Stephen Strasburg Bullpen Strategy for Washington Nationals - A Bleacher Report Article

OK, the Washington Nationals could go into the playoffs as the best team in baseball and make the decision to not use their best pitcher, Stephen Strasburg.

Kind of crazy, right?

In my latest article for Bleacher Report, I try to figure out a way to still use Strasburg and stick to an innings limit under 180 from now to the end of the World Series.

It is thinking outside of the box. If the Nats win it all, they can thank me later.

You can read the whole article HERE.

 

Nationals Need to Use Stephen Strasburg in the Playoffs - A Bleacher Report Article

The Nationals may shut down Stephen Strasburg soon, regardless of their position in the standings. He is a once in a generation talent, after all.

But as I wrote in Bleacher Report, a Washington pennant could be a once in four generations event. And the perfect combination of events for a post season run might be converging for the Nats. And removing Strasburg from that scenario could be a big mistake.

You can read the whole article HERE.






 

The Nationals Should Bring in Strasburg for the Third Inning - My latest for Bleacher Report

I make my case for using Stephen Strasburg from the third inning on in my latest for Bleacher Report.

All I a want is to have the best pitcher on the mound late in the game. It is bonkers. It makes sense to ME, but I am strange.

To read the article CLICK HERE.


   

A stupid thought... why not bring in Strasburg in the 3rd?

Stephen Strasburg was dominant tonight.

13 strikeouts in 6 innings letting up only 1 earned run.
He got the win but they handed the ball off to the bullpen in the 7th.  Why? Because he hit the 100 pitch mark and Washington is still inching him along after his Tommy John surgery.

So in the critical 7th, 8th and 9th innings, where the margin for error is smaller, the Nationals weren't using their best pitcher.

Now the three relievers they used did the job and the Nats won, but a thought plopped into my brain.
If you know that Strasburg is on a tight leash, why not set up the game so he is pitching deeper into it?

In other words, on his scheduled games, have a reliever throw innings 1 and 2. Maybe a left hander or someone who pitches completely differently than Strasburg. Perhaps even a pitcher having his "throw day" goes an inning. Then in the start of the third inning, in comes Strasburg.

He could throw his 100 pitches but now that would last until the 7th or 8th innings.
He warms up like it is a start and you make sure he never comes in before the start of the third.

It might be a bonkers idea, but when my team only has 1 or 2 more swings left, I want my best pitcher on the mound keeping it close.

It's something that just popped in my head.

OK, that is a 100% lie. It has been stirring in my head since 1999.

I remember when the Red Sox beat the Indians in the clinching the 1999 Division Series.

Pedro was from another planet he was so good that year but left Game 1 with an injury. Nobody was sure if he was available for Game 5. The Red Sox started Saberhagen and  Lowe who were both rocked.

Pedro Martinez entered the game in the 4th. It was already 8-8.

Pedro then threw 6 no hit shutout innings. The Red Sox won and Pedro was on the mound to clinch it.

With their bullpen worn out and the starters totally ineffective, the Red Sox were able to have the best pitcher in the Solar System pitching in the late innings.

And I've been thinking in the 13 seasons that have passed "Why don't more teams do that?"
Especially when it is a super talented pitcher on a short leash.

You still get to monitor the innings but the best pitcher throws deeper into the game. If the reliever coughs up a run, there are 7 innings to make up for it rather than one or two.

It makes sense to me.
Which is why it is probably totally illogical.

Either way, I wanted my thoughts on the matter recorded before it becomes the new trend!



 

New Sully Baseball Video "Babying Pitchers"

In the latest Sully Baseball Video, I talk a little bit about the insanity of babying pitchers. The practice doesn't make sense and frankly the numbers show a pitcher needs to be worked rather than pampered.

Well, I'll let the video do the talking. As always the video was made with my amazing wife Lisa. This one was shot in San Diego last weekend.

To see the previous Sully Baseball Videos, click here.

Stephen Strasburg should only throw home games for the rest of the year

I am actually dead serious when I say that.

It makes all the sense in the world for the Nats in 2010. Strasburg is the face of the franchise. He's the only reason anyone gives a damn about the Nationals.

Oh yeah they are doing better than they were last year and the year before... but those were years they lost 103 and 102 games. They were able to draft Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg because they were monumentally dreadful.

And yeah they are the best team in the Beltway, but that's because the Orioles are on pace to go 43-119.

People watch the Nats because of Strasburg and that's it!
So the Nationals are understandably going to be cautious to not wreck their prized arm (see Prior, Mark.) So they will probably set him on an innings limit.

But while the Nationals don't want to kill the Golden Goose, they also want to cash in some of those golden eggs!

Today there were nearly 40,000 on a Wednesday afternoon to see him pitch. The team normally draws about 20,000 to a game, often less. But they just about double that number when Strasburg is on the bump.

And I bet that most of the fans left Nationals Park happy today even though their team lost.

They saw Strasburg pitch beautifully again. 6 strong innings, 9 strikeouts and 0 walks for the tough luck loss.

The fans were buzzing and a park that last year would be lucky to draw 12,000 on a weekday afternoon pulled in 3 times that.

Which brings me to my original thought.

When the Nationals go on the road... don't pitch Strasburg!

Shut him down then. You limit his innings. He gets 6 or 7 days off.
In one stretch between July 16th and July 25th, he will have 10 games where he has off.

Then, right now, you announce that he will pitch the first game of every homestand.

And watch the advance ticket sales go up.
People want to see him live. People know this is an extraordinary pitcher and so far he has been delivering the goods better than anyone thought he would... and people are clearly going to pay to see him.

So why have Baltimore, or the Mets, or the Marlins, or the Braves or the Diamondbacks make dough off of this.

If 40,000 are going to pay, have them pay in DC!
If 40,000 are going to buy a pretzel, some dogs, chili at Ben's and $8 beers, then buy them at Nationals Park.

The Nationals can build up a fan base this way... going to the games can become an event and something that the fans can share.

I know it sounds like I am joking, but how does this not make sense?

Innings limited? Check.
Profits maximized? Check.
Fan base pleased? Check.

It makes sense to me!

Once again... Roy Halladay is super human

Yesterday C. C. Sabathia was throwing a no hitter into the 8th inning before he finally let up a hit to Kelly Shoppach.

Joe Girardi revealed later that no matter what, Shoppach was going to be Sabathia's last batter. He had already thrown 111 pitches.

The hell?
The guy could throw a no hitter and suddenly he's on a pitch count?

The reasoning was it was early in the season... they don't want him to wear down... and they are thinking about October.

Meanwhile Roy Halladay went out and threw a complete game victory.
Do you know how many pitches Halladay threw?

111.

And once again, as far as I know, there was no priest on call to deliver his last rites.

Halladay isn't built like Sabathia, but nobody seemed concerned about him wearing down.
And I think it is safe to say the Phillies have their eye on October as well.

I guess Halladay is super human.
Last year I openly wondered if he was a freak of nature or if the pitch count phenomenon is a tad nuts.

Well all of these innings are taking their toll.
I mean he looks like he is on his way to his 6th top 5 Cy Young finish and today he got win #150... making him halfway to the big number.

I wonder what his secret is.
We should ask his father, Jor-El.

So is Roy Halladay just a freak of nature?

With Randy Johnson on the verge of 300 wins tonight, everyone seems to be lamenting the end of the 300 game winners.

As if the kind of ace pitcher who would win 15-20 year in and year out will go the way of the dodo.

Meanwhile last night in Toronto, a certain pitcher showed us all how it is done.

Halladay struck out 14 batters in a game the Blue Jays needed to win in order to keep pace with the Red Sox and Yankees.

But here's the other amazing part. When he got into trouble (and please sit down when you are reading this) he was allowed to pitch himself out of a jam.

He threw 133 pitches, and yet nobody is airlifting him to the Cleveland Clinic to see if his arm needs amputation.

Is he a freak of nature, this pitcher who throws complete games and consistently leads or is in the league lead of innings pitched?

I wonder how many pitchers who have been babied out of the minor leagues could have flourished the way Halladay did if they were allowed to pitch.

Is Halladay more talented than say Tim Hudson? 

Maybe. Maybe not. But by age 25 Halladay was leading the league in innings pitched.

And now with a 9-1 record, his low ERA and leading the league in innings pitched, he seems well on track for his 5th top five finish for the Cy Young Award (including 4 straight top 5 finishes and winning the award in 2003.)

Why can Halladay do it and others can't? Or maybe they aren't allowed to.

Halladay has 140 career wins. He isn't even halfway to 300. 

I predict he will win at least 10 more games this year and get to the halfway point at age 32.

Then he would have to average 15 wins a year between 2010 and 2019.

How's about this for a prediction?

Come back to Sully Baseball in 2019. We'll be celebrating Roy Halladay on the verge of 300 wins. And people will be saying about Halladay the same thing we are saying about Randy Johnson... will we ever see it again.

Sure we will. 

If you let pitchers PITCH!

(By 2019 blogging will seem as quaint as CB radios now... I'll be 47 and my twin boys will be 14 years old and embarassed that their old man is still blogging!)

Can we stop the babying of pitchers?

Between Phil Hughes injuries, Ian Kennedy pitching as well as Teddy Kennedy and Clay Buccholz stinking up the joint, I am hoping it will be the end of this insane babying of pitchers.

All the Joba rules and treating the 2008 season as Joba's private spring training didn't prevent him from going on the DL when he was needed most.

Treating Kennedy like John Travolta in the Boy in the Plastic Bubble didn't prevent his year from stinking worse than Battlefield Earth. (That's two Travolta references in one sentence.)

And my Red Sox treated Buccholz like he was the egg in Risky Business... and look how that turned out. He's in AA Portland!

Here's a radical idea:

Have pitchers pitch.
If they are in the show, show that they have earned it.

I have seen a grand total of zero positives of treating pitchers like fabrege eggs. Go out there and pitch some f---ing innings!

Who would have thought that Carl Pavano would have only one fewer win than the combination of Hughes, Kennedy and Buccholz?

Can someone please show me the pitching staff that has had long term success by turning their drawers brown when a starting pitcher hits 6 innings?

This is why I was advocating Joba for the bullpen:
If your starters are only going 6 innings, you had better be sure talented pitchers are throwing the 7 and 8th innings... because if they blow the lead, you only have 2 or 3 chances to get it back.

Granted that point became moot when Wang got injured and Joba HAD to start.
But still, all the babying in the world for a big guy like Joba... and he's hurt when the Yankees need him

And the tyranny of the pitch count makes no sense.
Sure a pitch count works when you have a guy who tends to wear down (something that Grady Little had a hard time grasping.)

But not every pitcher is built the same and not every pitch has the same amount of stress on the body.

Which is more stressful? Pitching in a 9-0 game or a 2-1 game?
Oh that's right... games are played in vacuums. I forgot.

It's MASS INSANITY!
People are suscribing to a theory that has never worked and yet is being treated as gospel!

They are using the Rick Peterson method that has led to injuries for Mark Mulder, Zito stinking up the joint and Rich Harden needing to legally change his name to "Injury Prone Rich Harden."

Why not have pitchers pitch like Mazzone had the Braves pitch?

Mazzone had Glavine, Avery and Smoltz...
Maddux had his best years with him
As did Neagle, Mercker and Millwood.

And how many pitchers got their careers back on track with him?

My God he made a career of polishing turds and then having those turns sign big contracts with the Yankees

Think Chris Hammond, think Jaret Wright, think Kyle Farnsworth

But better not follow HIS example
Better follow Rick Peterson's whose teams have won fewer post season series than the 2007 Rockies.

Better keep babying pitchers and blowing their arms out because they are so fragile.

Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

But what the hell did HE know?