Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Dive In and Swim
I was down in San Luis Obispo (i.e. Dodger territory, the only blemish in such a wonderful area) this weekend, so I was unable to catch Tim Lincecum's domination of the Padres (I did catch Francisco Rodriguez breaking the saves record on TV...more on that later). Lincecum threw his first career complete game shutout, a 12-strikeout masterpiece that should cement his hold on the Cy Young. I didn't have any access to the Internet on Saturday so I had to check the box score on my cell phone. When I saw Lincecum's line, I nearly let out a girlish squeal. It was a beautiful work of art, that game, something that should be displayed in the Louvre. If a pitching line could be embodied by a woman, Lincecum's shutout would be Monica Bellucci.
So why is this exquisite work of art generating so much controversy? Because Lincecum's 12-strikeout masterpiece just happened to be a 12-strikeout, 138 pitch masterpiece. Um, yeah, that's a lot of pitches. As in, no one has thrown that many this season, or for a very long time. Lincecum is 24, so thus he is still in that pre-25 danger zone when a lot of young pitchers tend to hurt themselves. So naturally, he is being worked like a dog, for a team not in contention. This is a tad precarious.
Once again, I'd like to reiterate that I'm not a pitch count nazi, but letting Lincecum go back out there to finish the game with a 7-0 lead was just flat out retarded. I'd like to think we're past the point in our baseball lives where our eyes mist over because of that shiny "1" in the shutout column. Bruce Jenkins may have shat himself at the sight of Lincecum "finishing what he started", but the Giants are risking the future of the franchise because of some old-fashioned macho bullshit. It's that simple.
If the Giants were battling it out for a pennant and Lincecum was hanging on to a shutout with a slim lead, then yes, I sure as hell would rather have him out there than Brian Wilson. A 7-0 lead for a team with a stranglehold on fourth place, though? Start mass-producing the pink slips please, with the first one sent via express mail to Bruce Bochy.
Some have chosen to froth at the mouth over the team's handling of Lincecum, some have decided to just hide under some coats and hope everything works out. My opinion? Well, those coats are awfully cozy. Perhaps Timmy is just a freak whose unorthodox mechanics will keep his arm relatively healthy and protect him from moronic managerial decisions. We can certainly hope and pray that he's one of those guys who comes along once in a blue moon and never has a serious injury, despite a heavy workload, like Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens. If, however, there comes a day that Timmy has to leave a game complaining of tightness in his arm and suddenly goes the way of the Foppert, don't say it couldn't have been prevented.
So why is this exquisite work of art generating so much controversy? Because Lincecum's 12-strikeout masterpiece just happened to be a 12-strikeout, 138 pitch masterpiece. Um, yeah, that's a lot of pitches. As in, no one has thrown that many this season, or for a very long time. Lincecum is 24, so thus he is still in that pre-25 danger zone when a lot of young pitchers tend to hurt themselves. So naturally, he is being worked like a dog, for a team not in contention. This is a tad precarious.
Once again, I'd like to reiterate that I'm not a pitch count nazi, but letting Lincecum go back out there to finish the game with a 7-0 lead was just flat out retarded. I'd like to think we're past the point in our baseball lives where our eyes mist over because of that shiny "1" in the shutout column. Bruce Jenkins may have shat himself at the sight of Lincecum "finishing what he started", but the Giants are risking the future of the franchise because of some old-fashioned macho bullshit. It's that simple.
If the Giants were battling it out for a pennant and Lincecum was hanging on to a shutout with a slim lead, then yes, I sure as hell would rather have him out there than Brian Wilson. A 7-0 lead for a team with a stranglehold on fourth place, though? Start mass-producing the pink slips please, with the first one sent via express mail to Bruce Bochy.
Some have chosen to froth at the mouth over the team's handling of Lincecum, some have decided to just hide under some coats and hope everything works out. My opinion? Well, those coats are awfully cozy. Perhaps Timmy is just a freak whose unorthodox mechanics will keep his arm relatively healthy and protect him from moronic managerial decisions. We can certainly hope and pray that he's one of those guys who comes along once in a blue moon and never has a serious injury, despite a heavy workload, like Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens. If, however, there comes a day that Timmy has to leave a game complaining of tightness in his arm and suddenly goes the way of the Foppert, don't say it couldn't have been prevented.
Labels: monica belucci is hot, obligatory nerdy simpsons reference, pitch count madness, Tim Lincecum
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Pal-PAP-tations
Is it just me, or did Bruce Bochy's decision to leave Lincecum in last night in the 8th inning seem like a direct response to this game? You know, the one where Lincecum was dominating the DBacks, but with 111 pitches through seven innings was taken out by Bochy, setting off a firestorm of bitching and whining from irritating drive-time sports talk radio hosts and their knee-jerk, intellectually-challenged callers. Many people were pissed that Lincecum didn't come out for the 8th in that contest because he was utterly dominant, pitch count be damned.
Last night, I was enjoying the game at my favorite little corner sports bar, when in the bottom of the 7th inning the Giants went ahead on back-to-back home runs by Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval (the first of his career, and it was an awesome opposite field shot). Lincecum had been pretty much untouchable since the first inning, and now he was in line to bring in his 15th win. With 118 pitches through seven innings, it looked like his night was done. Job well done, Tim. Hit the showers, rest that arm, and prepare for win number 16 next week.
Then the game came back from a commercial break and...whaaaaaa???? There was Lincecum, trotting out to start the 8th inning. If I had been in mid-swig, I would have done a colossal spit take. Here he was with 118 pitches already under his belt, trudging out to the mound to put some extra mileage on his arm, all to aid the Giants in their scintillating battle for...third place in the NL West. Pitch count nazis were sharpening their stilettos.
To add an extra touch of foreboding to the proceedings, when Lincecum starting throwing to the first batter in the 8th, the jukebox in the bar we were sitting in starting playing "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. It was just eerie, and didn't seem like a good omen at all. This is a song that drove a guy to hang himself in a bathroom, after all. My friends were commenting that at the exact moment of the song's signature drum crescendo, we expected to hear this ear-splitting shriek on the game broadcast, then look up to see Lincecum hop-scotching off the mound and grabbing his arm in pain.
Luckily none of that happened and Lincecum was fine. Brian Wilson came on to get a four-out save, the Giants won, Lincecum did some bizarre calisthenics on the dugout railing, and the world didn't cave in after all. Lincecum's final pitch count came in at 132, which tied him for the highest any pitcher has thrown all year.
There has been a lot of talk about pitch counts lately. I mean, a lot. McCovey Chronicles has been talking about it. Bay City Ball has been talking about it. Andrew Baggarly has been talking about it. El Lefty Malo wrote about it and touched off a mini-debate in the comments section, in which I participated a little. Things got heated, mothers were insulted, people got pwned (no, not really). Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle even got in on the fun, although his articles on the subject should really just be retitled "An Idiot's Guide to Bad Dinosaur Journalism." All the fuss has started because Lincecum is near the top in the majors in pitches thrown per game and, after last night's start, has vaulted up to the top in BP's Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP)*.
I'm a guy who is firmly of the belief that different pitchers have different limits, and a lot of times it just comes down to asking a pitcher if he's good to go back out to the mound. Pitch counts are a good way to measure when a guy is getting to the point where he can't. Obviously, if Lincecum is out there throwing 132 pitches a night that's insanity and someone needs to be fired. Last night was just one instance though (with a day off in between starts), and I don't think it's something to get too up in arms about.
That said, while I'm not a fascist or anything when it comes to pitch counts, last night was a little extreme. I personally don't think Lincecum has been overworked this season, but bringing him out to start the 8th last night was pretty silly. When you're not in a pennant race and you have the future of the franchise on the line, why even take the risk? So he can come in and get two outs, and then you take him out? What's the point?
Since the Giants aren't fighting for anything at this point, enough of this! There is just no reason to stretch out Lincecum and even risk an injury. What do the Giants have to gain from leaving him in and possibly putting extra stress on his arm? A pointless win in a lost season? Hey, I'm all about beefing up this year's win total, but certainly not at the risk of Lincecum's right arm. I'm not saying limit him to a strict pitch count from now on, but if he's thrown 118 pitches through seven again, make his ass stay on the bench.
*Okay, a little mini-rant here. I've never been a fan of PAP at all, for a variety of reasons, but here's number one. Click on that link and check out the list of pitchers who are in the Top 10 in PAP. Notice anything? Yep, that's a list of the best pitchers in the major leagues. Now, I understand that you want to be careful with your pitchers, but don't you want the best pitchers throwing the most innings and staying on the mound as much as possible? Otherwise, they wouldn't be the best.
Plus, how do we even know that the guys at the top of the list are even being "abused"? Maybe they just have the highest workload; that doesn't necessarily constitute abuse. It all just seems very subjective and I have trouble with anything that tries to put a number on "abuse" when the definition of "abuse" can vary wildly from pitcher to pitcher.
Last night, I was enjoying the game at my favorite little corner sports bar, when in the bottom of the 7th inning the Giants went ahead on back-to-back home runs by Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval (the first of his career, and it was an awesome opposite field shot). Lincecum had been pretty much untouchable since the first inning, and now he was in line to bring in his 15th win. With 118 pitches through seven innings, it looked like his night was done. Job well done, Tim. Hit the showers, rest that arm, and prepare for win number 16 next week.
Then the game came back from a commercial break and...whaaaaaa???? There was Lincecum, trotting out to start the 8th inning. If I had been in mid-swig, I would have done a colossal spit take. Here he was with 118 pitches already under his belt, trudging out to the mound to put some extra mileage on his arm, all to aid the Giants in their scintillating battle for...third place in the NL West. Pitch count nazis were sharpening their stilettos.
To add an extra touch of foreboding to the proceedings, when Lincecum starting throwing to the first batter in the 8th, the jukebox in the bar we were sitting in starting playing "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. It was just eerie, and didn't seem like a good omen at all. This is a song that drove a guy to hang himself in a bathroom, after all. My friends were commenting that at the exact moment of the song's signature drum crescendo, we expected to hear this ear-splitting shriek on the game broadcast, then look up to see Lincecum hop-scotching off the mound and grabbing his arm in pain.
Luckily none of that happened and Lincecum was fine. Brian Wilson came on to get a four-out save, the Giants won, Lincecum did some bizarre calisthenics on the dugout railing, and the world didn't cave in after all. Lincecum's final pitch count came in at 132, which tied him for the highest any pitcher has thrown all year.
There has been a lot of talk about pitch counts lately. I mean, a lot. McCovey Chronicles has been talking about it. Bay City Ball has been talking about it. Andrew Baggarly has been talking about it. El Lefty Malo wrote about it and touched off a mini-debate in the comments section, in which I participated a little. Things got heated, mothers were insulted, people got pwned (no, not really). Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chronicle even got in on the fun, although his articles on the subject should really just be retitled "An Idiot's Guide to Bad Dinosaur Journalism." All the fuss has started because Lincecum is near the top in the majors in pitches thrown per game and, after last night's start, has vaulted up to the top in BP's Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP)*.
I'm a guy who is firmly of the belief that different pitchers have different limits, and a lot of times it just comes down to asking a pitcher if he's good to go back out to the mound. Pitch counts are a good way to measure when a guy is getting to the point where he can't. Obviously, if Lincecum is out there throwing 132 pitches a night that's insanity and someone needs to be fired. Last night was just one instance though (with a day off in between starts), and I don't think it's something to get too up in arms about.
That said, while I'm not a fascist or anything when it comes to pitch counts, last night was a little extreme. I personally don't think Lincecum has been overworked this season, but bringing him out to start the 8th last night was pretty silly. When you're not in a pennant race and you have the future of the franchise on the line, why even take the risk? So he can come in and get two outs, and then you take him out? What's the point?
Since the Giants aren't fighting for anything at this point, enough of this! There is just no reason to stretch out Lincecum and even risk an injury. What do the Giants have to gain from leaving him in and possibly putting extra stress on his arm? A pointless win in a lost season? Hey, I'm all about beefing up this year's win total, but certainly not at the risk of Lincecum's right arm. I'm not saying limit him to a strict pitch count from now on, but if he's thrown 118 pitches through seven again, make his ass stay on the bench.
*Okay, a little mini-rant here. I've never been a fan of PAP at all, for a variety of reasons, but here's number one. Click on that link and check out the list of pitchers who are in the Top 10 in PAP. Notice anything? Yep, that's a list of the best pitchers in the major leagues. Now, I understand that you want to be careful with your pitchers, but don't you want the best pitchers throwing the most innings and staying on the mound as much as possible? Otherwise, they wouldn't be the best.
Plus, how do we even know that the guys at the top of the list are even being "abused"? Maybe they just have the highest workload; that doesn't necessarily constitute abuse. It all just seems very subjective and I have trouble with anything that tries to put a number on "abuse" when the definition of "abuse" can vary wildly from pitcher to pitcher.
Labels: pitch count madness, Tim Lincecum
