Bautista 2023

[RZNJ]

5 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Bautista is not throwing strikes, and it wasn't just this game. He is either missing high or yanking it wide. He threw 32 pitches today, only 17 were strikes. 

It's May and he's the closer on a team with playoff aspirations. He needs to fix this and fast or he may be moved out of the role. Elias did it last year with Lopez who was actually pitching well. Why wouldn't he do it with a pitcher who struggles to throw strikes?

 

6 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Bautista is not throwing strikes, and it wasn't just this game. He is either missing high or yanking it wide. He threw 32 pitches today, only 17 were strikes. 

It's May and he's the closer on a team with playoff aspirations. He needs to fix this and fast or he may be moved out of the role. Elias did it last year with Lopez who was actually pitching well. Why wouldn't he do it with a pitcher who struggles to throw strikes?

You’re overreacting.  He had 4 walks in his first 11.2 IP.  2 appearances ago he walked 3 but also struck out 3.   Again, today he had issues.  He was fine all last year.   No way, they replace Felix unless he completely implodes and I don’t see that happening.   The hitters still can’t hit him and he still has the dominant stuff.   

[Since1984]

After 4 days of rest, it was a good time to get back into game action. Over use of Adley and the Mountain is a concern!

Edited May 4, 2023 by Since1984

[Jagwar]

53 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

 

You’re overreacting.  He had 4 walks in his first 11.2 IP.  2 appearances ago he walked 3 but also struck out 3.   Again, today he had issues.  He was fine all last year.   No way, they replace Felix unless he completely implodes and I don’t see that happening.   The hitters still can’t hit him and he still has the dominant stuff.   

Perhaps. But unless he  fixes his fastball command and rediscovers his splitter, hitters are going to figure out he's prone to high pitch counts and walking batters.

I'd be interested in a spray chart for his pitches, especially on his fastball.  

[Aristotelian]

Biggest positive from this outing was he finally a threw some good splitters, including strike three for the last out. 

[Oriole1940]

His very presence  on the mound with long arms and huge size must make the batters wish they were any place but the batters box.   How intimidating.  He is nearly in the batters face when  he releases the ball.   As the announcers were  saying today, 10 or more years in the Minors and many of them in the very low  Minors  mostly due to Wildness.   He  fits the category of effectively wild most of the time.

[LA2]

1 hour ago, Jagwar said:

Perhaps. But unless he  fixes his fastball command and rediscovers his splitter, hitters are going to figure out he's prone to high pitch counts and walking batters.

I'd be interested in a spray chart for his pitches, especially on his fastball.  

The splitter was fine today and he went to it in crucial spots.

[Billy F-Face3]

I have to admit with all honesty that with as much as Bautista struggles with command/control and with as many batters he walks, we may not want to give him the epic lighting and music entrance that he gets. I would not blame Elias one bit if he pulled another Lopez style move for Bautista the way things have been trending. And it's painful for me to write that because I really really like Bautista. I just don't like the wild pitches and the walks, and feel it is a hindrance that I must be honest about. I even get concerned for the well being of our Catchers like Adley every time Bautista spikes one and it looks like it could be bouncing in a painful area.

[Jagwar]

7 hours ago, LA2 said:

The splitter was fine today and he went to it in crucial spots.

Maybe I was mistaken about his splitter effectiveness. He threw one 50-footer that looked like a blocking drill for a catcher. 

He has not been sharp in many of his outings so far. This one stood out to me because it was a 32 pitch mess with pitches all over the zone. He and the coaches needs to figure out what is going on mechanically and fix it, or the better lineups in the league are going to hang blown saves on him. 

[Moose Milligan]

Wild pitch cost us today. Still ****ing around with that splitter is getting old, fast. If he can’t figure it out, it’s not like he can’t pump 101 heaters instead. 
 

I’ve said all along he makes me nervous, today was evidence as to why. 

[bpilktree]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Wild pitch cost us today. Still ****ing around with that splitter is getting old, fast. If he can’t figure it out, it’s not like he can’t pump 101 heaters instead. 
 

I’ve said all along he makes me nervous, today was evidence as to why. 

Pretty sure we lost because we went 1-14 with runners in scoring position.  In extra innings with man staring on 2nd you can’t expect to get out of it that often.  

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, bpilktree said:

Pretty sure we lost because we went 1-14 with runners in scoring position.  In extra innings with man staring on 2nd you can’t expect to get out of it that often.  

Both things can be true.

[tntoriole]

Bautista will not be our closer at end of 2023 season .. a prediction 

[spiritof66]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Wild pitch cost us today. Still ****ing around with that splitter is getting old, fast. If he can’t figure it out, it’s not like he can’t pump 101 heaters instead. 
 

I’ve said all along he makes me nervous, today was evidence as to why. 

You're asking for trouble if you bring Bautista in with men on base -- the sinkers, the walks, the stealability. So you have to try really hard to avoid using him in extra innings, and today that meant using him in the eighth or ninth. That doesn't appear to be Hyde's style, and today putting Felix in with a man on second and no outs contributed to the loss.

[SilverRocket]

2 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

You're asking for trouble if you bring Bautista in with men on base -- the sinkers, the walks, the stealability. So you have to try really hard to avoid using him in extra innings, and today that meant using him in the eighth or ninth. That doesn't appear to be Hyde's style, and today putting Felix in with a man on second and no outs contributed to the loss.

Bautista has the highest K rate of anyone on the team (besides DL Hall's 3 innings). If Adley stops that ball like he does a lot of the time, we wouldn't be talking about this.

Even if he loses the closer job, he's going to be coming in for critical situations where we need strikeouts.

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

You're asking for trouble if you bring Bautista in with men on base -- the sinkers, the walks, the stealability. So you have to try really hard to avoid using him in extra innings, and today that meant using him in the eighth or ninth. That doesn't appear to be Hyde's style, and today putting Felix in with a man on second and no outs contributed to the loss.

I don't mind using him in the 10th necessarily because he can always strike guys out.  But for me, it's the fact that he's liable to air one over the catcher or bounce one like he did today.

Like I said, if he can't figure out his splitter, that wasn't the time to try one.  Try one at the start of a clean inning without a runner in scoring position.  Don't try one with the tying run 90 feet away when it could easily be a wild pitch and allow a run to score.