CLE 5, MIN 3: Odorizzi Fades, Busenitz Blows It

Why is Busenitz having such a difficult time adjusting to MLB?  I have no answer - just a question.

 

I still say Odorizzi is a perfect multi-inning BP pitcher.  Just do not let batters see him three times.

 

Some TD posters do not like my take on Kepler, but 227 is not an acceptable BA for him.  If he has a positive WAR it raises my skepticism about that stat.  Kepler is not meeting anyone's projection - what next?

 

Now the challenge for the Twins is to not lose 90 games.  Good luck.  

Busenitz just isn't fooling anybody right now. I think he's used to Triple-A hitters chasing his curveball and that's just not happening much when he's at the MLB level. It's a good pitch, but he can't just bury it in the dirt and expect guys to go chasing it very often.

On Kepler, coming into today he had the sixth-lowest BABIP among the 152 qualified hitters at .241. Some of that he can control -- he needs to hit fewer popups, for example -- but some of that is bad luck. As far as his high WAR, depending on where you're looking a lot of that is built off his excellent defense. FanGraphs has him rated as the 13th-best defensive outfielder in baseball.

Insanity. Odorizzi can't make it through the order the 3rd time, so just keep making him do it, and expect different results. 

I mean Molly did pull him before he gave up any damage. He got Lindor, he got Brantley, what were you gonna do? Yank him right after the Ramirez walk?

I mean Molly did pull him before he gave up any damage. He got Lindor, he got Brantley, what were you gonna do? Yank him right after the Ramirez walk?

He pulled him before the damage?  The two consecutive walks weren't damage?

More to the issue...What's the point in sending him out for the 6th? To save the bullpen? He used it anyway, predictably.

It's not just Odorizzi. Molitor has a prolonged history of waiting until the starter loses a lead before removing him. 

I find that incredibly maddening, and it's not just today. I realize this season is lost, but he does this when it matters.

He pulled him before the damage?  The two consecutive walks weren't damage?

 

More to the issue...What's the point in sending him out for the 6th? To save the bullpen? He used it anyway, predictably.

 

It's not just Odorizzi. Molitor has a prolonged history of waiting until the starter loses a lead before removing him. 

 

I find that incredibly maddening, and it's not just today. I realize this season is lost, but he does this when it matters.

So you would have just pulled Odorizzi after the fifth inning in which he set down the side in order on 10 pitches, finishing things off with a swinging strikeout on Lindor?

He pulled him before the damage?  The two consecutive walks weren't damage?

 

More to the issue...What's the point in sending him out for the 6th? To save the bullpen? He used it anyway, predictably.

 

It's not just Odorizzi. Molitor has a prolonged history of waiting until the starter loses a lead before removing him. 

 

I find that incredibly maddening, and it's not just today. I realize this season is lost, but he does this when it matters.

Absolutely. He struggled through the 4th, he struggles 3rd time through the order. 

Except that in his last start he didn’t. He retired all 7 A’s he faced third time around. Rather easily.

In a lost season, was it really so ridiculous to see if maybe, just maybe, he is improving in that area? Especially when said player is under team control for the next season and as such needs to be evaluated to determine what his role will be.

He’s not improving. He struggles third time, this is factual and incontrovertible.

And this is about Molitor, in any case, and his dogged determination to squeeze more from his starter than is smart, or even helpful, since he routinely ends up using his bullpen in the inning in question anyway. As he did today. Only it’s with trouble abrew, or a lead gone, or a winnable game made not winnable.

Odorizzi this year faces on average 22.1 batters per start. Yesterday he faced, what do you know, 22 batters. What I'm hearing here is he should only face 18 batters no matter the circumstance.

Maybe he shouldn't. Or maybe he should never, or rarely, start the 6th inning.

Opponent's OPS by inning, 2018:

1st .633

2nd .664

3rd .601

4th .754

5th .901

6th 1.270

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=odorija01&year=2018&t=p

He struggles the third time through the order. A team supposedly embracing analytics might notice things like this. A good manager wouldn't even need analytics to notice this.

IMO the argument shouldn't be about Molitor keeping Odorizzi in the game too long. The argument should be that Odorizzi isn't a starting pitcher.

Well, maybe so but that's another argument.

He is a starting pitcher, so he shouldn't be kept in the game too long.