Post by rog on Sept 21, 2018 14:29:00 GMT -5
The use of "openers" is spreading. The Rays began using it with Sergio Romo, who has now graduated to their closer (more on that later). Now the Twins are using it, and are now probably its biggest proponents, going so far as to implement it in their high minors. The Rangers and A's have made repeated use of the "closer," and the Blue Jays and Dodgers have used the concept as well. Notice all but the Dodgers (who used the concept only once) are in the American League, where the trend began (with the Rays).
Two teams stand out in facing hitters for the third and fourth times. The Indians, who have a very fine rotation, have done so with almost 1200 batters. The Rays are barely half that with 600 batters faced for the third and fourth times. The other 28 teams are in the 700 to 1000 range. The Giants are just above the middle, with between 850 and 900 batters faced a third and/or fourth time.
For those here who are against the idea -- and I think it's safe to say the jury is still out -- more teams are beginning to disagree with you. The information above is per Fan Graphs.
Now, about Romo: While I admire the Rays for opening the "openers" concept, I don't like the way they've handled the former Giant. Good idea giving him the closer job, but we know throwing his "no eye" slider takes a lot out of Sergio's elbow. So the Rays shut him down for 10 days on August 26th. So far so good.
Then they used him for a six-pitch save on September 4th. Based on how he came out of that outing, they shut him down for another 10 days. Still looking good.
But when he returned on September 14th, they used him FOUR days in a row. Four! In the first, he threw a scoreless inning. One might argue he did OK on the next three days as well, as he earned a save in each game. But he yielded two earned runs in his 2.2 innings. At least they gave him the next two days off. But when they brought him back yesterday, he gave up three runs in a third of an inning, blowing the save and taking the loss.
I think by now you all know I favor using relievers no more than every other day when possible, and would use a pitcher a third straight day only in close to an emergency situation. So needless to say, I thought using him the third straight day -- especially after pitching only one game in three weeks because his arm needed rest -- was a mistake. I thought using him the fourth straight day was crazy.
So I give the Rays -- who surprisingly are tied with the Indians for the fifth-best record in the American League -- credit for coming up with an innovation with the "opener," but I have to seriously question their recent use of Romo. I'm sure they used him four straight days to try to stay alive in the Wild Card race, but they made a big mistake IMO, and I hope it doesn't him time -- or worse, surgery.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I still like Sergio. At $2.5 million, it wouldn't have been the worst thing to bring him back. Maybe if the salary squeeze hadn't been so tight, the Giants would have done so. But if the Rays don't use him more prudently, he could simply be done.
Sergio is 35 now, and he's thrown a lot of "no-eye" sliders. Hopefully "no-eye" doesn't translate into "no arm."
Two teams stand out in facing hitters for the third and fourth times. The Indians, who have a very fine rotation, have done so with almost 1200 batters. The Rays are barely half that with 600 batters faced for the third and fourth times. The other 28 teams are in the 700 to 1000 range. The Giants are just above the middle, with between 850 and 900 batters faced a third and/or fourth time.
For those here who are against the idea -- and I think it's safe to say the jury is still out -- more teams are beginning to disagree with you. The information above is per Fan Graphs.
Now, about Romo: While I admire the Rays for opening the "openers" concept, I don't like the way they've handled the former Giant. Good idea giving him the closer job, but we know throwing his "no eye" slider takes a lot out of Sergio's elbow. So the Rays shut him down for 10 days on August 26th. So far so good.
Then they used him for a six-pitch save on September 4th. Based on how he came out of that outing, they shut him down for another 10 days. Still looking good.
But when he returned on September 14th, they used him FOUR days in a row. Four! In the first, he threw a scoreless inning. One might argue he did OK on the next three days as well, as he earned a save in each game. But he yielded two earned runs in his 2.2 innings. At least they gave him the next two days off. But when they brought him back yesterday, he gave up three runs in a third of an inning, blowing the save and taking the loss.
I think by now you all know I favor using relievers no more than every other day when possible, and would use a pitcher a third straight day only in close to an emergency situation. So needless to say, I thought using him the third straight day -- especially after pitching only one game in three weeks because his arm needed rest -- was a mistake. I thought using him the fourth straight day was crazy.
So I give the Rays -- who surprisingly are tied with the Indians for the fifth-best record in the American League -- credit for coming up with an innovation with the "opener," but I have to seriously question their recent use of Romo. I'm sure they used him four straight days to try to stay alive in the Wild Card race, but they made a big mistake IMO, and I hope it doesn't him time -- or worse, surgery.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I still like Sergio. At $2.5 million, it wouldn't have been the worst thing to bring him back. Maybe if the salary squeeze hadn't been so tight, the Giants would have done so. But if the Rays don't use him more prudently, he could simply be done.
Sergio is 35 now, and he's thrown a lot of "no-eye" sliders. Hopefully "no-eye" doesn't translate into "no arm."