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Why did the pitching coach try to coach his player?
The role of the pitching coach isn't just to go and ask his pitcher how he's doing and to calm him down when he's stressed out. He's tasked with getting the best performance out of the team's pitchers now and in the future. He might have seen something in the pitcher's delivery that was off. He might have wanted to discuss the pitcher's choice of pitches. They might have been working on some mental techniques. It could have been for any number of reasons.
It was a BS move in a blow out. Talk to your pitcher after the game.
Okay, I think I have something figured out about why Buster Posey is having such a weird season. Despite his robust slashline .349/.447/.526, he has only 12 RBI, 7 of which came on solo home runs, meaning he has driven in only five teammates.
If we look at Posey's situational OPS:
Bases empty - 1.138
Runners on - .747
Runners in scoring position - .761
..it looks like Buster is just choking in the clutch.
But...
If we break down the situational stats we also find
Bases empty...99 plate appearances, 9 walks, one hit by pitch
Runners on...75 plate appearances, 14 walks, three hit by pitches
Runners in scoring position...40 plate appearances, 11 walks, 1 hit by pitch
So, with no one on base, Posey is given a free pass once every 9 plate appearances.
With runners aboard, he is given a free pass once every 4.4 plate appearances.
With runners in scoring position, it is a free pass once every 3.3 plate appearances.
Pitchers have not been challenging Posey with runners aboard. When he chases the garbage they throw him in those situations, his OPS goes down. The alternative is accepting the walk and forfeiting the RBI opportunity. Given how feeble the rest of the Giants lineup has been, it is the correct strategy to use against Buster.
It's now officially June in over half of the country, so let's run down the landscape at the quarter pole of the season (yes it's more than a quarter done, but the quarter pole sounds better than the third pole though). Right now, the Dodgers, Astros, & Nationals are the 3 best teams, and really it's not even close after that. I'd say the Astros are the best, followed by a bit of a gap with the Dodgers/Nats following behind in any order you want (I'd have the Dodgers in front of the Nats even though the Nats have more wins because the Dodgers division is better, but if you want to put the Nats 2 & Dodgers 3 no problems there) a large gap with the Yankees & Rockies bringing up the rest of the top 5 and than a pretty substantial gap to #6 (Diamondbacks?? Red Sox??) Obviously, it's not guaranteed that the Astros are going to make the World Series, and obviously only one of the Dodgers or Nats can make the World Series (if either makes it) but those 3 have definitely separated themselves from the pack heading into June. Anytime you can go into June with less than 20 losses, which both the Nats (19) and Astros (16) did, you are in line for a pretty damn good year. Now onto the divisions:
AL East: Who would have figured the Yankees would have the 3rd best record in baseball and Tanaka would be their worst pitcher?? Toronto dug themselves too big of a hole to win the division, but I think they get one of the 2 Wildcard spots, they are really coming on. Speaking of the Wildcards, both Wildcards should come out of this division again which makes the Jays coming back to nab one of them a bit easier. What the hell has happened to Baltimore??
AL Central: I'm still waiting for Cleveland to turn it on, but that rotation sucks. Detroit & KC's bullpen will lose more games than they win so they should be non-factors in the division. Can Minnesota really win it?? I have a feeling whichever team can get to 80 wins first probably wins the division....just because I don't see much better than 82-80/83-79/84-78 winning it.
AL West: Unless the entire 25 man roster for the Stros all goes on the DL at the same time or all gets sent down to AAA at the same time, everyone else is playing for 2nd, which doesn't sound like a fun race to watch. Will the 2nd place team finish with a better record than the Central winner?? I don't think so, but I think it will only be 1 or 2 games difference.
NL West: Easily the best division in the NL (the other 2 are completely terrible). Like the AL, this is a division that should nab both Wildcard's in the NL (did you know the D'Backs/Rockies are already 5.5 games up on the closest Wildcard competitor, while the last place team in the AL Wildcard (Royals) are also 5.5 back )?? Unless one of the Rockies/D'Backs/Dodgers completely go in the tank, those are gonna be 3 of the 5 playoff teams in the NL fighting for the division and than the home game for the Wildcard.
NL Central: My God, this is truly awful! Brewers are only 2 (3 now??) games over .500 yet still lead by 1.5 because the Cards & Cubs can't get out of their own way! Speaking of the Cubs, they probably miss Fowler a lot more than they thought they would. He was a steady presence at the top of the order, got on base to set up Rizzo & Bryant, and played great defense. So far this year the Cubs defense is worse, and they are getting virtually nothing from whoever Maddon puts at leadoff. Like Cleveland I'm still waiting for them to go on a run, but the subpar rotation, below average defense, and nothing for their leadoff hitters, they may never get that big run, but I expect them to still win the division. Same things that plagued the Cards last year (no offense, horrible bullpen, bad fundamentals) are reappearing in the last 2 weeks where they've lost 8 of 12, but luckily because everyone else in this division stinks too they've basically lost no ground.
NL East: The Nats and the 4 dwarves! At least the Cards actually have a .500 record, the soonest a 2nd division team can get to .500 isn't until next Tuesday! I talked about the Nats earlier this week, but they'd have to lose Harper, Zimmerman, Murphy, Scherzer, or Strasburg for an extended period of time (at least 2.5 months) before they got seriously threatened by this bunch of mediocrity. Sure, the bullpen is terrible, but any one of us could close out games against 4 of the 9 worst teams in baseball, records wise. I don't think the Mets are the 9th worst team in baseball, but you are what your record is.
It's June 1, and it already feels like the AL West, NL East, and the playoff teams from the NL West, are already set.
Speaking of the Cubs, they probably miss Fowler a lot more than they thought they would. He was a steady presence at the top of the order, got on base to set up Rizzo & Bryant, and played great defense.
Fowler isn't performing as well as he did for the Cubs. In 2016 he had a .393 OBA. This year for the Cards it has been .313. He compiled 4.2 WAR for Chicago, but it has been only 0.1 so far for St. Louis.
And he isn't playing great defense either. Last year he had 0.3 WAR defensively, this year it has been -0.5.
Re-obtaining Fowler would not solve any of the Cubs' problems.
I'll respect an ex-major leaguer's opinion on this one ... Did you play in the majors?
You mean you'll respect an ex-major leaguer's opinion when it agrees with your opinion and disregard the opinions of ex-major leaguers whose opinions disagree with yours.
Don Mattingly, the Marlins' manager, is also an ex-major leaguer. Did he take exception to this?
Juan Nieves, the Marlins' pitching coach, the guy who did the act, is an ex-major leaguer. Why don't you respect his opinion? He obviously knows the most about this specific situation.
You mean you'll respect an ex-major leaguer's opinion when it agrees with your opinion and disregard the opinions of ex-major leaguers whose opinions disagree with yours.
Don Mattingly, the Marlins' manager, is also an ex-major leaguer. Did he take exception to this?
Juan Nieves, the Marlins' pitching coach, the guy who did the act, is an ex-major leaguer. Why don't you respect his opinion? He obviously knows the most about this specific situation.
It was uncalled for nonsense that could have been handled after the game. BTW, there's a reason the Marlins stink ... Mattingly and Nieves are two of the main culprits.
I bet if you took a poll, the vast, vast majority of ex-MLBers would say it was bush league. Try again.
It was uncalled for nonsense that could have been handled after the game.
What was the situation that was being handled?
How do you know that handling it after the game was the right move?
How does the "ex-major leaguer" you referenced know that the situation was?
Quote:
BTW, there's a reason the Marlins stink ... Mattingly and Nieves are two of the main culprits.
How so?
Please be specific
These are ex-major leaguers. Don't you value their opinion over you own?
Quote:
I bet if you took a poll, the vast, vast majority of ex-MLBers would say it was bush league. Try again.
1) I don't know if you're right or wrong. You're just guessing.
2) So what? The vast majority of ex-MLBers aren't pitching coaches. And only one ex-MLBer is the pitching coach who knows the most about his that pitcher in that situation.
Don't bother answering these questions if your answers are going to be as thoughtless as your previous words on the subject. I'd advise you to think about the answers to the questions, though.
Last edited by CBeisbol; 06-01-2017 at 07:09 PM..
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)?? Unless one of the Rockies/D'Backs/Dodgers completely go in the tank, those are gonna be 3 of the 5 playoff teams in the NL fighting for the division and than the home game for the Wildcard.
