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Sunday, October 18, 2009
More foolishness from the “smart” ex-players and managers…
In the 3rd inning tonight, the Phillies were up 6-0 of course. While Lee was on the mound, Buck Martinez said something like, “He has to be careful not to get into the mode of throwing mostly fastballs.” Ron Darling followed that up with, “Yeah, you can’t alter your pitching style just because it is 6-0. You have to block out the score and pretend that it is 0-0.”
Pure BS of course. And this is the kind of nonsense that they teach players.
Now, granted it is only the third inning so you don’t alter your pitching style a lot, but certainly you DO alter it some and you DON’T pitch like it is 0-0. You might tell some young pitchers to “pretend like it is 0-0” (in order for them to keep their focus) but at some point in their careers you have to teach your pitchers to indeed alter their style with the score and inning of the game.
With a 6-0 lead, even in the third inning, you throw more strikes, more fastballs, let the batters put the ball in play more, and not pitch so carefully to the better hitters in the lineup.
You wonder why players and managers do not play and manage optimally? It is because despite their vast baseball knowledge and experience, they are poor thinkers. Knowledge and experience is only part of the equation when it comes to playing and coaching (managing) optimally. Cogent analysis is the other part. That is why sabermetrics will someday play a big part (I think) in how players play and managers manage the game.