Mike Pelfrey as a Twins Starter

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

the most likely way is at least 1 play in game followed by wild card game followed by playoffs.    I don't think they will impose innings limits on Duffey but I don't think they will have him go on three days rest either.   For that matter Milone and Hughes health issues make a 4 man rotation unlikely also.   

It would be interesting to see how they handle Game 162 on Sunday.  I guess it would be Gibson on 3 days rest, which would as you say mean Pelfrey on regular rest again for a potential Game 163.

 

Once we're in the postseason, though, I absolutely think it would be a 4 man rotation.  I don't know exactly who those 4 would be, so Pelf could sneak in.  But if Milone or Hughes isn't healthy enough to pitch on that schedule, they will be replaced (or alternate), I doubt we would add a 5th guy to every turn.

 

(An aside, if we got into a game 164 tiebreaker scenario, Santana could start it on 3 days rest, although he could also be available in relief for a game 163 on 2 days rest.)

[DaveW]

If your only option is Pelfrey for game 163, I think you have to go with a bullpen game at that point as it's your best shot.

 

3 innings from May, 2 innings from Tonkin, 2, innings from Fien/Cotts, 1 inning from Perkins, 1 inning from Jepsen.

 

If the option is a 3 man rotation in the playoffs or a 4 with Pelf, you have to go with a 3 man rotation.

Since June he has 19 starts, a 5.62 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and opponents are batting .335/.381/.464 against him. (Which is pretty much the season splits for Francisco Lindor over this whole season, that means that Pelfrey makes every batter he faces look like Lindor at the dish) Not good, can't be trusted period, especially can't be trusted against good PLAYOFF teams.

Stick him in the pen.

[Mike Sixel]

A bullpen start is almost always your best option for 1 game.....but not many managers have the guts.

[ashbury]

My favorite Mike Pelfry moments were those 30-90 seconds he would stand around before throwing a pitch while doing the horse lips thing.

Licking his fingers immediately after delivering ball four was always the signature moment for me. "There, fixed THAT."

[Otto von Ballpark]

Unfortunately, with Trevor May's back, I don't think he's an option to go 3 innings right now.

 

I could see a Pelfrey start, with an extremely quick hook (probably should have been in place last night, with Hughes and Nolasco ready for long relief).

[Dantes929]

 

 

If your only option is Pelfrey for game 163, I think you have to go with a bullpen game at that point as it's your best shot.

 

3 innings from May, 2 innings from Tonkin, 2, innings from Fien/Cotts, 1 inning from Perkins, 1 inning from Jepsen.

 

If the option is a 3 man rotation in the playoffs or a 4 with Pelf, you have to go with a 3 man rotation.

Since June he has 19 starts, a 5.62 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and opponents are batting .335/.381/.464 against him. (Which is pretty much the season splits for Francisco Lindor over this whole season, that means that Pelfrey makes every batter he faces look like Lindor at the dish) Not good, can't be trusted period, especially can't be trusted against good PLAYOFF teams.

Stick him in the pen.

Not going against the bullpen idea but in his last 19 starts he had 6 quality starts along with some good 5 inning outings the most recent against the best hitting team in baseball just a start ago.   Detroit still has a better lineup than good PLAYOFF teams.   In that time period he also threw an 8 inning shutout against St. Louis.    My point is on average he makes every batter he faces look like Lindor but the truth is some outings he makes every batter look like Ted Williams while there are some outings he makes every batter look like the bad Nick Punto (yes, there was a good LNP).  

I guess I would be in favor of game 163 going to Santana but not sure how much to push that now that he looks like a really good asset for 2016. 

[nicksaviking]

 

A bullpen start is almost always your best option for 1 game.....but not many managers have the guts.

 

Well who's bullpen are we talking about?

[Dantes929]

I don't know why this thought came to me but it had to do with the stressing possibility of a guy with a 4.26
ERA pitching an important game.    It made me think of how the stars aligned for the 87 team.   They basically got by with 5 pitchers.   They had a guy with a 4.37 ERA start two of the games.   If they had been forced to go to a 4th starter we would have had to go with a guy with a 5.94 ERA.   If we wanted a bullpen start it would have been Buerenguer with a 3.98 ERA, Reardon with a 4.48 ERA and progressively worse guys from there on out.  

 

Worst thing about Pelfrey is that he slowed up in his delivery the last half of the season and stopped mixing up pitches making him less effective and harder to watch for a couple reasons.   

[Otto von Ballpark]

It was a different era, but Berenguer actually did start 6 games in that 1987 season, and topped 100 innings (at roughly 2 IP/G average) in each of his four seasons in Minnesota.

 

I have to imagine he was next in line for a start if needed that postseason, and his usage/leash would have resembled more of a regular starter than any of the Twins current relievers.

[Loosey]

 

If your only option is Pelfrey for game 163, I think you have to go with a bullpen game at that point as it's your best shot.

 

3 innings from May, 2 innings from Tonkin, 2, innings from Fien/Cotts, 1 inning from Perkins, 1 inning from Jepsen.

 

If the option is a 3 man rotation in the playoffs or a 4 with Pelf, you have to go with a 3 man rotation.

Since June he has 19 starts, a 5.62 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and opponents are batting .335/.381/.464 against him. (Which is pretty much the season splits for Francisco Lindor over this whole season, that means that Pelfrey makes every batter he faces look like Lindor at the dish) Not good, can't be trusted period, especially can't be trusted against good PLAYOFF teams.

Stick him in the pen.

The Twins should have gone with a Bullpen game yesterday after the 1st.  After he got out of the first inning jam, Molitor should have called the pen and said, "You guys got the next 8 innings, who's up?".  I could tell watching at home that Pelfrey was going to have one of those games were he doesn't throw strikes and just gets pummeled.  Molitor should have noticed that too and taken him out.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

Had the third higher fWAR in the team as far as pitchers are concerned, after May and Gibson

 

With the lowest ceiling. Comparing him to any of the other guys who have a bad year, is not a compliment. fWar is also based on counting, so not by average start. He was not better than either Santana or Duffey. He just pitched more often. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

The Twins should have gone with a Bullpen game yesterday after the 1st.  After he got out of the first inning jam, Molitor should have called the pen and said, "You guys got the next 8 innings, who's up?".  I could tell watching at home that Pelfrey was going to have one of those games were he doesn't throw strikes and just gets pummeled.  Molitor should have noticed that too and taken him out.

It doesn't matter how quickly you go to the pen if your first two options are going to Graham and Duensing for multiple innings each.

[Loosey]

 

It doesn't matter how quickly you go to the pen if your first two options are going to Graham and Duensing for multiple innings each.

It was already mop up duty by the time they came in yesterday.  In a 0-0 game I would hope Molitor would roll with something a little more reliable. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

It was already mop up duty by the time they came in yesterday.  In a 0-0 game I would hope Molitor would roll with something a little more reliable. 

Was May or another good reliever warming up earlier in the second, when the score was still 0-0, 1-0, or even 2-0?  Or Hughes, our best long option?  Seriously, I don't know.

 

But I get the impression that Molitor is not going to bring in good arms early, which is a much bigger obstacle than simply getting the starters out early.

 

Even when Pelfrey was removed, it was only 4-0 in the second, hardly a time to give up on the game by going with Graham (especially when some suggest in other threads that the 8th inning 2 out intentional walk down 6 runs had some strategic value in pursuit of victory).

[bird]

 

Pelf should have been in the pen, and May in the rotation. But Pelf got the veteran/big agent treatment. I know GM have to keep agents happy, or else FA and contract negotiations become even more difficult, but this capitulation cost dearly.

 

 

I wouldn't have liked Big Pelf in the 7th or 8th inning any more than Boyer, Graham, Duensing...Trevor May was pretty darn solid at holding opponents off down the stretch in crucial situations. I think slotting May in the pen was one of the better moves Neil Allen and Paulie made.

[DaveW]

 

I wouldn't have liked Big Pelf in the 7th or 8th inning any more than Boyer, Graham, Duensing...Trevor May was pretty darn solid at holding opponents off down the stretch in crucial situations. I think slotting May in the pen was one of the better moves Neil Allen and Paulie made.

They could have easily kept May in the rotation, and acquired another arm to pitch the 7th. (Benoit!!!)

 

Then if Pelf develops into a late inning guy...great! If not, he is the mop up guy and spot starter.

[twinsnorth49]

 

They could have easily kept May in the rotation, and acquired another arm to pitch the 7th. (Benoit!!!)

 

Then if Pelf develops into a late inning guy...great! If not, he is the mop up guy and spot starter.

Exactly, saying May to the pen was a good move just because he was a better option than Pelf isn't really saying anything. Deciding to take May out of the rotation and not adding a second arm to the pen on top of Jepsen were two of the biggest disappointments for me this year.

[Mike Sixel]

Kershaw to the pen is probably better than any RP the Dodgers have, doesn't make it a good idea.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

I wouldn't have liked Big Pelf in the 7th or 8th inning any more than Boyer, Graham, Duensing...Trevor May was pretty darn solid at holding opponents off down the stretch in crucial situations. I think slotting May in the pen was one of the better moves Neil Allen and Paulie made.

Yeah, everyone seems to believe that Pelfrey would somehow magically be effective out of the pen, and as a late innings reliever even. Not all starters are more effective in the pen. Sometimes bad is exploited wherever you are.

 

I think he would have been a decent middle reliever, and multiple innings guy when the starter gets knocked out early. Basically he could eat innings. I do not think he would have been a good late innings reliever....way way way too much contact given up to be used as a late innings reliever.

[DaveW]

I dont think anyone state he absolutely woudl be effective out of the pen. The argument seemed to always be: He has a much better chance to be effective out of the pen instead of the rotation (mainly due to the face he was kind of a hard thrower who only had 1 or two pitches, and those types can transition to bullpens quite well at times)

[AlwaysinModeration]

I'm fairly sure the Twins will wind up playing a game 163, and winning, setting up Pelfrey to start in the Bronx for the Wild Card.

[bird]

 

Exactly, saying May to the pen was a good move just because he was a better option than Pelf isn't really saying anything. Deciding to take May out of the rotation and not adding a second arm to the pen on top of Jepsen were two of the biggest disappointments for me this year.

 

Allen and Paulie didn't decide that however. Ryan did, and I agree with you about how disappointing that was.

 

Given their limited choices, I contend Paulie and Neil made a good one to slot May in the pen to fill a considerable void. And that's saying a lot given all the questionable decisions they've made.

[twinsnorth49]

Allen and Paulie didn't decide that however. Ryan did, and I agree with you about how disappointing that was.

 

Given their limited choices, I contend Paulie and Neil made a good one to slot May in the pen to fill a considerable void. And that's saying a lot given all the questionable decisions they've made.

Yeah, I'm not blaming Mollie or Allen necessarily, nor am I really saying May is a bad choice for the bullpen. I just wish they had gone outside to find another reliever and left May where he was, instead of Pelfrey. I think it would have very likely resulted in a few more wins.