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I missed the last 5 innings of the game as I had to work yesterday afternoon, so I have a question. Why was Mikolas pulled after only 74 pitches? I can speculate that it had something to do with his being on paternity leave, and not able to get in his regular between-starts work. But perhaps it was something else.
My fears coming in to the season was our bullpen would be weak. That and the shuffling plan, which makes it tough on managing the personnel for both the team’s management and the individuals involved.
I’m just glad Shildt didn’t use Hicks and Norris in a game we were losing. That is an improvement over the previous manager.
bikemike, I posted this at the time, back on page 4.
I dunno. The strategy comes into question more since Mayers did not deliver. Mikolas’ pitch count was low, but he was not cruising.
Mikolas had given up two hits in each of his last two innings and was bailed out in the fifth by a double play.
The Cards had two on and two out in a tie game with Mikolas’ spot up in the top of the sixth. The call was for Gyorko off the bench to pinch hit. It did not work.
It is hard to fault Shildt for going for the lead in that situation but what makes it difficult is the fact we have one of the worst bullpens in all of MLB.
The front office could do absolutely nothing this entire upcoming offseason except add two lockdown bullpen arms and this team could easily win 5-10 more games next year.
Thanks Brian. With two games played the day before, and Mikolas at only 74 pitches, I would have disagreed with the decision to pull him had I been watching or listening to the game.
So early in his tenure, I have not agreed with Shildt’s use of the pitchers at least a couple of times already.
And I continue to pose this question – why is Cecil still on the club? I understand no one will take him so management is in a bind, but man, don’t you just have to drop him at this point, regardless of the commitment, and at least give someone else a shot? Gomber was not all that good in his trial run, but he was better than Cecil.
Well, there were comments on the thread at the time that suggested Mikolas appeared to be on the ropes. Others noted that Mayers had been pitching well. He was rested and ready to be the long man. The Cardinals had a good opportunity to take the lead with a hit. In hindsight, the gambles in Gyorko as the pinch-hitter and Mayers in relief both failed.
Having said that, the downside in the big picture is that by starters not going deep, the pen is exposed. One reason for taking this risk is that the offense has been so weak. For example, had Mikolas been pitching with a lead, he might have been allowed to hit for himself and kept in for another inning or two.
Shildt seems to be more aggressive than MM. I like that aspect of him, however, aggressiveness also comes with more risk. Pulling your starter after 5 innings with a terrible bullpen is risky, starting the runners while bunting is aggressive and risky, etc… Sometimes these things work and sometimes they don’t but at least Shildt is trying to make something happen.
P.S. Perhaps the bullpen could be reconfigured. With starters like Poncedeleon and Gomber who may not have rotation spots long-term, why not keep a couple more long men like them around for cases like Sunday? Just a thought.
I could think of at least 4 or 5 bullpen arms on this team that could be bumped immediately and it wouldn’t hurt the team. Yes I’m in favor of keeping Ponce and Gomber.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m still a titch cloudy on how Cranny feels about MM, both as a manager and a person. Anyone care to put in 200 words or less?
Good comments on the decision Shildt had before him. Either way could have worked or failed. Mikolas has struggled some in his last few starts, at least compared to his earlier success. But anytime you hand a game over to our bullpen after 5 innings you have to expect trouble.
For us to have a chance, you really need 7 strong innings out of the starter, and then have Hicks and Norris both capable of pitching.
…and you need some timely hitting, which they did not get yesterday…
One way to look at it is that even with the pinch-hitter, the offense still did not score again. So maybe if Mikolas had remained in for another inning or two, they would have lost by “only” 3-2 or 4-2 instead of 7-2. Does it really matter? They still only scored two – and that is not going win many MLB games – unless 1968 Bob Gibson is starting for them every day.
Pugsley – There are certain people who are strong supporters of
MM and there are certain people who are strong detractors. The conversation has run it’s course on TCN. People have agreed to disagree and have moved on.Case closed gang. Just for the record, I was fond of MM…..but then I loved Vern Rapp with a passion too as a youngster.
I hope Shildt did not remove Mikolas only to pinch hit for him. I really don’t like removing a starter for a pinch hitter before the 7th inning. Unless the pitcher just doesn’t have it or has thrown a ton of pitches, I would rather keep the starter pitching than turn a game over to the ‘pen so early.
As noted, Mikolas had allowed two hits in each of his final two innings and was bailed out of a jam in the fifth by a double play. Some observers thought he was in trouble, but I don’t know what Shildt felt/said. Did anyone watch the post-game interview?
In a lot of Wainwright’s starts when he was considered an “ace”, he always seemed to have runners on base. A good pitcher figures out how to get out of those situations consistently.
I dunno. In his peak years, from 2008-2015, Wainwright’s WHIP was between 1.031 and 1.248. Those are really low, but they are macro numbers. They probably varied by start and inning.
Mikolas season WHIP is also stellar – 1.070 – and that includes his last two starts. Last night, it was 1.60. His final start before the break, it was 2.00. Now, I don’t want to put too much weight on one or two games, but the recent stretch is clearly atypical for him. Many more baserunners than usual.
On the bigger point, I get the value of sticking with one’s starters. So far, it appears the new manager is acting quickly. Whether or not it is too quickly is the question…
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