Comments on: Recap: Angels 4, Rockies 3

By: Agbayani

Agbayani — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:51:02 +0000

Cowboy, I take it you and Atkins won’t be going out for drinks after the game on this roadtrip. You’ve been pretty hard on him lately. In this instance I agree with you. Tracy sent him up there to drive the tying run in, not to put the potential winning run on 1st (and to set up the double play at the same time). This is the matchup we wanted, the best chance to get it done with Barmes up next. Say what you will about their respective performances this year; Atkins is the guy you want swinging the bat against Fuentes. An he stood there like a statue. (As they used to say about ripped boxer Joe Bugner: “built like a Roman statue, but with fewer moves.”)

By: Tracy Ringolsby

Tracy Ringolsby — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:27:00 +0000

Matt, he had one baserunner. Don’t know that you can say that is a lot. Also if he has watched Fuentes a lot he would know that Fuentes doesn’t bow to pressure and can bounce back from an adverse moment quicker than most. I don’t really find it excuasaqble to say he went up there intent on not swinging. If that’s the case the manager has to be questioned for even sending him up there to begin with.

By: Robb

Robb — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:08:15 +0000

Atkins was up there as a pinch “hitter”, not a pinch “walker”. As much as I have really enjoyed him over the years, it is tough to watch to wash out. Here’s hoping he turns it around.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:04:40 +0000

I wonder if it was specifically Atkins’ intent not to swing at any pitches. I think he remembered all those games sitting out at 3b watching Fuentes walk 1-2 batters each time out and figured to play his odds. Last night seemed to be another one of those nights when Fuentes had a lot of traffic on the bases, so part of me can’t really fault him for that.

By: WillM

WillM — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:42:23 +0000

As always Mike, enjoy your posts. I am only suggesting we should expect managers to “manage” their starters, keeping in mind all of the factors you mention. I am particularly impressed by Tracy leaning on his starters a bit more now while the bullpen is going through some transition. Ideally, if/when that situation improves, he will be able to lean a bit more in the other direction!

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:34:43 +0000

WillM–do you make any park adjustments for OPS? Do you consider that OPS underrates players with high OBP’s?

It seems like a pretty fair ballot, though there’s no way I’d put Tulo above Hanley. As for voters, I’m sure a lot of them voted before Tulo’s hot streak had a chance to impact his stats fully.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:28:53 +0000

The 100 pitch count rule is completely arbitrary and puts effective pitchers on the bench for no good reason.

It was likely chosen mostly for reasons arbitrary from a baseball standpoint (100 is a big round number) but it doesn’t follow that its effect is arbitrary. If pitchers are conditioned through widespread minor league and major league practice to go 100 pitches, it seems reasonable that changing to an average of 115 is going to be difficult, though this will vary by pitcher.

Marquis has not been throwing that many pitches, but he did throw 125 last start in an effort to get him a CG in a 6-run game. Given that statistically he has dropped off significantly in the 2nd halves over the course of his career, reducing Marquis’s workload when possible might be a good idea.

Finally, another reason for conservative pitch counts has to do the number of times through the order. The current limit of 100-105 tends to correlate with 3 times through the order (27 batters). The guys at the “Book” blog have found statistical support for bringing in fresh relievers in favor of leaving starters in for a 4th time through the order; and that makes some intuitive sense as well. That assumes your 7th and 8th inning relievers aren’t horrible, of course. But if the Rockies are interested in the playoffs, they’re going to need non-horrible 7th and 8th inning relievers.

By: WillM

WillM — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:13:52 +0000

I like seeing our starting pitchers stretched. The 100 pitch count rule is completely arbitrary and puts effective pitchers on the bench for no good reason. Let them pitch as long as they’re effective. The only problem for Ubaldo in the 8th was the walk – the rest was avoidable.

I cast my all-star ballots today. For one I created an index using statistics from offense (OPS) and defense (range factor and fielding %) for position players who have played at least 75% of games/inngings/ABs. My top three at each position (and the highest ranked Rockies player) are:

1b Pujols,Gonzalez,Fielder (Helton – 4)
2b Utley,Sanchez,Barmes
ss Tulo,Ramirez,Guzman
3b Wright,Sandoval,Blake (Stewart – 7)
c McCann,Hanigan,Ruiz (Ianetta – 4)
of Beltran,Ibanez,Upton (Hawpe – 7)

NL voters are doing a decent job with the exceptions of Tulo and Upton.

By: Derrek

Derrek — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:24:56 +0000

First thing is Barmes had a horrible night. 0-5 with 3 times coming up and a runner at 3rd with less than 2 outs, didn’t come through once. Then in the ninth a runner at 2nd and struck out. So bad night for him and that really hurt the Rox chances. Second, Tracy never should’ve brought Ubaldo out for the 8th. Even the announcers said in the 7th that this should be Ubaldo’s last inning. Then of course Stewart’s consecutive bad plays on the bunts really hurt. Barmes is now back to earth though!

By: TJ in Phoenix

TJ in Phoenix — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:35:57 +0000

Doc- I had that same “why Atkins” question in my head, but I’ll buy that line of thinking about him being familiar with Fuentes.

One thing that did impress me was Peralta, he came into a situation more messy than a soup sandwich (as my buddy would say) and he kept the game in reach (to say the least).

I have a feeling we’ll be focused tonight. Even if we lose tonight, as long as we don’t beat ourselves, I’ll not worry.

Go Rockies!