When you say the bullpen has been on fire, that certainly doesn't include Stripling, Fields, and definitely not McCarthy!!
After I posted this morning, I got the newsletter for the Dodgers Dugout from Houston Mitchell of the LATimes. He broke down some stats in that article:
--Let’s talk about Rich Hill for a moment. Dave Roberts pulled him after he pitched four strong innings Wednesday, because he was about to go through the Astros' lineup for the third time. The Dodgers gave him a three-year, $48-million contract in the off-season. I thought it was a good deal at the time, but here’s what I don’t understand: If you don’t think a pitcher can successfully pitch through a lineup for a third time, why are you giving him $16 million?
The thought process this season is that a starting pitcher, particularly Hill, turns into a pumpkin when he faces a lineup for the third time. Is that correct in Hill’s case? Let’s look like at the numbers this season.
First time through a lineup the opponent hits: .192/.286/.318. That’s really good.
Second time through a lineup: .236/.324/.450. Uh oh, numbers are going up.
Third time through the lineup: .158/.208/.200. Wait, what? His numbers are actually better the third time through the lineup than any other time?
Well, perhaps this season is a fluke and over his career he has been hammered during his third time through a lineup. Let’s look:
First time through: .221/.311/.339
Second time through: .222/.306/.386
Third time through: .227/.294/.384
Gee, I’m not seeing a big difference. Which makes the decision to remove Hill after four innings a bad decision. He went four innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out seven and walking threeMe: Also, Hill was due to hit 2nd in the bottom of the fifth, so why not let him try to get through the fifth and then pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning.
IMHO, it is a huge ask to have a bullpen pitch FIVE innings out of a 9 inning game, when the starter is doing just fine and has a good pitch count after 4 innings, especially when you consider that both Morrow and Kenley pitched the night before.
And I've continuously heard that they are comfortable with Kenley pitching with a 2 run lead late. Yeah he was being asked to pitch 2 full innings with a man on second and ZERO outs in the eighth having pitched the night before. That's asking a lot, even by Kenley's standards.
Hopefully this will eliminate Roberts 4 inning starts for effective starters going forward.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2017 02:59PM by sacram.
