunning accomplishments.

Kind of like when Tim Lincecum was one of the best, he didn't throw a single no-hitter, and in fact didn't come very close to doing so. Then when his career started tanking, suddenly he threw one in two consecutive years.

To a fair degree, no-hitters are lucky. The best pitchers have a little better chance of throwing one (especially the high-strikeout guys who don't leave too many balls in the hitting zone), but there have been many, many mediocre pitchers who have thrown one.

Think Don Larsen was a great pitcher? Some would argue he threw the best game ever.

[klaiggeb]

Rog-Think Don Larsen was a great pitcher? Some would argue he threw the best game ever
---boly says---

Different answers to different questions.

1-Was he a great pitcher?

Nope. Not even close

2-Was it the best game ever thrown?

Considering the size of the stage... maybe.

boly

[donk33]

Sept 12, 2014 8:45:10 GMT -5 klaiggeb said:

Rog-Think Don Larsen was a great pitcher? Some would argue he threw the best game ever
---boly says---

Different answers to different questions.

1-Was he a great pitcher?

Nope. Not even close

2-Was it the best game ever thrown?

Considering the size of the stage... maybe.

boly

dk..I have the bat that might have been part of the last out...Dale Mitchell's Dodger bat......Dale gave it to my father, in Japan, right after the World Series....