MLB.com's Position by Position Analysis

[Can_of_corn]

He said Playoff experience means diddly. I was assuming that Britton is going to pitch in the playoffs.

All kidding aside I don't know how much relevance a starter position players experience means to a relief pitcher. If a O'Day and Miller had said something similar I would pay it more attention.

[stopthecar]

It's not laughable at all to suggest that Britton might not perform under the pressure of the playoffs. How did it work out for Jim Johnson? How many saves did he blow against the Yankees?

Jim blew 1 save that series... also Britton isn't Jim, not even close.

[Malike]

All kidding aside I don't know how much relevance a starter position players experience means to a relief pitcher. If a O'Day and Miller had said something similar I would pay it more attention.

9th inning in Detroit, down 2-1 in the series, O's with a 1 run lead and Hunter, Martinez and Cabrera due up. Yeah, I doubt Britton feels any more pressure then he would have if the game was in May.

[Nevermore]

Ahhh, we're frequently the underdog who should wave the white flag. Them is fighting words! :angryfire:

[Can_of_corn]

9th inning in Detroit, down 2-1 in the series, O's with a 1 run lead and Hunter, Martinez and Cabrera due up. Yeah, I doubt Britton feels any more pressure then he would have if the game was in May.

Did I say there would be no pressure?

What I said is I would give more credence to what a relief pitcher had to say on the topic over a starting position player.

[isestrex]

You just did a terrible job proving that proven closers are better.

I was supporting your argument... not attacking it

[Hallas]

I primarily disagree with this assessment because the O's play musical chairs with Pearce, Cruz, Young, and (to some extent) De Aza, and their usage of these players at multiple positions really obscures their true value in a position-vs-position assessment.

Here's a breakdown by fangraphs WAR:

C: O's 2.3, Tigers 2.1 -> WASH

1B: O's 2.3, Tigers 5.1 -> TIGERS by a lot

2B: O's 0.9, Tigers 5.6 -> TIGERS by a lot

SS: O's 3.7, Tigers 0.3 -> ORIOLES by a lot

3B: O's 2.1, Tigers -0.5 -> normally Orioles, but due to injuries I'm calling it a WASH

RF: O's 3.7, Tigers 0.4 -> ORIOLES by a lot

CF: O's 5.7, Tigers 2.5 -> ORIOLES by a lot

LF: O's 6.0, Tigers 3.2 -> ORIOLES by a lot

SP: O's 9.8, Tigers 19.6 -> TIGERS by a super lot

RP: O's 4.7, Tigers 0.6 -> ORIOLES by a lot

end results: 2 ties, 2 positions + SP for tigers, 5 positions for Orioles.

If you weight SP as 4 people (since there are usually 4 starters) you get 2 ties, 6 for Tigers, 5 for Orioles. Seems pretty even to me. You can probably give intangibles in this case to the Orioles because Showalter is considered to be a better manager than Brad Ausmus and the Orioles gain a lot of runs from shifting, which doesn't show up in stats that Fangraphs uses.

[isestrex]

I primarily disagree with this assessment because the O's play musical chairs with Pearce, Cruz, Young, and (to some extent) De Aza, and their usage of these players at multiple positions really obscures their true value in a position-vs-position assessment.

Here's a breakdown by fangraphs WAR:

C: O's 2.3, Tigers 2.1 -> WASH

1B: O's 2.3, Tigers 5.1 -> TIGERS by a lot

2B: O's 0.9, Tigers 5.6 -> TIGERS by a lot

SS: O's 3.7, Tigers 0.3 -> ORIOLES by a lot

3B: O's 2.1, Tigers -0.5 -> normally Orioles, but due to injuries I'm calling it a WASH

RF: O's 3.7, Tigers 0.4 -> ORIOLES by a lot

CF: O's 5.7, Tigers 2.5 -> ORIOLES by a lot

LF: O's 6.0, Tigers 3.2 -> ORIOLES by a lot

SP: O's 9.8, Tigers 19.6 -> TIGERS by a super lot

RP: O's 4.7, Tigers 0.6 -> ORIOLES by a lot

end results: 2 ties, 2 positions + SP for tigers, 5 positions for Orioles.

If you weight SP as 4 people (since there are usually 4 starters) you get 2 ties, 6 for Tigers, 5 for Orioles. Seems pretty even to me. You can probably give intangibles in this case to the Orioles because Showalter is considered to be a better manager than Brad Ausmus and the Orioles gain a lot of runs from shifting, which doesn't show up in stats that Fangraphs uses.

Not to mention that by rWAR Cabrera is 4.9 and Pearce is 6.0. But they over-inflate defense a little too heavily.

[Hallas]

Not to mention that by rWAR Cabrera is 4.9 and Pearce is 6.0. But they over-inflate defense a little too heavily.

I think it's pretty clear to me that the Tigers really go for premo-pitchers because any pitcher that is reliant on balls in play is going to fail under their terrible defense. So I don't necessarily think that overvaluing defense is a bad thing. By UZR there is a 100 run difference between the tigers' defense and the Orioles defense. In the current depressed run environment, that's like 12 wins. And that doesn't even account for shift runs.

[LookitsPuck]

I'm glad you know that. I know that listening to guys like Jones, and Cruz talk about it, having had the experience is immeasurable. I'll take your word for it that it means diddly squat, though. There is a little difference in being the only game played, having the entire country watching, and players feeling the pressure to have to perform, I'd think. But, alas, maybe you know best.

Koji was also a big game pitcher in Japan. It's not like he never felt the pressure before.

Meh, I think it's player speak. You know how many closers were first timers that pitched phenomenally in the playoffs? Already posted in this thread just a few very recent examples.

It's overblown. Why do first year players crush it in the playoffs at time? Experience?

[PaulFolk]

I think the writer did a half-arsed job with this article. Of the position comparisons, almost none of them mention defense. How do you do a team comparison and make no mention of defense?

[Guest rochester]

The only one I disagree with is Britton/Nathan. RF is very close but Hunter kills us. DH? VMartinez has been a friggin' beast this year - maybe not a huge advantage but still there IMO. But, baseball is not an individual spot - position by position does not hold much here.

[Guest]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ALDS roster is on hold until Tigers know Rajai Davis' status. Could be full-go, could be day-to-day, could be off roster, Ausmus said.</p>— Jason Beck (@beckjason) <a href="

">September 30, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Malike]

Meh, I think it's player speak. You know how many closers were first timers that pitched phenomenally in the playoffs? Already posted in this thread just a few very recent examples.

It's overblown. Why do first year players crush it in the playoffs at time? Experience?

I disagree. I think playoff experience is beneficial. Interesting read, also.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/does-experience-matter-in-the-postseason/

[LookitsPuck]

That's a 6 year old article. Let's try something more modern:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/ben-lindbergh-dispels-postseason-myths/

He references this gem:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-playoff-myths-to-ignore/

5 days old.