Comments on: Quote: Willie on Defining Roles in Bullpen

By: Nate W.

Nate W. — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:52:43 +0000

zen, there was a two week stretch later in the year when Heilman pitched or warmed up (sometimes multiple times) every day. Thats one example of overuse. He must have been underused earlier in the year because his overall use is about normal. In fact, I recall there being concern over Aaron’s arm and pitching on back to back days early in the season so he was used less back then. Sorry thats about the only example I could think of. Sosa and Schoe are new to the Mets so there is no real way for me to judge thier usage.

Heilman Sept 8th-23rd, 11 appearances in 16 days. Plus days he warmed up and didnt pitch…
That equates to 125 appearances in a season!!!

By: squad

squad — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:29:20 +0000

It’s been lost to nonsense, but I tend to disagree about defining roles.

I think that’s how the bullpen gets worn out. Think about it.

If you set someone as the 8th inning guy, you’ll turn to him in close games in the 8th inning. But what if you play a bunch of close games, you’re going to be relying on a smaller group of pitchers.

Better to have a strong group overall instead of assigning roles. Their role is to pitch in relief when needed, period. The only one who should have a defined role is Wagner.

Obviously Willie needs to know his guys and which situations they thrive in, so in a way, roles may in fact become defined. But essentially, there shouldn’t be some kind of formula on how to use the relievers.

By: zen

zen — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:51:29 +0000

i give you credit. you even give points when a poster basically says you’re the downfall of the comments section

By: ExileInLA

ExileInLA — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:41:44 +0000

Matching people to innings is over-rated. If the Mets are up 6-2, and Pedro has thrown 110 pitches when the other team loads the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 5th, you don’t want an Aaron Sele coming from the pen — you want a Sosa/Sanchez coming from the pen. Because if you get out of that inning still up 6-2, you can give the 6th inning to Sele with a 4 run lead and a chance to pitch 2 innings…but if you end up down 6-5 after 5, then everyone works.

Maybe we need a pitching stat called “batters faced successfully” — it rewards a pitcher when the batter doesn’t (a) reach base by hit/walk/HBP; (b) drive in a run; or (c) advance a runner with an out…

By: PereztoHeilmantoWagner

PereztoHeilmantoWagner — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:26:01 +0000

Geez…Willie mis-managed the pen miserably. Kept using Schoenweis as a 1 inning guy when he is a lefty specialist AT BEST. Brought in Sosa all the time when the situation called for Heilman, etc….

Such a homerific look to say Randolph didn’t mismanage.

By: stickguy

stickguy — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:22:47 +0000

It is surprising how much better the pen is when the SPs go 7+ on a regular basis, isn’t it?

By: points guy

points guy — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:20:56 +0000

well said. these johnny come lately’s are annoying.

By: garycarter

garycarter — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:15:30 +0000

…as should the starters, who could not pitch beyond the fifth inning for so much of the second half of the season…

While I’m certainly not giving Willie or the bullpen a pass, there is not a team in baseball that is capable of consistenly winning when they’re going to the bullpen in the 5th inning, every night.

By: ravi3

ravi3 — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:10:20 +0000

I disagree with the overuse–the starters couldn’t pitch effectively deep into games, and because of that the bullpen gets taxed…had there been som consistency, then the pen doesn’t get stretched thin

By: Squadron Nye

Squadron Nye — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:04:15 +0000

whats with the hostility directed at cerrone? Points guy has a cheesy shtick and now’s he’s the main event?

The problem is the new guys (and im talking about 95% of the current posters) here think they’re so god darn witty that people actually come to this site for your comments.

They don’t–in fact most people don’t even bother reading them. So pat each other on the back. Smugly let everyone know the fact that cerrone “copies the smart posters”, because geez how did Cerrone get by WITHOUT points guy’s repartee’.

Nothing more pathetic than a self-important internet nerd.