Comments on: Maddon’s Bullpen Promises and the Limits of our Knowledge

By: Augie

Augie — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 20:21:34 +0000

The umpire walked Hendricks final batter ergo both he and maddon should be scourged!

By: Paul0709

Paul0709 — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 14:16:09 +0000

You’d think that with the Cubs’ historically high run differential that they could afford to remove their starters earlier, rather than later, in many games. This places even more suspicion as to why they are above league average in pitch count and fourth in innings pitches per start. I would guess they know how bad their relievers are, or would be, with a heavier work load and in tighter situations. Thus the team’s early talk about trading for more relief help and having recently signed a couple of veteran relievers to minor league deals.

By: Steve H IN SLC

Steve H IN SLC — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 20:47:36 +0000

Is it enough to look at IP? I think pitches per start might be more appropriate. The Cubs are averaging 96 pitches per start. Is that really a heavy workload?

That is third-highest in the league, but it is also only two pitches higher than the MLB average. Plus, I think their pitches per start are higher than normal because they have been doing so well. If they had two or three games where their pitchers were knocked out in the third inning instead of pitching through seven, their average Pit/GS and IP/GS would be right in the middle of the pack.

By: dtpollitt

dtpollitt — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 15:04:03 +0000

Great post. I don’t know why this is happening–I’d like to see starters get less work, but considering the 3 blown saves thus far in June, I can understand why he may be limiting bullpen usage.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 14:35:11 +0000

If the Cubs have decided to leave pitchers in, I feel that they likely have a reason. Since most of these things have worked out, I would trust them.
The part I have a problem with is this team is pretty media savvy. Then why tell the media you aren’t going to do that. Why say anything at all one way or another

By: Joel

Joel — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 14:21:41 +0000

Great write-up. We were talking about this on our podcast, and while I didn’t have the numbers, I had the sense that Maddon’s leash was too long. It’s kind of bewildering — Arrieta admitted last year he was gassed by the NLCS, and you’d like to think Maddon took that lesson to heart. Plus, with such a big lead in the division, there’s more room to work with (unless that means Clayton Richard). I said this in my Sunday recap, but if this were Dusty Baker, he’d be getting excoriated. I know there are a lot of other things that Maddon excels at compared to Dusty, obviously, but this seems like a strange blind spot.