April 2021 game thread

[Nick]

So far Holloway is too in the strike zone. Never thought I’d say that.

[Erick]

Holloway is not a starter.

Why do we have to force dumb shit like an old school team? We just had a 9 inning, 11 K shutout last week with a bullpen game, but we just have to have 5 traditional starters even if 2 of them can’t do it.

God forbid we act more like the Rays who win a lot more than we do every single year.

[Namaste]

jordan holloway going tonight. super excited to see if he can give us 4 good innings and continue to show the improved control.

He looked very nervous and super rushed. When you’re on the mound in your debut as a starter it’s all about what’s going on in between your ears.

[Erick]

It doesn’t help that Chad Wallach is catching. This guy is the worst.

[Erick]

There are certain nights that this franchise makes me want to be a Rays fan. This is one of them.

I don’t understand why this team (and many teams) are so against the stats. It’s been proven that openers/bullpen games are better than this crap.

[Erick]

Now we have Ross Detwiler warming up in the 4th inning because, shocker, Jordan Holloway isn’t going to go deep into games with his control anyway. WTF is the difference, just have a bullpen game from the get go. It worked out last week the way it was done.

[Erick]

Sierra was just picked off down 5.

*ways to get demoted*

[Namaste]

Imagine getting picked off of 1B down 5 runs

[fish16]

sierra needs to go desperately. we dont need a 5th OF let alone one who can't hit, cant run the bases despite having some of the best speed in the league, and doesn't look anything special in the field. Get someone who can actually provide something as a pinch hitter off the bench. it's not 5 years in the big leagues, he's hitting .241 with a .562 OPS, he's just 14/22 SB, and he has absolutely 0 extra base hit ability. he is a completely useless player.

[fish16]

Now we have Ross Detwiler warming up in the 4th inning because, shocker, Jordan Holloway isn’t going to go deep into games with his control anyway. WTF is the difference, just have a bullpen game from the get go. It worked out last week the way it was done.

that was a bullpen game? What are you talking about? The rays opener's generally go 3-4 innings, essentially enough for them to go 2 times through the order, max. elieser is a 5 inning pitcher max but they desperately need that back. We have a top 5 first 3 guys in the rotation but we cant get any sustained consistency because our lineup is decimated with injuries and our 4 and 5 spots in the rotation have been abysmal also due to injuries. Having a competent back end of the rotation wont be the reason you make the playoffs, but it sure as hell can be a significant reason why you fall out of the playoff chase early.

[Erick]

that was a bullpen game? What are you talking about? The rays opener's generally go 3-4 innings, essentially enough for them to go 2 times through the order, max. elieser is a 5 inning pitcher max but they desperately need that back. We have a top 5 first 3 guys in the rotation but we cant get any sustained consistency because our lineup is decimated with injuries and our 4 and 5 spots in the rotation have been abysmal also due to injuries. Having a competent back end of the rotation wont be the reason you make the playoffs, but it sure as hell can be a significant reason why you fall out of the playoff chase early.

No they don’t.

Openers generally go 1-2 innings. Andrew Kittredge this year, for example.

The Rays don’t have 5 starters, they barely have 2 right now. Yet they still find ways to get effective pitching and win games. They don’t care what people think.

I thought we were headed in that direction, but apparently not.

[Nick]

No they don’t.

Openers generally go 1-2 innings. Andrew Kittredge this year, for example.

The Rays don’t have 5 starters, they barely have 2 right now. Yet they still find ways to get effective pitching and win games. They don’t care what people think.

I thought we were headed in that direction, but apparently not.

Rays typically have a guy that goes at least 4-5 innings during a game. Even if they don't start the game.

[fish16]

No they don’t.

Openers generally go 1-2 innings. Andrew Kittredge this year, for example.

The Rays don’t have 5 starters, they barely have 2 right now. Yet they still find ways to get effective pitching and win games. They don’t care what people think.

I thought we were headed in that direction, but apparently not.

andrew kittredge has started 2 games this year. Yarbrough goes 4-5 innings. Shane Mclanahan has gone 4 innings mostly because he is not stretched out yet and they are being careful with their young arms. the guys like yonny chirinos a few years ago were going 4+ generally. Trevor richards when he opens for them goes 4 innings the last few years. Josh fleming for them has at least 4 innings in each start. When their openers only go 2 innings it's because they are not stretched out yet, not because that's the plan when they use the opener.

The idea behind the opener is to not go through the lineup a 3rd time, not just to pitch 2 innings. If you have 2 guys in your rotation going 2 innings in 40% of your games, you're gonna blow up your bullpen arms by the end of the year, and that's even with having our top 3 be phenomenal so far. The entire idea behind the opener is to follow the data showing that non-starters will have issues getting through a lineup the 3rd time. That's why elieser Hernandez is the perfect opener to limit exclusively to 4 innings, maybe 5 innings max.

[Erick]

The idea behind the Yarbrough’s and Josh Fleming going 4-5 innings after the opener is that, yes, they don’t have to go through a lineup 3x around the order, but a different power arm before them can make them more effective.

We could be doing the same thing with Castano, for example, but we’d rather pretend he can go deep into ballgames.

Jordan Holloway isn’t a starter, but we were trying to get 5 innings out of him last night regardless of how many times he went through the order. It was a bad plan.

What the Rays do is more like what we did last week when Detwiler went 2 innings and then Holloway followed up with 3. We have the personnel in the system to do this and not burn out the bullpen imo.

The day we have 5 real starters which will be some time soon...great, let’s go with that, but until then we’ve wasted a lot of games this year trying to get guys to start that aren’t starters. Be more creative.

[Erick]

It’s not a gimmick either, look at Yarbrough’s stats as a starter compared to how much better he is as a “bulk reliever.” FYI