Kevin Gausman Today, 2014.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Also, the fact that Gausman's best start last year was against the Tigers (6 IP, 1 ER) may have been a factor.

Yeah, didn't turn out too well. I just don't understand these comments (rants) about the organization being incompetent for calling him and even for sending him down after the start.

[MrOrange82]

Yeah, didn't turn out too well. I just don't understand these comments (rants) about the organization being incompetent for calling him and even for sending him down after the start.

I thought it was stupid before they did it, after it was confirmed, and during/after today's game.

I honestly can't recall the last time I heard of a ML team pushing back a starter who's on regular rest (and who's thrown five pretty-good-to-very-good games in a row) to bring up/start a MiLer who (1) is coming off a serious illness, (2) hasn't been stretched out in the minors, (3) has exhibited serious control problems in the minors, and (4) would be pitching on short rest.

The O's pushed back Chen so the Tigers wouldn't crush him? What did they do to Gausman, give him a thorough squeeze?

[CA-ORIOLE]

I thought it was stupid before they did it, after it was confirmed, and during/after today's game.

I honestly can't recall the last time I heard of a ML team pushing back a starter who's on regular rest (and who's thrown five pretty-good-to-very-good games in a row) to bring up/start a MiLer who's (1) coming off a serious illness, (2) hasn't been stretched out in the minors, (3) has exhibited serious control problems in the minors, and (4) who'd be pitching on short rest.

The O's pushed back Chen so the Tigers wouldn't crush him? What did they do to Gausman, give him a thorough squeeze?

The Tigers have been crushing LHP. I thought the logic was fine and it was pretty obvious that Gausman was going to be pitch limited and piggy back with Gonzo. Gausman certainly didn't look tired to me, he just didn't make good enough pitches. It's awesome that you were ahead of the curve in knowing that Gausman wouldn't be very good against the Tigers today. Kudos.

[MrOrange82]

The Tigers have been crushing LHP. I thought the logic was fine and it was pretty obvious that Gausman was going to be pitch limited and piggy back with Gonzo. Gausman certainly didn't look tired to me, he just didn't make good enough pitches. It's awesome that you were ahead of the curve in knowing that Gausman wouldn't be very good against the Tigers today. Kudos.

Maybe the aggregated team stats show a different picture, but it looks to me like three Tigers regulars are crushing LH pitching: Martinez (.452 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR in 31 AB), Kinsler (.389 BA, 3 2B, 1 HR in 36 AB), and Jackson (.355 BA, 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR in 31 AB). Avila is hitting lefties pretty well (.292, 2 2B, 1 HR in 24 AB), but I don't think his numbers qualify for "crushing" status. And every other Tigers regular is hitting .267 or worse (MCab is at .250).

Meanwhile, Chen has held righties to a .254 BA and a .693 OPS in 32.2 innings this year.

So...I already listed the anti-Gausman reasons...but, regarding the bolded, fatigue could contribute to poor pitch location (even if he wasn't flat-out exhausted). Then again, so could the fact that he hasn't exhibited good command in the MiLs this year, either (i.e., the "what else did you expect?" scenario). I get that there might have been some kind of "logic" at play on the O's part, but I don't think it was good logic. Not even close, really.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Maybe the aggregated team stats show a different picture, but it looks to me like three Tigers regulars are crushing LH pitching: Martinez (.452 BA, 3 2B, 3 HR in 31 AB), Kinsler (.389 BA, 3 2B, 1 HR in 36 AB), and Jackson (.355 BA, 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR in 31 AB). Avila is hitting lefties pretty well (.292, 2 2B, 1 HR in 24 AB), but I don't think his numbers qualify for "crushing" status. And every other Tigers regular is hitting .267 or worse (MCab is at .250).

Meanwhile, Chen has held righties to a .254 BA and a .693 OPS in 32.2 innings this year.

So...I already listed the anti-Gausman reasons...but, regarding the bolded, fatigue could contribute to poor pitch location (even if he wasn't flat-out exhausted). Then again, so could the fact that he hasn't exhibited good command in the MiLs this year, either (i.e., the "what else did you expect?" scenario). I get that there might have been some kind of "logic" at play on the O's part, but I don't think it was good logic. Not even close, really.

Not sure about the sss's "this year", but the Tigers as a team are hitting .806 against LHP "this year" as compared to 736 against RHP. Also, while not a regular, Rajai Davis and Torri Hunter have historically hit LHP quite well though they may not be as good in a sss this year. And Chen has much poorer splits than his 693 OPS against RHBs this year. So, I would still disagree with you about the logic being poor considering the entire picture and larger sample sizes.

But again, kudos. Great call there.

[sfosfan]

Just finished watching the game (love mlb.tv). Anybody notice anything familiar about Kevin's delivery? Maybe it's just me, but I see a resemblance to Sidd Finch.

[MrOrange82]

Not sure about the sss's "this year", but the Tigers as a team are hitting .806 against LHP "this year" as compared to 736 against RHP. Also, while not a regular, Rajai Davis and Torri Hunter have historically hit LHP quite well though they may not be as good in a sss this year. And Chen has much poorer splits than his 693 OPS against RHBs this year. So, I would still disagree with you about the logic being poor considering the entire picture and larger sample sizes.

But again, kudos. Great call there.

When you said "the Tigers have been crushing LHP," I assumed you meant this year. Yes, it's a small sample size, but doesn't that actually support my point(s)? Hitting well through an extremely small sample this year doesn't justify bumping Chen in favor of Gausman, especially with all the negatives associated with Gausman's debut. And even with the small sample, it's not like the entire lineup has been destroying lefties. Hunter's hitting .267 against them, and Davis is hitting .250.

Nevertheless, if you're talking about more than one year, I'm not sure how well that holds up, either. Last year the Tigers hit RHP better than LHP (RHP - .788 OPS, LHP - .768 OPS), and the only Tigers "regulars" to have pronounced, favorable splits against LHP are Kinsler (.312 BA vs. .260 BA) and Rajai Davis (.293 BA vs. .258 BA). MCab, VMart, and Jackson have put up virtually identical numbers against LHP and RHP over their careers, while Hunter has had slightly more success against LHP (.293 BA vs. .277 BA). And going back to 2012 team stats (of questionable value either way, IMO), the Tigers recorded a .724 OPS against LHP and a .771 OPS against righties.

So Chen's career splits against right-handed hitters...yes, the numbers are worse than against lefties, but they're not exactly terrible, either. Against righties Chen has posted a .264/.317/.437, as compared to his .248/.306/.413 against lefties.

I appreciate the kudos, but I'm not trying to say "I told you so." I'm pretty pissed that, IMO, the O's lost at least 2/3 games against the Tigers due to really, really stupid, easily avoidable mistakes by the people in charge of the team. And really, when you think about it, how absurd is this whole situation? Why on Earth were the Orioles willing to dig so deep to find excuses to start Gausman over Chen today (given all the negatives I mentioned above), yet Buck, in the face of overwhelming evidence that his fondness for the "save rule" is idiotic, nevertheless handed another close game to Tommy "Pants First, Then Shoes" Hunter yesterday? Isn't there a common sense middle ground between extreme micro-roster-management and blind devotion to outdated concepts that the O's should be willing and able to embrace? The last two days have just been massively mishandled, IMO. Again, not looking for kudos...if I'm predicting fire/brimstone, I would ALWAYS rather be wrong. I'm simply irate that such mistakes were made since they appeared so easy to avoid.

[CA-ORIOLE]

When you said "the Tigers have been crushing LHP," I assumed you meant this year. Yes, it's a small sample size, but doesn't that actually support my point(s)? Hitting well through an extremely small sample this year doesn't justify bumping Chen in favor of Gausman, especially with all the negatives associated with Gausman's debut. And even with the small sample, it's not like the entire lineup has been destroying lefties. Hunter's hitting .267 against them, and Davis is hitting .250.

Nevertheless, if you're talking about more than one year, I'm not sure how well that holds up, either. Last year the Tigers hit RHP better than LHP (RHP - .788 OPS, LHP - .768 OPS), and the only Tigers "regulars" to have pronounced, favorable splits against LHP are Kinsler (.312 BA vs. .260 BA) and Rajai Davis (.293 BA vs. .258 BA). MCab, VMart, and Jackson have put up virtually identical numbers against LHP and RHP over their careers, while Hunter has had slightly more success against LHP (.293 BA vs. .277 BA). And going back to 2012 team stats (of questionable value either way, IMO), the Tigers recorded a .724 OPS against LHP and a .771 OPS against righties.

So Chen's career splits against right-handed hitters...yes, the numbers are worse than against lefties, but they're not exactly terrible, either. Against righties Chen has posted a .264/.317/.437, as compared to his .248/.306/.413 against lefties.

I appreciate the kudos, but I'm not trying to say "I told you so." I'm pretty pissed that, IMO, the O's lost at least 2/3 games against the Tigers due to really, really stupid, easily avoidable mistakes by the people in charge of the team. And really, when you think about it, how absurd is this whole situation? Why on Earth were the Orioles willing to dig so deep to find excuses to start Gausman over Chen today (given all the negatives I mentioned above), yet Buck, in the face of overwhelming evidence that his fondness for the "save rule" is idiotic, nevertheless handed another close game to Tommy "Pants First, Then Shoes" Hunter yesterday? Isn't there a common sense middle ground between extreme micro-roster-management and blind devotion to outdated concepts that the O's should be willing and able to embrace? The last two days have just been massively mishandled, IMO. Again, not looking for kudos...if I'm predicting fire/brimstone, I would ALWAYS rather be wrong. I'm simply irate that such mistakes were made since they appeared so easy to avoid.

They have a 806 OPS against LHP this year and an .736 OPS against RHP THIS YEAR. What's not to understand? You picked certain players and sss stats from this year (to mitigate their successs against LHP...I'm guessing?) and I merely responded to you that that the career stats might make the overall picture even worse since the Tigers are heavily loaded with RHBs who have historically done better against LHP than they are doing this year. Chen splits as well.

We disagree about the logic and this being some horrible incompetent decision by the Orioles. I don't see it that way. Let it go. Accept the fact we just disagree on this. I can. Would I like a do over over and have Chen pitch the game today..yeah. I've already kudo'd you for "calling it" in advance. So what are we nitpicking about ? Accept my kudo and lets move on.

[MrOrange82]

They have a 806 OPS against LHP this year and an .736 OPS against RHP THIS YEAR. What's not to understand? You picked certain players and sss stats from this year (to mitigate their successs against LHP...I'm guessing?) and I merely responded to you that that the career stats might make the overall picture even worse since the Tigers are heavily loaded with RHBs who have historically done better against LHP than they are doing this year. Chen splits as well.

We disagree about the logic and this being some horrible incompetent decision by the Orioles. I don't see it that way. Let it go. Accept the fact we just disagree on this. I can. Would I like a do over over and have Chen pitch the game today..yeah. I've already kudo'd you for "calling it" in advance. So what are we nitpicking about ? Accept my kudo and lets move on.

I was trying to point out that "this year" overall OPS numbers you're citing are actually being carried by less than half of the Tigers' starting lineup (if you count Avila among those crushing it...otherwise, it's basically just three players). The players I didn't mention weren't mentioned because their stats aren't very good against lefties. And you mentioned historical stats, so I actually looked at the historical stats.

I don't know...I feel like I looked up and presented essentially all of the relevant numbers (even going back to historical performances that should have little bearing on this season), and I don't think the move is defensible, regardless of hindsight. That's really the point. Going forward, if the O's do something similar, we should all be able to say "nooope...dumb." But defending the logic of such moves, IMO, just makes it likelier that similar moves will be deemed acceptable later on down the line.

Put another way, it shouldn't take hindsight to see that the O's screwed the pooch on this one. But as you said, it's over...moving on.

[Frobby]

Mediocre start for Gausman back in Norfolk, though at least they let him throw 87 pitches. Too bad he only got through 5 IP with that pitch count.

[OFFNY]

o

KEVIN GAUSMAN O (vs. AAA-Gwinnett, 5/25)

19 OUTS: 7 Groundouts, 7 Flyouts, 3 Strikeouts, 1 Poput, 1 Lineout

IP:. 6.33

H:o 4 (4 Singles)

R:O 0

BB: 0

SO: 3

Pitches: 93 (64 Strikes, 29 Balls)

2014 ERA: 2.41 (AAA-Norfolk)

PITCHES BY INNING

*****************

11 (81 Strikes, 3 Balls)

17 (13 Strikes, 4 Balls)

15 (10 Strikes, 5 Balls)

17 (10 Strikes, 7 Balls)

12 (10 Strikes, 2 Balls)

16 (11 Strikes, 5 Balls)

51 (21 Strikes, 3 Balls) *

* Gausman recorded 1 out before departing in the 7th inning.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Call up Gausman !!!

[Rene88]

Id like to see Gausman on full rest pitching against someone other than the Detroit Tigers.

Not me. He needs more time and higher pitch counts with consistency. His balls are still flat. Patience...he isn't ready.

[LookitsPuck]

Please no Gausman until he is stretched out more and improves his secondary pitches. He was terrible against the Tigers.

[El Gordo]

Not. Ready. For. Prime. Time.