- This topic has 38 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 11 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
And Gant? Oh yeah, he was used with a 5-run lead and the bases empty in game 1. Mike Shildt couldn’t have done more to lose game 2 if he’d been operating as a Cub-employed double agent.
It had me baffled as well. Why the need for Gant in game 1?
Regarding the usage of Gant and others in the pen, I believe I recall hearing Shildt or Mo say that pitchers would be stuck to more of a defined role/schedule for pitching this year due to the expanded rosters and infrequency of days off. So perhaps that was the thinking for game 1…Gant was simply scheduled to pitch that game no matter what and so in he went. There was no way of knowing at that point if he’d be needed in game 2.
Now, I might disagree with that philosophy as I think it was clear with a rookie going in game 2 that there would likely be a need to use the bullpen. But I’m trying to guess at the reasoning.
Wednesday game recaps: The #stlcards (6-7) powered to a win in the opener behind Matt Carpenter’s first-inning grand slam, but lost the nightcap to split the doubleheader at Wrigley Field. (free) https://t.co/yg5M8pWgON pic.twitter.com/KEEUAJ0iSK
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) August 20, 2020
A 4-4 road trip is not bad considering the circumstances. Now we are at back home for a long home stand and will get some of our players back. Time to get on a run.
I am interested to see how home vs road records are this season compared to others. Will not having fans make a difference?
“I am interested to see how home vs road records are this season compared to others. Will not having fans make a difference?”
I looked at this very topic a couple of days ago, CC! (Not for public consumption, just for fun.)
Last year 24 teams had better home than road records, 5 were worse at home, and one the same.
This year, big difference, It’s 14 better at home, 12 better away, and 4 the same. Of course, we’re talking micro-samples in 2020.
CC, this article seems to indicate that the home team wins barely more than half the time, well down from past seasons.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mlb.com/amp/news/home-field-advantage-has-disappeared-in-2020.html
They were talking about it on MLB radio this morning. I think they said that, historically, the home team wins a little more than 53% of the time. This year it is barely over 50%.
Actually, the percentages are covered in the link that stlcard25 posted just before this.
Webb gave away game 2 and Miller loaded the bases while getting one out. Should/could have been up 3 games to 1, and tied after 6 innings of game 5. Very disappointing series.
My take is Shildt is using A. Miller as his closer, and as the home team, tied, that’s when you use the closer, top of the last inning. He went by the book. The real question is who is the closer?
What concerns me is Shildt has Miller, Gallegos and Gant all throwing the same day. I don’t see a closer candidate on the next day. If Shildt is holding firm to no pitching two days in a row, then he needs to spread those three out.
“If Shildt is holding firm to no pitching two days in a row, then he needs to spread those three out.”
No use of relievers two days in a row? Is this straight conjecture, jj, or has there been a Redbird public statement to imply this is the case?
Because if there has been such a public statement, that mindset feels entirely backwards to me. Given the unique circumstances of the Cardinal 2020 season, it seems this is the year to be more flexible strategically than ever before — not wedded to narrow pre-determined limits.
John Gant on zero days rest last year? He held batters to a .200 slugging percentage. Not batting average. Slugging.
Gio Gallegos on zero days rest last year (just 22 plate appearances, mind you) limited hitters to a .190 slugging%.
Those guys are pretty clearly the best two arms in the bullpen, and therefore it’s axiomatic that they be deployed in the highest leverage situations possible. Not just when it’s “their turn to pitch.”
As for Shildt and Andrew Miller, I don’t know if that Claude Rains get-up is cutting off the oxygen to our manager’s brain, but someone needs to tell him this is 2020 and not 2017. Andrew Miller isn’t very good any more. He just isn’t.
I am not jj, but I reported what I heard Shildt say in Chicago. He mentioned that in the early going since the pitchers had almost no time to restart that he was not going to pitch anyone on consecutive days. He did NOT say that is a forever thing, but in recognition that he is trying to protect his arms until they are built back up. Call me crazy, but I understood where he was coming from.
Thanks for the response, Brian. I couldn’t agree more with your assessment — with the caveat of, say, roughly 10 or 12 days before using pitchers as normal. (And it’s already been 5 days since Opening Day II, the sequel.)
And obviously if John Gant was NOT going to be available the next day, it makes using him with a 5-run lead and nobody on base even MORE inexcusable. Really, really inexcusable.
It feels like Shildt honestly believes that Andrew Miller is better than John Gant and Gio Gallegos. And in a sane, smart world there’s no way that should be happening.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.