The Rays have struggled lately, but they’ve done surprisingly well overall this season despite numerous pitching injuries. One key reason is that they’ve pulled starting pitchers early in games, as Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan explains. The Rays have frequently removed starters after just five or six innings, even when they’ve been very effective, because batters tend to do much better against a pitcher the third time through the order. Rays pitcher Nate Karns says the team explained the strategy to its pitchers before the season. “They didn’t hand us a big spreadsheet or anything,” he says. “But they gave us what we needed to know. That’s something they’ve run a lot of numbers on, crunched a lot of data, and for me to have no numbers myself to refute it, I just trust them and believe what they’re doing is right. And it’s working.” The Rays’ rotation ERA of 3.29 ranks second in the American League despite injuries to a number of key pitchers. Here’s more from around the big leagues.
- Injuries to regulars like Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Denard Span raise questions about whether the Nationals should acquire another hitter at the trade deadline, Nats Insider’s Mark Zuckerman writes. As Zuckerman notes, the Nationals are currently three games up in the NL East, and they’ve been one of the NL’s better offensive teams overall. (A season like the one Bryce Harper is having makes a big difference in that regard.) The Nationals have also gotten nice contributions from players who didn’t project to be starters, including Danny Espinosa, Michael Taylor and Clint Robinson. But the Nationals simply have too many injured players for whom to cover. Zuckerman argues that a versatile regular like Ben Zobrist would be tremendously helpful in patching the Nats’ lineup.
- Alex Guerrero‘s contract with the Dodgers contains a clause that allows him to opt out after 2015 if he’s traded, but Guerrero might consider waiving that clause if he were paid extra, Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles writes. Guerrero (who can’t be optioned to the minors without his permission, either) has played sparingly lately, with Justin Turner handling third most of the time. Guerrero is currently owed about $12MM through 2017. He’s just 28 and has hit 10 homers in 159 plate appearances this year (albeit with a .277 OBP), so he could be a more appealing addition to the trade market if he’s willing to dispense with his opt-out clause.
Seems we could have a bidding war with Zobrist, with some connecting him to the Nats, Mets, Pirates among many others
Agreed.. He seems to be the key player that is expected to be available at this deadline.. He might bring a greater return than the TOR arms that are going to be available..
Eh, I doubt it. He really hasn’t played up to his normal standards, offensively, defensively and sabermetically. Hes still been a good bat, but versatility only takes you so far until you begin to struggle defensively (-0.7 WAR)
This isn’t the 2012 Zobrist we’re talking about here. He’s not as valuable now as he used to be.
Every team has known that players tend to hit better the third trip through the lineup for years.. Problem is that your bullpen is pretty much exhausted and used up by the end of August when they have to pitch 3-4 innings every single game..
Charlie, the word “like” means “similar to.” In those lists of players I believe you were going for the concept “such as” or “including” (the following).
It can also be used in the way it was used in the article, however it is informal.
The way I used the word is awfully common.
I know it’s common, and increasingly so, but it creates ambiguous meaning so it isn’t the best choice of words for purposes of clarity. Just a pet writing peeve of mine. Sorry for bringing it up.
Zobrist short term and Guerrero long term seem like the best upgrades for most of the contending teams.
I wonder how much it’d take Guerrero to waive his opt out? The Mets could sure use his bat.
…..and he can play 3rd pretty well.
Justin Turner to the Mets for Rafael Montero. Dodgers want/need pitching. Mets need utility infield help, and Turner can play all positions. This frees up a spot in LA for Guerrero or Olivera (when called up) to play 3B.
(And, yes, I realize Turner is a former Met.)
Montero is injured and practically untradeable right now because of the injury and nature of the injury. The Mets would be selling REALLY low on him right now. He certainly will not help them with their rotation issues right now either. Would the Mets trade him for Turner? Absolutely. But the deal will never get offered.
The Dodgers will not trade Turner right now. He’s one of their most valuable players in terms of cost/production/versatility. If they DID trade him, it most certainly would not be for a back end SP who is injured and struggling to get back on the mound.
Turner isn’t just a former met, he’s one that they bad mouthed as they pushed him out the door. Turner definitely wouldn’t be happy to play for the team that called him too lazy for $1 million salary. It’s a bad match. Wow the Mets sure are cheap.
A few years ago people were talking about tag-team pitching – the idea that 2 starting pitchers would share a game, as people continued to baby pitchers arms and limit pitches.
The Royals won with the 5-6 inning pitcher in 2014 as their 3 best pitchers were working an inning a game out of the bullpen, so Yost could take a starter out when he tired. Now the Rays are doing it by design, although their bullpen is not terribly good so the clock has struck 12 on their season.
Expect to see more of this.
There’s so many off days in the playoffs you can use every reliever pretty much every game. A great bullpen is definitely a greater advantage in October.
Great point! I had not realized that.
Learn something everyday posting here.
Zobrist to the Nats is the first team I’ve heard so far, that actually makes a TON of sense. C’mon, the Braves? The Mets? Neither of those teams has any business buying expensive rentals. The Pirates don’t like to pay very much for upgrades. They are content to keep allowing their farm to develop, and let things play out that way. The Nats, on the other hand…
He’d fill in multiple positions to cover for a variety of injuries. The team IS built to win now and when those guys come back, he would only make the team that much better.
FINALLY a deal that makes sense.
Don’t think Rizzo will go for Zobrist when he is fast-tracking Trea Turner. Turner now has about the same number of MiLB games that Harper had before being called up. Thinking (wishing) Turner will be on the team’s 40 roster by the end of the month, making up and down trips like Difo.
Edit: Thanks Admin for making me visible.
Give Turner a lot of credit for doing well in 2 offensive oriented leagues (Texas, Midwest) since he was drafted last year, but you may want to see how he hits/plays in a more even, or even pitcher oriented level/league before anointing him the next Harper/Trout ready to jump right to the bigs so soon.
Harper is Harper. True, Turner was hitting better out West before his move East, but it’s his glove and base running they all rave about. not his bat. There are still 20 days to determine when Rendon, Werth and Span will be back. Patience. Patience – regarding any Nats’ trade for a big bat. And remember, Rizzo didn’t trade for Asdrubal Cabrera until August last year. No hasty trades, I’m thinking.
Zobrist can play a number of positions. With Rendon, Werth and Zimmerman out, Matt Williams has plenty of places to move Zobrist to.