MLB: 2013 Postseason

The Game Room
101

Well, that wasn’t very pleasant.

Sadly, I feared AJ Burnett, as today was a microcosm of his season. He’d either pitch seven strong innings, or he would implode during one of the first three innings.

Tonight, AJ got to the third before giving up 7 runs (6 earned). I don’t understand how if I can see the need to pull him how does Clint Hurdle miss it? It is so predictable. admittedly, with Wainwritght’s dominant performance, the three run homer Brinett gave up would have been enough. But he was due an outing like this, as he shut down the Reds his last time out. He never pitches back to back outstanding games, and his pitching in the second inning was an indication that he didn’t have his stuff. As soon a he lost wainwright with a walk, I knew the Bucs were in trouble,

And Pedro Alverez, the most useless power hitter in baseball, hits another solo home run. He had maybe 35 homers in the regular season and 40 RBI. He’s the undisputed king of the solo HR, and I’ll bet if you look at his HR, they come with the Pirates well ahead or well behind, but never with anyone on base. (I made up Alverez’s stats, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t break 100 RBI’s. I’ll look right after I post. But he was leading the league in HR’s and was nowhere near the top in RBI, so I don’t think I’m far off.)

On the bright side, Gomez pitched well in relief, and if it wasn’t for the 2 errors behind him, he would have had 4 scoreless innings. As it was, he gave up 2, but they were both on errors. So, I am pleased wi his long relief effort. McCutchen went 2-4, so the main bat in the Pirates line-up continues to hit.

I’m still very positive about this series, however. Burnett gave a pathetic effort, and its a shame because if the series goes to 5 games, he more than likely will be the pitcher. But one game at a time, and tomorrow is another day!

Let’s Go Bucs!

102

You are not the only one. Pittsburgh fans have been asking this all year. Burnett is the most over-rated pitcher I can remember on any team my entire life. The Pirates trucked Burnett out as the ace of the staff and gave him the opener, which he promptly lost. He was 10-11 this season, and even though his ERA was under 4, he had a tendency to give up a bunch of runs in an early inning when he was off. Tonight, he was especially bad, but I know he’s given up 3 or 4 runs in an early inning, and the Pirates have rarely come back to win those games.

I have not understood Hurdle’s continued praising of Burnett, but it may have to do with the fact that when he came over from NY, he had a great year last year, and really loved playing in Pittsburgh. And the fans seem to love him back.

.

Not only did the Yankees get rid of him, but hey were paying him a large part of his salary just so he wouldn’t pitch for them anymore. That is usually an indication that things aren’t working out! He did have a good year last year, but he slipped somewhat this year. He is not the ace of the staff (that’s clearly Liriano when he’s on). But Hirdle keeps using him. Like he’s an ace of the staff. He should be no higher than 3 on the Pirates staff.

Me neither. That was one brutal inning. And look at his ERA! (31.50). That’s not good.
No worries. The Pirates were due for a loss. Let’s hope this is the game where St. Louis scored all the runs in the series, and the get blanked in the next three.

Hey, it’s been 21 years. You can’t bring me down!

103

Stink Fish Pot, you’re right on all counts. I’m still optimistic about this series.

I also agree that it’s become very, very, very predictable for Burnett to have a complete implosion. Generally going along well, and then collapse entirely in a single inning. The extremely frustrating part is how Hurdle becomes a total spectator. Essentially he decided to throw in the towel in the first of a five game series.

He’s really stupid about pulling pitchers no matter who it is, but I thought that come playoff time, there would be less of this sense of protecting the bullpen and leaving someone to get kicked around and throw the game away.

104

I have noticed hurdle doing that too during the season, and I thought it was just me (the tossing away of games). I believe on at least two occasions, he brought up some pitcher from Indianapolis to pitch a Sunday game or the second leg of a double header, and the Pirates got pounded. It’s like he just tosses those games in the trash for some reason, and it was very frustrating to watch.

I can’t explain Hurdles lack of interest in going out to pull Burnett in the third. The only thing I can think of that he didn’t want to use the bullpen up s early, but you only have a five game series here. What are you saving the guys for?

The way AJ has pitched all year, he should have had relievers throwing in the second in ing. You could just sense that AJ was going to implode (at least you and I could… And I’m sure other Pirate fans could too). And when he gave up the three run homer, he should have had someone ready to go and get him. But instead, he lets him load the bases, and then walk in another run! What was he waiting for? He clearly didn’t have his stuff in the third. What did he face, 8 batters without an out? When he walked Wainwright, my stomach tightened. It’s an awful feeling of dread, sort of like when a cop pulls out behind you and flashes his lights, its a sickening feeling.

Ah well. Like I said, that’s only 1 game, and I like our pitchers for the next three games. Too bad Wandy Rodriguez isn’t healthy. He was pitching pretty well when he went down this year.

105

There was no game today.

The new NLDS format states that the lower seeded team must win 3 of 4 with the games evenly split between home and away. Game 1 starts tomorrow with Cole pitching. Let’s Go Bucs!

106

Heh. That probably is the right attitude. I thought beforehand that this game was the one most likely to go to the Cardinals. If Hurdle is right to write off any games in this series, this would be the one.

107

Go, Doyers!

108

Good game for the Blue. Nice to get that first one. Hope the bats can stay hot.

109

Not surprised about Kershaw’s performance, but very pleased to see Dodger bats looking lively tonight. More of that, please.

110

The manager’s job isn’t to win every game, but to win every series. If you burn up your bullpen on a lost cause first game, you are less likely to win the second or third games. Leaving Burnett in the game after he gave up 5 runs was the smart thing to do…in fact, he should have been out there for at least 7 innings, even if St. Louis scored 20 runs. Having to win a wild card playoff is a tremendous disadvantage for a team. Your pitching is all screwed up.

The Pirates might pull it off, but the smart money will say they are just happy to be in the postseason this year and will be easy to eliminate, maybe three games to one.

Next year, every team in the NL central will be even better than they are this year.

111

Nice way to put it.

I disagree with your POV. What you said about the pitching being all screwed up is correct, but that’s just your starting pitching. You can’t let a game get so far out of reach that it becomes impossible to mount a comeback. The Pirates have a very good bullpen, maybe the best in the NL. It’s a best of 5 series, you can’t be afraid to use it.

Burnett, IMO should have been pulled after giving up the home run, or at the latest after the next two guys got on base. He didn’t have it, and it was obvious.

Coming back from 3-0 in the third is a lot easier mentally than coming back from 7-0. I don’t think the Pirates have the offense for that kind of a mountain.

Scoring 3 against Wainwright would have been hard enough… 7? The team deflates and the offense packs it in.

Your other point about a manager winning a series, but not every game sounds good in theory, but it’s not really how it works. No game is guaranteed, so if you can sweep a series, you should sweep it.

What Hurdle did a couple of times was being up someone from the minors to pitch one game and send him back down. Usually, he’d sit a starter or two also. I understand if you want to rest a player here or there, but to do it all on the same day, basically conceding a game before it even starts. Personally, I don’t like that way of managing.

But that’s just me.

112

Alvarez drove in 100 runs, which is pretty much what one would expect for a player with just 130 hits but 36 home runs.

Of his 36 homers,

  1. 25 were with the bases empty, 11 with men on, which in fact is an unusual ratio but not really by more than random chance would create.

  2. Almost all of his homers came with the game close. 13 of his homers broke a scoreless tie, which strikes me as being an amazing number. In total:

16 homers broke a tie,
7 tied the game or put the Pirates ahead when they had been behind,
8 put them further ahead when they were leading by 3 or less,
1 put them further ahead when they were leading by more than 3 (and it was 4)
4 were hit with the Pirates behind but did not catch them up all the way.

In fact, of 36 homers, Alvarez hit just one all year that was hit at a time when the game was more than four runs apart. Last night’s homer was literally the MOST meaningless one he’s hit in 2013 - it was precisely unlike pretty much all his 2013 home runs.

113

In the last 12 years, only the Royals and Blue Jays have not played in the post-season. Ouch. How is that even possible?!?

114

I’m impressed. Did you actually do all of that crunching of data, or did you find a site that broke down each home run?

I’m glad I wasn’t imagining that solo home run thing, but clearly, I was harsh on the meaningless home run statement. If what you said is true, he was actually quite clutch when he connected with the ball. 23 of his homers either broke a tie or put the Pirates in the lead when they were behind. That’s pretty impressive.

I’m sorry Mr. Alvarez. Please consider my error the rankings of a depressed Pirate fan after a 9-1 pasting by the cards. (You being the “1” of course)

I’m curious as to why you think that hitting 6th in the order would result in his high ratio of solo home runs? You say the ratio is unusual, but then it seems normal for random chance to create. I don’t understand what you mean.

Can you find the stat that tells us how many runners Pedro left stranded this year? Hitting 36 HR and getting only 100 RBI is a pretty bad HR to RBI ratio.

Thanks for the correction!

115

The Royals because George Brett retired. (I loved the Royals in the 80’s when they were relevant and in the playoffs every year. Brett was a major force).

The Blue Jays because they play in the same division as the Yankees (who I think have missed the playoffs only twice in 19 years now), the Red Sox, who have been competitive for at least a decade now, and the Rays, who have been excellent for the last 5 or so years. Even the Orioles have improved, so Toronto’s division, top to bottom, is the hardest in baseball.

It seems a lot longer for the Royals. When were they most recently in the playoffs?

116

That might have something to do with striking out 186 times* and hitting only .233.

*That’s Adam Dunn strikeout territory. This year Dunn struck out 189 times, hit for even lower average than Alvarez, had 34 home runs and only 86 RBI.

117

1985, yes?

118

Dusty Baker fired!

119

I was just checking out lifetime stats for Dave Kingman, a renowned home run hitter who was the object of much scorn for his strikeouts and only hit .236 lifetime. Interestingly, he never struck out more than 156 times in a season.

He also had seven years where he hit at least 30 home runs, but got to 100 or more RBIs only twice in his career.

If you go back to power hitters of earlier days, their strikeout totals were much, much lower than what we see now. I’m currently reading an interesting book on the history of the home run, and it mentions a rookie slugger of the mid-20th century who had something like 35 home runs, but was embarrassed because he struck out 77 times that season.

Times have changed.

120

Yes.

I’ve got a post-season database, and in my list of Last Playoff Appearance by team…the only ones with older dates are franchises no longer in business: Washington Senators, 1933 (now the Minnesota Twins); St Louis Browns 1944 (now the Baltimore Orioles), Montreal Expos 1981 (now the Washington Nationals).

After the Royals and Blue Jays, it’s the Seattle Mariners, 2001.