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Aug 1, 2011 - The Pittsburgh Pirates have one shot at the postseason: They have to win the National League Central. The Wild Card's out of reach; there are just too many teams too far ahead of them.
Last Tuesday night -- well, Wednesday morning, actually -- the Pirates lost to the Braves in the 19th inning with Daniel McCutchen on the mound. McCutchen's a pretty good pitcher, but he threw 92 pitches, which was 40 more than he'd thrown in any other game this season.
Wednesday night, the Pirates lost to the Braves in the 10th inning with Chris Leroux on the mound. Leroux's got a 6.62 career ERA in the majors.
Sunday afternoon, the Pirates lost to the Phillies in the 10th inning with Tony Watson on the mound. Watson's a rookie, and he's pitched pretty well this season in limited duty. I'm guessing you've never paid him any attention until this very moment.
Hey, bad things happen to good teams. I get it. But the Pirates played three close games last week, losing all three in extra innings, and somehow none of those 39 innings, not a single one of them, were pitched by the Pirates' All-Star relief pitcher.
It's easy and sort of fun to rip Clint Hurdle for not using Joel Hanrahan -- not even a single inning! -- but he wasn't doing anything -- or rather, he wasn't not doing anything -- that nearly every other manager in the major leagues wouldn't have not done. Road game, tied ... gotta save your closer for the save situation!
Granted, Hurdle took things to a perhaps-unprecedented, possibly insane extreme when he couldn't find room for Hanrahan in a 19-inning game. There probably aren't many managers who would have taken this ill-considered protocol quite so far. But the protocol is there.
Look, I've got an open mind about this thing. There are smart people who will tell you that closers generally shouldn't be used in non-save situations, because they're not physically or emotionally prepared for them. I don't think baseball players are computer simulations (or paper cards). I get it.
I also believe that if you lose three extra-inning games when you're trying to win a pennant, without using your ace relief pitcher even once, you're probably doing something wrong.
The Pirates aren't going to win a pennant. But it would be enough if the Pirates win more games than they lose, because they haven't done that since 1992. If they Pirates finish one or two games short of a winning record, everyone is going to remember Jerry Meals, and blame him.
Not me, though. I'm going to blame Clint Hurdle, who left Joel Hanrahan sitting on his thumbs in the bullpen. Inning, after inning, after inning, after ...
21 comments
Rob Neyer:
Did Clint Hurdle Blow Three Games Last Week?
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Comments
Where's the blame...
…for McCutchen, Leroux, and Watson for physically losing those games?
I’ll blame Huntington for not acquiring better bullpen pitchers.
by cmruready on Aug 1, 2011 12:22 PM EDT reply actions
I think you meant
Jerry Meals, Leroux, and Watson.
Or, if you want to be contrarian, McKenry, Leroux, and Watson. McCutchen absolutely did not deserve to lose that game.
by JRoth95 on Aug 1, 2011 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
Would you rather have your best pitcher on the mound when the other team needs one run to win or two?
You’d use your best goalie in a sudden death tie game situation wouldn’t you?
You’d put your best defender in a tie basketball game with only seconds left even if he had 4 fouls wouldn’t you? (Assuming the other team has the ball)
by Dale Sams on Aug 1, 2011 12:31 PM EDT reply actions
Unless Hanrahan pitches multiple innings...
I hear bloggers complain about managers not using the closer, but I wish they would include some caveats:
Either 1) Using the closer early will only make a difference in the game if the closer is going to pitch more than one inning (in which case you’ve used your closer inefficiently because he only pitched one inning, the last one, instead of two, if he’d come in earlier.)
or 2) You assume when your team finally scores it will score more than one run, (in which case your other reliever doesn’t have to keep the other team to zero runs)
For the Pirates to win they have to pitch one more inning AFTER they score. Someone has to pitch that inning. If Hanrahan pitches one inning earlier in the game, and IF the Pirates had scored in the 20th, then the McCutchen meltdown happens in the 20th instead of the 19th. Not much gained.
Everything’s simpler in hindsight, but which inning would you have had Hanrahan pitch? The 9th? The 13th? The 16th? How do you choose?
by ordena on Aug 1, 2011 12:39 PM EDT reply actions
This, exactly
Set aside the apparent fact that the Pirates were committed to never scoring again. Hurdle, boldly emboldened by squawking from the blogosphere, puts in Hanrahan in the 9th. And the Pirates don’t score in the 10th, and the game continues, Hanrahan-free. Woo.
Even worse, if Hanrahan replaces McCutchen (who, incidentally, has started 15 games in his MLB career; he’s a classic bullpen swingman), then what? There were no other relievers left. So Hurdle brings in Hanny in the 16th, because he thinks No Relation is gassed, the Pirates don’t score in the 17th, and now we’ve got, who, Andrew McCutchen pitching another 5 innings?
by JRoth95 on Aug 1, 2011 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I would simply try to maximize the high-leverage innings
that my best reliever pitched, rather than managing to maximize the number of saves that he gets.
Once it was the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, I’d generally go to him unless specific matchups suggested otherwise. To me it seems like the bottom of the 9th or later in a tie game is a far more critical inning than bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead, for instance. Admitedly, it probably would not help win a game in which we are not going to score for ten more innings (at least) but that is only with hindsight.
by WestCoastBuc on Aug 1, 2011 3:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Considering all three were road games, how to propose getting him to pitch the bottom of the ninth?
"Be polite to everyone you meet, but be prepared to kill anyone"-tc16cav
by otisnixon'sparty on Aug 1, 2011 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't have the slightest idea what your question is
by WestCoastBuc on Aug 1, 2011 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I have obviously had a ministroke or have completely lost my mind.
"Be polite to everyone you meet, but be prepared to kill anyone"-tc16cav
by otisnixon'sparty on Aug 1, 2011 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Not much gained? The game continues to the 21st, instead of them losing it in the 19th. This is not rocket science.
In the game of chess, you can never let your adversary see your pieces.
by jsimon66 on Aug 1, 2011 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions
This is one of the dumbest articles I have ever read
The Bucs lost the 19 inning game because they could not score a run for 16 innings. Their offense is terrible and they have alot of injuries. It has nothing to do with Hanrahan not pitching or the bullpen. Does this guy Neyer make a living doing this?
by fatbastard on Aug 1, 2011 12:58 PM EDT reply actions
That is a pretty high bar
unless you haven’t read many aritcles about Pirate baseball.
by WestCoastBuc on Aug 1, 2011 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions
He's NOT a closer.
He’s the best relief pitcher on the team. That label ‘closer’ is what creates this ridiculous situation.
by Dale Sams on Aug 1, 2011 2:05 PM EDT reply actions
Synonymous
“closer” and “best reliever” are the same thing. What team doesn’t have their best reliever installed in the closer slot?
by cmruready on Aug 1, 2011 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions
The Giants, arguably. I think Romo may be better than Wilson. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get enough opportunities to face lefties to see if he can handle them well.
I feel prickishly demanding!
I couldn't be prouder of my recent adoptee - Tim Lincecum's dealer. He provides the secret fuel behind both Cy Youngs. Also, he taught Timmy the change-up.
by giantsfansince1981 on Aug 1, 2011 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Not to mention the Pirates last season
When they had Dotel closing and Meek and Hanrahan as setup men.
by WestCoastBuc on Aug 1, 2011 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I think that’s his point. The fact that they’re used as if the two are synonymous is the problem. Instead of thinking about the optimal way to use a team’s best reliever (i.e. to maximize the probability of winning the game), many managers simply maximize the number of saves the guy gets. Often the two objectives overlap, but on the road in extra-inning games is a case where they demonstrably do not.
In the game of chess, you can never let your adversary see your pieces.
by jsimon66 on Aug 1, 2011 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Mike Adams
is better than both Bell and Felize, both closers in front of him this season.
by vikedawg on Aug 1, 2011 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions
That said
The other situations are (potentially) different. McCutchen stays in in the 19th because, even though there’s a runner on third, he’s facing a relief pitcher with 4 career PAs – you don’t exactly require an All-Star at that juncture. But in the other cases, there’s a good argument for bringing Hanrahan in once Leroux or Watson is in trouble – he’s certainly capable of cleaning up someone else’s mess. And if he does it efficiently, you still get a full inning out of him in the next inning.
by JRoth95 on Aug 1, 2011 2:19 PM EDT reply actions
leroux to face the middle of the braves order in the 10th? STUPID
by David Brainard on Aug 1, 2011 5:38 PM EDT reply actions
Hurdle
I agree that Hurdle needed to go to his best relief guy Hanrahan in all of those games, but Daniel McCutchen was great in the 19 inning loss that should have been over by letting Xavier Paul swing instead of a suicide squeeze in the 9th. Hurdle has been better than the J.R. but honestly how much does that take he has made some bonehead strategy moves that have majorly backfired. He is a good manager but no one should be talking about him being a great manager.
by cjbutler19 on Aug 1, 2011 5:54 PM EDT reply actions
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