Comments on: winning pitcher vs. losing pitcher http://www.oscargamblesociety.com/winning-pitcher-vs-losing-pitcher/ People don't think it be like it is, but it do. Sun, 20 May 2012 09:21:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Cliffy http://www.oscargamblesociety.com/winning-pitcher-vs-losing-pitcher/#comment-1239 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:41:05 +0000 http://www.oscargamblesociety.com/winning-pitcher-vs-losing-pitcher/#comment-1239 Tavarez has grown on me, we covered this last year - but I concede he shouldn't be relied upon for any extended period of time in any important way. Timlin's clearly done - but has nothign to apologize for in a career that produced four WS rings (and make no mistake, his contributions were plentiful and meaningful to those championship teams). Lopez is actually not a LOOGY, although he's commonly categorized as one: Over the past three full seasons, OPS-agains vs. LHB is 779 and vs. RHB is 783. His BA-against and OBP-against are actually *better* against righties than lefties. Lopez can't not be relied upon in any meaningful, long-term way. Aardsma seems to have "good stuff", if he could ever harness it. But Delcarmen is the issue. He was terrific last year, finally able to consistently throw both his hard fastball and sharp curveball for strikes on any count. I fully expected Delcarmen in the 7th, Okie in the 8th, and Pap in the 9th to be the bullpen set-up - and anything they got from the rest of the middle relief would be a bonus. But in addition to a high ERA (5.06) which can be deceiving for relievers, most troubling is that Delcarmen has allowed 7 of 12 inherited runners to score - compared with 5 of 26 all last season. *That* is the issue. Well... that, and the fact that Sox starters aren't exactly eating up innings... further exposing the weak middle relief. The Red Sox need their starters to go six-strong (at least, if not get into the seventh) - and they need Delcarmen (or someone else, if necessary) become that reliable link to Okie/Pap. Until that time, they will continue to lose eminently winnable games like last Thursday afternoon. Tavarez has grown on me, we covered this last year - but I concede he shouldn’t be relied upon for any extended period of time in any important way. Timlin’s clearly done - but has nothign to apologize for in a career that produced four WS rings (and make no mistake, his contributions were plentiful and meaningful to those championship teams). Lopez is actually not a LOOGY, although he’s commonly categorized as one: Over the past three full seasons, OPS-agains vs. LHB is 779 and vs. RHB is 783. His BA-against and OBP-against are actually *better* against righties than lefties. Lopez can’t not be relied upon in any meaningful, long-term way. Aardsma seems to have “good stuff”, if he could ever harness it. But Delcarmen is the issue. He was terrific last year, finally able to consistently throw both his hard fastball and sharp curveball for strikes on any count. I fully expected Delcarmen in the 7th, Okie in the 8th, and Pap in the 9th to be the bullpen set-up - and anything they got from the rest of the middle relief would be a bonus. But in addition to a high ERA (5.06) which can be deceiving for relievers, most troubling is that Delcarmen has allowed 7 of 12 inherited runners to score - compared with 5 of 26 all last season. *That* is the issue. Well… that, and the fact that Sox starters aren’t exactly eating up innings… further exposing the weak middle relief.

The Red Sox need their starters to go six-strong (at least, if not get into the seventh) - and they need Delcarmen (or someone else, if necessary) become that reliable link to Okie/Pap. Until that time, they will continue to lose eminently winnable games like last Thursday afternoon.

]]> by: shtiny http://www.oscargamblesociety.com/winning-pitcher-vs-losing-pitcher/#comment-1229 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:07:44 +0000 http://www.oscargamblesociety.com/winning-pitcher-vs-losing-pitcher/#comment-1229 You may not have Matt Cain on your roto team, so you may have missed the following: Matt Cain yielded one run in seven innings Wednesday in a no-decision against the Padres. Cain was in danger of falling to 0-3 before the Giants managed a tying run in the top of the ninth. The 23-year-old struck out a season-high seven in the contest. Dating back to last year, he's allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his last 10 starts and won none of them. At least the Sox have an offense that can bail out a shoddy bullpen. Okajima and Papelbon are obviously quality pitchers that should shut down virtually every lead that gets to the 8th inning. The key to the Red Sox is to have the starter go 7 innings. The middle relief choices aren't that good. Delcarmen has a decent arm, but he is a 50/50 guy in terms of runs allowed per appearance. Lopez is an acceptable LOOGY, but can't be counted on to pitch a full inning. Aardsma has major control issues so he is anything but reliable. Timlin is done, and I will be shocked if he is on the team post-AS Break. I have nothing positive to say about Tavarez, as I am sure you already know, and I see that First round bust Hansen is back giving up crucial HRs.... You may not have Matt Cain on your roto team, so you may have missed the following:

Matt Cain yielded one run in seven innings Wednesday in a no-decision against the Padres.
Cain was in danger of falling to 0-3 before the Giants managed a tying run in the top of the ninth. The 23-year-old struck out a season-high seven in the contest. Dating back to last year, he’s allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his last 10 starts and won none of them.

At least the Sox have an offense that can bail out a shoddy bullpen.

Okajima and Papelbon are obviously quality pitchers that should shut down virtually every lead that gets to the 8th inning. The key to the Red Sox is to have the starter go 7 innings. The middle relief choices aren’t that good. Delcarmen has a decent arm, but he is a 50/50 guy in terms of runs allowed per appearance. Lopez is an acceptable LOOGY, but can’t be counted on to pitch a full inning. Aardsma has major control issues so he is anything but reliable. Timlin is done, and I will be shocked if he is on the team post-AS Break. I have nothing positive to say about Tavarez, as I am sure you already know, and I see that First round bust Hansen is back giving up crucial HRs….

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