Every now and then, there are topics that don’t need 1,000 words of analysis, but should be addressed. Here’s this week’s version of “out of left field”:
Letting Sonny Go
I was OK with Joe Girardi leaving Sonny Gray in the game in the bottom of the 8th of a tie game last night. Normally, this is where I (along with most people who like to use evidence based decisions) would start to think, it’s the 8th inning, tied up, you have a great bullpen, etc. And I think more often than not, Tommy Kahnle would be the choice there.
But Gray still had some cushion with his pitch count and his “stuff” didn’t seem to be going anywhere. But far more importantly, it was only the 3rd time through the lineup and it was a very weak part of the lineup due up. One out, nobody on and a guy – Adeiny Hechavarria – with a .279 OBP and a .383 SLG at the plate doesn’t require a switch, I don’t think. Had Hechavarria got on base, then we may have needed to look at a switch for the top of the lineup.
Definitely a tough call – I would call it a 65/35 call and I think Joe made the right one. That’s of course if you’re going off of information and you’re not of the camp of leave him in “to gut one out”, or “these guys are coddled”, or “I wanted to see him finish”. Speaking of illogical ramblings…
Every time I think there’s no way one could be more unprepared, uninformed, unprofessional and intellectually lazy than Paul O’Neill – I hear Al Leiter speak into a microphone. Last week he said “I know there are percentages on this, but I don’t believe them.” (Wha…??) Last night he proudly admitted he didn’t know what “W.A.R.” was. I presume he also proudly, still cashes his paycheck.
Just when it looks like Joey Bullpen is getting better with the bullpen calls, he still writes out lineups that causes the inquisitive among us to ask “WTF…?”
For example, last night against left handed Blake Snell, Joey Lineup decided to put eight right handed batters in the lineup, Brett Gardner being the only exception.
Then he put Gardner in the leadoff spot. Holy rationale, Batman…
On May 28th, Starlin Castro’s OPS was 1.006. Since then, it’s been .743. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so, Yankee fans.
Things to say that make you sound stupid, #32:
“Didi can hit lefties”. .303 OBP, .361 SLG against lefties this season. He can hit lefties “poorly” is what you mean.
Things to say that that make you sound stupid, #33:
“The Indians streak only matters if they win it all!” Just stop. 162>7. You’re embarrassing yourself.
On another note, I’m as stoked as anybody about the Indians’ streak – it’s fun to watch and it’s great for baseball. But I just don’t understand the Moneyball hate. The ’02 A’s won 20 in a row with the 2nd lowest payroll in baseball, after losing the 2nd best player in baseball to free agency, and in unbelievably dramatic fashion (paging Scotty H., picking machine…) I’m only assuming that when you succeed in a manner in which you’re told you will fail, then have a book and movie tell the story, people get resentful. I don’t get it.
Last night, Suzyn Waldmyn growled quite condescendingly that she was rooting for the Indians to break the record just so they can beat the “Moneyball number”. I know, I know, Waldmyn will never be accused of being a deep level thinker, but really…come on…you’re that jealous? And I definitely don’t mean to single her out, but among the private conversations I’ve had and the social media posts I’ve seen, that kind of represented the “smallness” best.
Trivia answer
The answer to last week’s trivia question from our Facebook page (by the way, if you haven’t been over there to “like” it, get over there now – there’s a link on the side of this page):
Carsten, Aroldis, Didi, Starlin, Dellin, and Masahiro are the only players in Major League history to have those names.
As always, thanks to Baseball Reference.
mybaseballpage.com 