Quote: Originally posted by prezuiwf on 3/31/2010Way too many pitches per outing. There almost seems to be a direct correlation between the number of pitches he throws and the numbers of runs he allows. To me, a guy with 29 stamina should have a max pitch count of 30, and even 25 wouldn't be a bad idea. I've been a lot happier since I started to go very conservative with my relievers' pitch counts. That's factor #1.Factor #2 is that he's not an excellent pitcher to begin with. 68 vRH will get you into trouble when coupled with 72 control. Toss in the fact that he has no out pitch and there's not much reason to think he's anything special-- a guy with that control/splits combo should at least have a pitch in the high 80's or 90's to balance out the rest of his mediocrity. To be honest I'm shocked that a guy with these ratings was given a $10 million signing bonus unless it was the end of the year and you just had a lot of unspent cash (or your scouts were way off).Factor #3 is your defense. Virtually everyone you have in the field is below the recommendations for their positions; very difficult to justify complaining about pitchers' performances when you don't care about defense. The only regular starter you have who meets all the recommendations for his position is your fielder. Even your SS (who with his 41/69/40/64/21 batting ratings one would expect to be an excellent fielder) falls slightly below recommendations in glove and arm accuracy. I used to not care about defense either, then I went out and got myself a couple defensive studs and it's been like night and day with my pitching staff. I can't understate how important defense is if you want your pitchers to consistently pitch well.Factor #4 is luck. No one wants to hear it, but obviously your guy has just been unlucky. Last year's ERA of 5.63 also seems high but is a lot closer to being realistic for his ratings. If he's the best option you have for your bullpen, keep throwing him out there (with lower pitch counts of course) and his ERA will start to even out.
#1 - I think you're spot on with this. I've lowered his pitch count and will see how that affects his numbers.
#2 - I really disagree with this. Obviously those ratings are relative to what everyone in the league has and there are plenty pitchers with WAY worse ratings against RH and command and with worse pitchers who have WAY better numbers in this league. This guy:
Mariano Bonilla has a sub-4 ERA for instance. A 68 vs. RH isn't great, I agree, but it's DEFINITELY better than a 10 ERA. That I think is undeniable.
And yes he was signed at the end of an IFA period, still given our IFA market I didn't think the price was that outrageous. I probably would have paid 6-8 for him mid-season and felt pretty good about it. I've signed players with way worse ratings who have done much more.
#3 - I hear ya, although I think you overstate my defensive issues a bit. Saying I don't care isn't quite fair. My SS is 83/83/91/82. My CF is 87/81/56/60, my 2B is 87/68/54/63, I often play a guy at 1B who is 75/65/57/53. It's not like I've got 9 DHs out there. Not hardly. And furthermore if defense was the culprit I would be having these issues across the board, wouldn't I? Why would poor defense target ONE pitcher on my team. Most of the rest of my guys have given me performances close to what I would have expected. Yoon's ERA is about 300x what I would expect him to put up.
#4 - I have no problem with luck. It's what makes the game fun and frustrating and real. I just have a hard time believing luck was the only thing making him so terrible.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. Like I said, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with his pitch count.