Hyde's Decisions 2019

[Aristotelian]

A couple of notable decisions for Game 2 vs the Yankees, Hyde's first career win.

First, as we all know, today was the debut of the "opener" bullpen game. For the most part it worked, with Karns getting through two shaky innings unscathed, and Yacobonis effective backing him up. With the bullpen game, Karns, Castro, and Yacobonis all pitched multiple innings, and Wright has pitched two games in a row. It will be very interesting to see what Hyde does with so many bullets already used up. I wonder if we will see someone hit the shuttle for another RHP option (Phillips?).

Second, after batting 7th in Game 1, Chris Davis was not in the lineup in Game 2 against a LHP. It appears Davis has been reduced to a platoon role and will have to hit his way back to an everyday role. If Hyde is willing to platoon Davis from the first week of the season, you have to wonder how long of a leash Davis will have against RHP. It is possible that the plan to move on from Davis is further along than most of us have been predicting. Nunez started at DH, batting 4th, and went 0 for 4.

Third, up 2 in the 8th, Hyde goes somewhat out of the box to bring in Givens. With most of the RHP's used in this bullpen game, Hyde was down to Wright and a bunch of LHPs he obviously did not want to use. Makes sense to bring in Givens for two innings, and according to plan, Givens works 8th inning. The O's proceed to tack on two insurance runs. With a 4 run cushion, now Hyde elects to remove GIvens for the lefty Bleier, presumably to keep Givens available for a save situation tomorrow. Nearly everyone on the game thread questioned this move. Not only are you taking out the pitcher with the best chance of finishing the game, but now you have one fewer option if things don't go according to plan. Hyde makes the move, and Bleier proceeds to give up a homer and two base runners, getting only Gardner on a hard liner luckily right to Mullins. Now desperate to preserve the win, Hyde now calls upon none other than Mike Wright, the only RHP left other than Araujo. He also had Fry warming for some reason. Wright finished the game in a nailbiter, dominating Stanton and Andujar around the bloop single by Voit. The gamble worked. Givens is now available tomorrow, though Bleier and the bullpen came a lot closer to losing the game than some of us would have preferred. 

It does appear that Hyde is not afraid to go outside the box, whether it is using an opener, or removing his closer, if the numbers back the strategy. I love the opener strategy and the general midnset of doing whatever it takes to win. I did not agree with removing Givens in the moment, but I understand the thinking. It is possible that we win tomorrow (crazy, I know), Givens locks it down, and Hyde will be vindicated.

[bobmc]

Hyde enjoying the moment with his guys!

 

[atomic]

I wouldn't call it opener.  It was just a bullpen game.  I would have kept Givens in.  The double steal was a good call as it led to a run.  Keeping Davis on the bench was a wise move.  I think keeping Mancini out of left and putting Ruiz at third have been good moves.  

Luckily there are a lot if days off or the bullpen management would lead to trouble if starters had early exits in upcoming games.

[HowAboutThat]

I mentioned this in another thread but it seems that the baserunning is not just more aggressive, but much better overall. I wonder if that’s just Hyde telling the guys to be more aggressive, focused coaching in ST, or better judgement by the first and third-base coaches.

Also, mention was made of outfielder placement. AJ was famous for playing shallow. I don’t know whether he was told to play there, he was told to be deeper and he said,”no” or he was allowed to use his own judgement.

Rickard was playing too deep on one play, and there was that miscommunication (?) between Villar and Rickard.

I Wonder how much the dugout controls where the guys go for a given batter?

great game today. Kudos to wright for not playing to expectations.

[Moose Milligan]

30 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

A couple of notable decisions for Game 2 vs the Yankees, Hyde's first career win.

First, as we all know, today was the debut of the "opener" bullpen game. For the most part it worked, with Karns getting through two shaky innings unscathed, and Yacobonis effective backing him up. With the bullpen game, Karns, Castro, and Yacobonis all pitched multiple innings, and Wright has pitched two games in a row. It will be very interesting to see what Hyde does with so many bullets already used up. I wonder if we will see someone hit the shuttle for another RHP option (Phillips?).

Second, after batting 7th in Game 1, Chris Davis was not in the lineup in Game 2 against a LHP. It appears Davis has been reduced to a platoon role and will have to hit his way back to an everyday role. If Hyde is willing to platoon Davis from the first week of the season, you have to wonder how long of a leash Davis will have against RHP. It is possible that the plan to move on from Davis is further along than most of us have been predicting. Nunez started at DH, batting 4th, and went 0 for 4.

Third, up 2 in the 8th, Hyde goes somewhat out of the box to bring in Givens. With most of the RHP's used in this bullpen game, Hyde was down to Wright and a bunch of LHPs he obviously did not want to use. Makes sense to bring in Givens for two innings, and according to plan, Givens works 8th inning. The O's proceed to tack on two insurance runs. With a 4 run cushion, now Hyde elects to remove GIvens for the lefty Bleier, presumably to keep Givens available for a save situation tomorrow. Nearly everyone on the game thread questioned this move. Not only are you taking out the pitcher with the best chance of finishing the game, but now you have one fewer option if things don't go according to plan. Hyde makes the move, and Bleier proceeds to give up a homer and two base runners, getting only Gardner on a hard liner luckily right to Mullins. Now desperate to preserve the win, Hyde now calls upon none other than Mike Wright, the only RHP left other than Araujo. He also had Fry warming for some reason. Wright finished the game in a nailbiter, dominating Stanton and Andujar around the bloop single by Voit. The gamble worked. Givens is now available tomorrow, though Bleier and the bullpen came a lot closer to losing the game than some of us would have preferred. 

It does appear that Hyde is not afraid to go outside the box, whether it is using an opener, or removing his closer, if the numbers back the strategy. I love the opener strategy and the general midnset of doing whatever it takes to win. I did not agree with removing Givens in the moment, but I understand the thinking. It is possible that we win tomorrow (crazy, I know), Givens locks it down, and Hyde will be vindicated.

All good stuff here.

A couple points/counter points:

In regards to Davis, if they want to get him back on track, they need to put him in situations where he can succeed and that's not against lefties.  I think we all agree that Davis doesn't have a long leash this year, however I think that might be more of what we're HOPING for, not necessarily reality.  But I think if Davis plays exclusively against righties, that's a good move no matter what the reasoning is.  I do believe they want to get him back on track and a good strategy there is to not have him bite off more than he can chew.  If that's the case, they need to feed him Gerber's.  

In regards to Givens, remains to be seen if Hyde is going to manage to the save stat.  Based on what he said earlier in ST, I don't think he will.  What you might have seen today is Hyde keeping Givens on a short leash today because it's a long season and the bullpen is going to get a LOT of work.  On the flip side, he very well might want to use him tomorrow but I wouldn't be surprised if Givens is brought in for a high leverage situation, not necessarily a save.  If that's the case, I am in favor of a manager using his best/better relievers in high leverage situations, not just managing for the save.

In essence what you saw today, (I'm pissed that I missed the game) might have been Hyde playing the long game AND the short game with Givens.  Playing for the long haul of a season where Givens will be taxed, also saving him for a rubber match game tomorrow.  If that's the case, he played it perfectly.

Hyde finds himself in an interesting situation because, in a really weird way, he's playing with house money.  There are *zero* expectations this year from a W/L perspective.  So since there's no pressure to hit a win total or make a playoff run he can afford to get creative with things to see what might work.  Let's be real here, no one expected the Orioles to win today so if his bullpen management backfired...so what?  

 

[Aristotelian]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

In regards to Givens, remains to be seen if Hyde is going to manage to the save stat.  Based on what he said earlier in ST, I don't think he will.  What you might have seen today is Hyde keeping Givens on a short leash today because it's a long season and the bullpen is going to get a LOT of work.  On the flip side, he very well might want to use him tomorrow but I wouldn't be surprised if Givens is brought in for a high leverage situation, not necessarily a save.  If that's the case, I am in favor of a manager using his best/better relievers in high leverage situations, not just managing for the save.

In essence what you saw today, (I'm pissed that I missed the game) might have been Hyde playing the long game AND the short game with Givens.  Playing for the long haul of a season where Givens will be taxed, also saving him for a rubber match game tomorrow.  If that's the case, he played it perfectly.

Hyde finds himself in an interesting situation because, in a really weird way, he's playing with house money.  There are *zero* expectations this year from a W/L perspective.  So since there's no pressure to hit a win total or make a playoff run he can afford to get creative with things to see what might work.  Let's be real here, no one expected the Orioles to win today so if his bullpen management backfired...so what?  

 

Good points. I will say that actually Bleier and Wright ended up pitching to the meat of the order in the 9th, albeit with a larger lead. Arguably, once Bleier let the baserunners on, Wright's outs were higher leverage than Givens. I think if it had stayed a save situation, Hyde absolutely leaves Givens in. Once we pad the lead, he gets cute and tries to get the win and keep him available for tomorrow.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Aristotelian said:

Good points. I will say that actually Bleier and Wright ended up pitching to the meat of the order in the 9th, albeit with a larger lead. Arguably, once Bleier let the baserunners on, Wright's outs were higher leverage than Givens. I think if it had stayed a save situation, Hyde absolutely leaves Givens in. Once we pad the lead, he gets cute and tries to get the win and keep him available for tomorrow.

True.  Although I think managers bring relievers in and are shocked or disappointed when runners get on. Hey, that's not supposed to happen, now I'm in a pickle.

 

[Finisher]

This felt like a game we don't win with Buck. Davis would've played because he's a veteran and because track record and it's only the second game of the season. Givens would not have been used in the 8th. Game probably blown there. Also bold going with an opener game so early.

Look, these may not be keepers but love seeing hustle and better defense and guys fighting to establish their careers.

[Aristotelian]

9 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

True.  Although I think managers bring relievers in and are shocked or disappointed when runners get on. Hey, that's not supposed to happen, now I'm in a pickle.

 

Mike Wright with Stanton the tying tun at the plate was definitely not the plan! I would love it if Hyde would ignore the save rule and focus on leverage, and you are right, it will be interesting to see him manage this year with absolutely no expectations and nothing to lose.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Aristotelian said:

Mike Wright with Stanton the tying tun at the plate was definitely not the plan! I would love it if Hyde would ignore the save rule and focus on leverage, and you are right, it will be interesting to see him manage this year with absolutely no expectations and nothing to lose.

Hell no that's not the plan! That said, I will give Hyde credit for what sounds like giving Wright the ball in a high leverage situation, trusting him to get out of it and maybe boosting his confidence along the way.  

I've been down on Wright as anyone else here but if there's somehow, some way that guy can get it figured out, it'd be awesome.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Hell no that's not the plan! That said, I will give Hyde credit for what sounds like giving Wright the ball in a high leverage situation, trusting him to get out of it and maybe boosting his confidence along the way.  

I've been down on Wright as anyone else here but if there's somehow, some way that guy can get it figured out, it'd be awesome.

If the Orioles can fix the biggest head case of a pitcher I’ve ever seen, I’ll fully buy into the process. 

And maybe start a new religion.

[Going Underground]

Ruiz also had a nice game at third.He is so much better then Nunez.Probably made about four plays Nunez would not have made.

[jrobb21613]

I got all warm and fussy inside when I saw Givensour so called closer up in I believe the 6th inning. We might not win a lot of games this year but it’s going to be fun.

[OriolesMagic83]

Good to see Davis on the bench for a game already.  I thought he would play just about every game the first couple of months no matter how bad he performed. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

8 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

All good stuff here.

A couple points/counter points:

In regards to Davis, if they want to get him back on track, they need to put him in situations where he can succeed and that's not against lefties.  I think we all agree that Davis doesn't have a long leash this year, however I think that might be more of what we're HOPING for, not necessarily reality.  But I think if Davis plays exclusively against righties, that's a good move no matter what the reasoning is.  I do believe they want to get him back on track and a good strategy there is to not have him bite off more than he can chew.  If that's the case, they need to feed him Gerber's.  

In regards to Givens, remains to be seen if Hyde is going to manage to the save stat.  Based on what he said earlier in ST, I don't think he will.  What you might have seen today is Hyde keeping Givens on a short leash today because it's a long season and the bullpen is going to get a LOT of work.  On the flip side, he very well might want to use him tomorrow but I wouldn't be surprised if Givens is brought in for a high leverage situation, not necessarily a save.  If that's the case, I am in favor of a manager using his best/better relievers in high leverage situations, not just managing for the save.

In essence what you saw today, (I'm pissed that I missed the game) might have been Hyde playing the long game AND the short game with Givens.  Playing for the long haul of a season where Givens will be taxed, also saving him for a rubber match game tomorrow.  If that's the case, he played it perfectly.

Hyde finds himself in an interesting situation because, in a really weird way, he's playing with house money.  There are *zero* expectations this year from a W/L perspective.  So since there's no pressure to hit a win total or make a playoff run he can afford to get creative with things to see what might work.  Let's be real here, no one expected the Orioles to win today so if his bullpen management backfired...so what?  

 

I was thinking the same thing. He gets a pass basically this year for wins and losses.