Pitching in blowouts

[jerichoholicninja]

So, watching Ryan Raburn throw a perfect inning while his team was down 10-2 against the Tigers last night got me thinking: Teams should pitch position players more often in blowouts.

 

Now I'm not talking about throwing your center fielder in the 8th or bringing your short stop in for a save but when the game is out of reach it's pointless to waste a bullpen pitcher who could help you win tomorrow or the day after. Some of you are probably think, "Wait Mr. Ninja, there's a reason these guys aren't big league pitchers." I would agree with you. But how bad are they really?

 

Baseballreference has a nice section where you can view all the position players who have pitched in major league history. I chose to look at the stats for the 113 position players who have pitched since 1990. How have they fared?

 

In 173.1 innings:

7.02 ERA

1.97 WHIP

.290 BAA

7.3 BB/9

3.2 K/9

1.2 HR/9

.8 R/IP

 

Not too great huh? But what would you expect, they're not pitchers. I haven't found a way to look at every single pitching appearance individually (without looking up box scores for all 113 players) but I found this to be interesting. Of the 113 players chosen, 63 only pitched 1 game and 46 of those 63 didn't give up a run. That's 73%. The reason those guys did so "well" is probably because the games were blow outs and the other team wasn't trying really hard, basically just trying not to be embarrassed by striking out. But who really cares? A scoreless inning is a scoreless inning.

 

Just for comparison sake how have major league relievers done since 1990?

 

In 326,687.2 inning:

4.07 ERA

1.45 WHIP

.253 BAA

4.3 BB/9

7.2 K/9

.9 HR/9

.5 R/IP

 

All of those numbers are a lot better than the position players, however, the one I would like to point out is the runs per inning. Relievers are giving up .5 runs per inning and position players are giving up .8 per inning. That's 60% more runs but were not talking about having your position players throw multiple innings. We just want 1 inning out of them, in blow outs.

 

So here is what I am proposing:

 

When your team is down 6 runs or more in the 9th, do not waste bullpen innings, throw a position player. Why 6 runs? According to win expectancy, when you are down 6 runs or more in the 9th you are expected to win less than .12% of the time. So the game is over. Just looking at the Brewers this season, they have been in this situation 9 times. That's 9 innings they could have saved the bullpen, which this season could be very helpful considering how bad and short the starters have been at times.

 

Another reason to throw position players if the effect it has on the team. Last night in a blow out the Indians were having a great time cheering on Raburn. Even Justin Verlander in the other dugout was yelling for him to throw the hook when he got to two strikes. It loses a team up and gets the fans into it.

 

Relievers are incredibly important and keeping them fresh is just as important. It's time for teams to stop wasting garbage time innings on players who will be vital to winning games tomorrow or the next day.

[RightFieldCoder]

That's great until a position player sprains or strains something while pitching. Or an injury happens because the player is not used to having to cover first.

[Funketown]

I'd just have my 25th man/Yuni lob balls to hitters until the game was over. Basically batting practice. He'd throw about 300 innings in blowouts and give up about 600 homers, but it wouldn't matter.

 

No more need for a long reliever!

[Dollarbill13]

I'd just have my 25th man/Yuni lob balls to hitters until the game was over. Basically batting practice. He'd throw about 300 innings in blowouts and give up about 600 homers, but it wouldn't matter.

 

No more need for a long reliever!

 

I would support any opportunity for Yuni to set the record for worst WAR in a season. I think this would quickly help his cause.

[torts]

Harrison pitched last night for the pirates in their game against the rockies, lost 10-1, Jay Hay pitched a clean batter

 

Josh Harrison has an ERA of 0.00, an WHIP of 0.00, an opponent BA of .000, and a strand rate of 100%

[jerichoholicninja]

That's great until a position player sprains or strains something while pitching. Or an injury happens because the player is not used to having to cover first.

 

Other than Jose Conseco name a position player that got hurt pitching.

 

The injury argument here doesn't matter either because you are not going to use anyone of real value to your team. You're going to use your 25th man.

[Thurston Fluff]

That's great until a position player sprains or strains something while pitching. Or an injury happens because the player is not used to having to cover first.

 

Other than Jose Conseco name a position player that got hurt pitching.

 

The injury argument here doesn't matter either because you are not going to use anyone of real value to your team. You're going to use your 25th man.

 

Considering how few times there have been position players pitch it's a bit of an unfair question. The reason I think pitchers should pitch is because it gives pitchers a chance to show what they can do. Why have a position player pitch when a guy like Donovan Hand can show he is capable of doing more than just mop up? Or it give a guy like John Axford a chance to get himself right for a more prominent role. Using blowouts to see what a player who gets very few opportunities to play can do at least provides some benefit.

[bani1717]

In some cases you are right Thurston, but in others it may be better to not tax the bullpen. Personally, I enjoy seeing "strange" things like position players pitching.

[Thurston Fluff]

In some cases you are right Thurston, but in others it may be better to not tax the bullpen. Personally, I enjoy seeing "strange" things like position players pitching.

 

I agree there are times to use a position player if the pen is overused. I just disagree using it as a standard strategy anytime the team is down 6 runs. I think it is shortsighted not to use those innings in a way that helps pitchers become better pitchers and/or as a way for a manager to see what they have now without costing the team games.

 

Not to pour cold water on your idea jerichoholicninja. I like that sort of out of the box thinking. Especially since it appears you put some thought into it. I just disagree with this one.

[trwi7]

Why have a position player pitch when a guy like Donovan Hand can show he is capable of doing more than just mop up?

 

What? You're talking about using a position player when you're losing by a ton, so mop up duty. So you're saying pitching Donovan Hand in mop up duty can show he is capable of more than just mop up duty?

[Thurston Fluff]

Why have a position player pitch when a guy like Donovan Hand can show he is capable of doing more than just mop up?

 

What? You're talking about using a position player when you're losing by a ton, so mop up duty. So you're saying pitching Donovan Hand in mop up duty can show he is capable of more than just mop up duty?

 

Read every word in the sentence. A guy LIKE Donovan Hand. He was a guy who started out on this team as a long man/mop up guy.