Openers
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I just read where Madison Bumgarner or whatever the heck his name is told his manager he’d walk right out of the park if the Giants used an opening pitcher ahead of him in one of his starts.
For those not following, an opener is a practice that the Rays started using several years back and the Brewers utilized in the playoffs. In order to have a starting pitcher go deeper into a game the team will have a long reliever start a game and throw an inning or two, then bring in the starter who presumably would then be strong enough to get the game to the closer in the 9th.
It’s perfectly legal of course and very unconventional. I guess when you mess with the pride of someone as important as the starting pitcher, they can react the way Madison did. I wouldn’t be surprised that a team would not have any designated starting pitchers and just use relievers the entire game. Official scorers heads are spinning as then they will have to sometimes make judgment calls on the winning or losing pitcher in a game.
Oh, and get ready for longer games should this happen. My #1 pet peeve!
Golf is getting to its best months, NCAA basketball’s best month is just ahead and baseball is just around the corner. I love this time of year!
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@wissox I remember that some people proposed this strategy to have the “real” starter avoid facing the most dangerous hitters 3 times since stats show that hitters tend to do better the 2d and 3rd time they face a pitcher.
Lots of concerns about inflating usual starters’ W stats since the second pitcher in a game does not need 5 IP to get the win, just to be in the game when a lead is taken and not later relinquished.
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Small market clubs (i.e. Royals) can not afford 4-5 good starters. I think a great strategy to counter the payroll deficit would be to run 5-9 1-2 inning guys up there every night. They could just straight deal knowing they are just pitching to a few batters and not have to conserve. As a fan it would suck waiting on all those pitchers to warm up.
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@mayjay if this became commonplace I’d think they’d have to revisit the rules for qualifying for a win. I wonder how many games have been screwed up because pitchers remain in a game the required 5 innings to get a win?
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dylans said:
Small market clubs (i.e. Royals) can not afford 4-5 good starters. I think a great strategy to counter the payroll deficit would be to run 5-9 1-2 inning guys up there every night. They could just straight deal knowing they are just pitching to a few batters and not have to conserve. As a fan it would suck waiting on all those pitchers to warm up.
I think you’d see a rule change to limit the number of mid-inning subs. But I’ve thought this for a long time. There are a dozen affordable guys the Royals could find who would be decent pitchers if they only had to go 2-3 innings.
