Poor Volstad Outing Along With Quiet Offense Lead to Loss Against Braves, 5-0

[Emperor]

Looking up verifiable statements before making them is fun!

In 2010, the Marlins had a .724 OPS for the season. They had a .756 OPS with RISP.

In 2009, they had a .756 OPS for the season. They had a .778 OPS with RISP.

We have a .247 BABIP with RISP right now. We are walking more with RISP. Power is down, but that's likely a result of the low BABIP. And we strike out only 1.5% of the time more often.

Unless someone sees something that the team as a whole is doing with RISP that is causing their struggles, I'm going to chalk it up to a bit of bad luck early on. If you do have an idea of what they're doing wrong, by all means, bring it up. I'm willing to look into it and see if there's anything to it. But until I see something concrete, it's just bad luck.

Runs like these happen during the course of the season. Just because it's happening at the beginning doesn't mean it's reflective of a teamwide failing.

Check the stats with the game on the line from last year. Mr Stats it seems I recall losing a lot of games that way last year, especially with Hanley in that position.

[Beef]

ehe, Mr. Stats.

[Emperor]

ehe, Mr. Stats.

Well he is throwing them out there

[Beef]

Lots of teams lose games that way, and they are the most memorable ones. Look at the way we win. Everyone says Leo makes for heart attacks because he almost blows games. If he is doing that, then other teams are likely doing against us what we did against "them".

[CrimsonCane]

Check the stats with the game on the line from last year. Mr Stats it seems I recall losing a lot of games that way last year, especially with Hanley in that position.

You don't just have to recall it. I heard that you can actually look these things up online very easily and you can have your preconceptions either confirmed or refuted. Who knew?

[Bobbob1313]

Check the stats with the game on the line from last year. Mr Stats it seems I recall losing a lot of games that way last year, especially with Hanley in that position.

What do you consider "the game on the line"?

[Beef]

Every situation in every game we lost

[Blackout Pact]

What's the over/under on Emperor making it through the week?

[Mainge]

If he could make it through the Civil War, he can make it through here.

[Ramp]

I am excite for the forthcoming posts

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

What went wrong for Chris Volstad on Tuesday night is something Marlins pitching coach Randy St. Claire has seen before.

Mainly, the problems Volstad had in a 5-0 loss to the Braves stems from being off with his delivery.

St. Claire noticed the glitch during the game, and between innings he received confirmation by comparing videos. Basically, St. Claire called up footage of Volstad from Tuesday and compared it to last year when the right-hander threw a strong game against the Braves. The unspecified problem was very clear, and it is something that the 6-foot-8 right-hander experienced at times last year.
"There are some issues mechanically that he's doing," St. Claire said. "We watched some video [Wednesday]. We'll attack them on the side."

Pointing out mechanical issues during a game is something St. Claire is careful about doing, because he doesn't want his pitchers to have anything else to worry about when they are on the mound. They often are addressed the next day, and worked on in between starts in throwing sessions.

"He started some bringing some pitches up in the strike zone, and he fell behind some guys," St. Claire said.

Volstad surrendered home runs to Jason Heyward and Brian McCann on pitches right down the middle of the plate.

"It was maybe more so, giving in, and saying, 'I'm going to throw a strike and make them swing the bat,'" St. Claire said. "Instead of just saying, 'I'm going to keep pitching, throwing my good sinker down and away.' He just got too much of the plate. I think some of it is the mechanical issue we addressed that is causing the mistakes."

Volstad lasted 4 2/3 innings, and he's thrown 9 2/3 innings in two starts. He is next slated to start Sunday at Philadelphia.

"There are some minor adjustments we are going to do," St. Claire said.

St. Claire trying to get Volstad back on track

[Mainge]

Didn't realize that being awful was a mechanical glitch.