MLB 2008

[tongue-tied lightning]

not so sure bout that, be interesting to see though.

 

all the Yanks have to do is get to the 7th, game over with Joba.

 

and he can move into Rivera's closer spot.

[MrRain422]

Yeah, but they're not going to get to the 7th as often if they have shitty starting pitching.

[tongue-tied lightning]

yer right, that's why I didn't understand sitting pat with the 2 unproven rookies, and old man Musina.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

He'd be pitching more innings as a starter, right? I think that's probably the most important factor. Relievers just can't pitch as many innings because of the recovery time.

[tongue-tied lightning]

true, but 7 and 8th inning guys are very hard to find

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

There's a reason they're hard to find. If they're really good, they usually move into a different role eventually.

[MrRain422]

They're a lot easier to find than reliable starters.

 

Edit: What Jorge said.

[tongue-tied lightning]

don't agree

[bjorn_skurj]

If I were Omar Minaya, I would be seriously tempted to, if Duaner Sanchez holds up, slip Heilman into the rotation.

[MrRain422]

Granderson is going to be back in the next day or two, thank god.

[tongue-tied lightning]

put Heilman in for the 7th, then Sanchez, then Wagner, game over

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

don't agree

What's a good starter make? What's a good setup man make? Doesn't the first make more because they're in higher demand?

[Oil Can Boyd]

Gotta love an 11:00 AM start for a baseball game.

Happy Patriot's Day everyone!

[tongue-tied lightning]

I know, it's all true what ya say, but the way Joba pitches, then rivera, I leave them alone.

[jmacomber68w]

Gotta love an 11:00 AM start for a baseball game.

Happy Patriot's Day everyone!

 

 

I LOVE PATRIOT'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[bobbob1313]

If I were Omar Minaya, I would be seriously tempted to, if Duaner Sanchez holds up, slip Heilman into the rotation.

 

I think it's too late to put Heilman back in the rotation. That team ruined his career, in my opinion. He should've been starting from day one.

 

What's a good starter make? What's a good setup man make? Doesn't the first make more because they're in higher demand?

 

I agree with you, but not your reasoning here. You have your best pitchers start if they have the arm strength, and let the bullpen figure itself out.

[bjorn_skurj]

I think it's too late to put Heilman back in the rotation. That team ruined his career, in my opinion. He should've been starting from day one.

He was, and did not really set the world on fire as a starter.

[MrRain422]

To me it's pretty simple. You want your best pitchers pitching as many innings as possible without injuring them (or fatiguing them to the point that they're not longer good). If a pitcher is awesome, make him a starter and use him for 200 innings. If he's not quite that good, use him as one of your main bullpen guys for 60 or 80 innings. If he sucks, then you stick him in the back end of the bullpen. Yeah, you want some guys in your bullpen who are going to not give up leads, but the ability to pitch one good inning every 2 days is not as helpful to your team as the ability to pitch 6-8 every 5.

[bjorn_skurj]

To me it's pretty simple. You want your best pitchers pitching as many innings as possible without injuring them (or fatiguing them to the point that they're not longer good). If a pitcher is awesome, make him a starter and use him for 200 innings. If he's not quite that good, use him as one of your main bullpen guys for 60 or 80 innings. If he sucks, then you stick him in the back end of the bullpen. Yeah, you want some guys in your bullpen who are going to not give up leads, but the ability to pitch one good inning every 2 days is not as helpful to your team as the ability to pitch 6-8 every 5.

Complicating that a bit is the number of pitches a guy has. If he has only one or two, it's gonna be rough for him facing guys more than once a game.

[MrRain422]

Complicating that a bit is the number of pitches a guy has. If he has only one or two, it's gonna be rough for him facing guys more than once a game.

 

That's absolutely true. But I think that is kind of accounted for in considering how good he is. Joba throws 4 pitches, so he sounds like a good candidate to start.

[MattZ]

To me it's pretty simple. You want your best pitchers pitching as many innings as possible without injuring them (or fatiguing them to the point that they're not longer good). If a pitcher is awesome, make him a starter and use him for 200 innings. If he's not quite that good, use him as one of your main bullpen guys for 60 or 80 innings. If he sucks, then you stick him in the back end of the bullpen. Yeah, you want some guys in your bullpen who are going to not give up leads, but the ability to pitch one good inning every 2 days is not as helpful to your team as the ability to pitch 6-8 every 5.

 

I agree with everything you said, but wanted to highlight what I bolded. At this point of the year, yanking Joba from the pen and putting him in the rotation creates too much injury risk. I have to admit that I dont really understand why, but most players (current and former) say that it's an entirely different preparation process for pitchers and making a change like this midseason is incredibly risky.

 

In the old days, I threw 14 innings of stickball every single day in the summer. And I was the best pitcher in the hood.

[MrRain422]

I understand easing younger guys into heavier workloads, but I'm not sure why it would be such a big deal to change him to the rotation at this point. It's only a couple weeks into the season, and they can start him off on low pitch counts at first.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

They would probably need to stretch him out in AAA.

[MattZ]

I understand easing younger guys into heavier workloads, but I'm not sure why it would be such a big deal to change him to the rotation at this point. It's only a couple weeks into the season, and they can start him off on low pitch counts at first.

 

Well, in fairness, you'd have to admit that the stamina to pitch 6-7 innings is incredibly different than 1. As is the recovery time. So, I could understand why just going from the setup role to the rotation could cause problems. I would think that an offseason of strengthening and a spring training of rotation-type work could solve that issue, though.

[bjorn_skurj]

It should have started in spring training - I would keep him all this year in the pen, and think of him for the rotation in 2009.

It would be kind of cool if they made him into a Gossage-esque two-or-more-inning closer.