Bautista 2023

[banks703]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Both things can be true.

When he was brought into the game I said to myself that they would lose with him having to pitch with a runner on second. The wild pitch sucks (Adley keeps that ball in front of him 9 out of 10 times. It just sucks that it hit off of his knee) and yeah Felix can be dominant. The reliever of the month is great and all but he makes me super nervous in those situations. 
 

They had their chances today and yesterday to sweep or take two of three. The pitching was encouraging in this series but man, tough games ahead. Felix has three blown saves in 34 games. Can they afford to have their closer blow one every seven-ish wins? I realize that it’s not quite as black and white given the dropped ball in Boston and the WP today but if he ends up with 8 or 10 blown saves for the year, does that make him a good closer? 
 

 

 

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, banks703 said:

When he was brought into the game I said to myself that they would lose with him having to pitch with a runner on second. The wild pitch sucks (Adley keeps that ball in front of him 9 out of 10 times. It just sucks that it hit off of his knee) and yeah Felix can be dominant. The reliever of the month is great and all but he makes me super nervous in those situations. 
 

They had their chances today and yesterday to sweep or take two of three. The pitching was encouraging in this series but man, tough games ahead. Felix has three blown saves in 34 games. Can they afford to have their closer blow one every seven-ish wins? I realize that it’s not quite as black and white given the dropped ball in Boston and the WP today but if he ends up with 8 or 10 blown saves for the year, does that make him a good closer? 
 

 

 

I think he's probably a pretty good closer, but he needs a fresh inning to do it.  Bringing him in the extra innings with a runner on 2nd isn't optimal.

It's a shame that he's credited with a blown save in the Boston series when McKenna dropped that ball.  That's not right.

[banks703]

8 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

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.

This 

[RZNJ]

21 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. 

His splitter was and will be one of the best pitches in all of baseball.  While I think he and Adley go to it too much, it’s not like you want him to stop throwing the pitch, is it?

[Billy F-Face3]

34 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think he's probably a pretty good closer, but he needs a fresh inning to do it.  Bringing him in the extra innings with a runner on 2nd isn't optimal.

It's a shame that he's credited with a blown save in the Boston series when McKenna dropped that ball.  That's not right.

With runners on base Felix becomes a liability. He's too big pitching from the stretch and he's too wild. Like we saw today he will either spike one in the dirt or air mail one over the catcher and let the runner advance.

And then there's the fact that he walks alot of batters so even if he gets a clean inning, there's bound to be a runner on base forcing him to pitching from the stretch anyway.

All this makes me think he's just not relaible to be the closer. There's a reason why the Orioles in theirbpast chose closers like a Jim Johnson or a BJ Ryan over a hard throwing guy like Jorge Julio. It was because they were more consistent and reliable. They weren't wild.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

With runners on base Felix becomes a liability. He's too big pitching from the stretch and he's too wild. Like we saw today he will either spike one in the dirt or air mail one over the catcher and let the runner advance.

And then there's the fact that he walks alot of batters so even if he gets a clean inning, there's bound to be a runner on base forcing him to pitching from the stretch anyway.

All this makes me think he's just not relaible to be the closer. There's a reason why the Orioles in theirbpast chose closers like a Jim Johnson or a BJ Ryan over a hard throwing guy like Jorge Julio. It was because they were more consistent and reliable. They weren't wild.

I just think he needs a clean inning.  Those issues that you brought up can be mitigated if there aren't runners on.  He's still striking out batters at an absurd rate, even higher than last year.

There's a lot to like.  I just think he needs to figure out the splitter in some bullpen sessions (if he does those, who knows)...or in an appearance where we're up 3 runs and it's the leadoff hitter.   And if he bounces one or two, just abandon it for that outing and concentrate on throwing gas.  I don't know why he or Adley would run the risk of continuing to call for that pitch in situations where it could burn them like it did today.

It's still relatively early in the season but his BB/9 rate is 5.5 per 9 and his WHIP is 1.295.  Those are too high for him to continue to slam the door consistently.  Those rates are up from last year where he was 0.929 WHIP and a 3.2 BB/9.

In certain respects, he's getting worse, not better...or even maintaining.  It's fine for now, but if it continues I think it's going to blow up in our faces.

[RZNJ]

So, with a man on 3rd and less than two outs you don’t want him throwing a pitch that has one of the highest whiff rates in baseball?    Phew!

[interloper]

Honestly if we're really trying to win games, it's time to make Cano the closer until Felix figures out how to throw the splitter again. 

[banks703]

It’s obviously not as simple as we’re making it. Ideally Felix gets to pitch in situations that doesn’t require him to hold runners or worse, come in with a runner already in scoring position. This is one of my few gripes with Hyde. Unless you have Mariano Rivera in your pocket, I don’t like the defined roles of a bullpen. Cano is the hot hand right now. Would he have fared better in the 10th? Maybe but he had to pitch his ass off to get them to the tenth to hand it over to Felix. 
 

Is Felix wild? Yes. Is he effectively wild? Also yes. Do I want him throwing his best pitches, one of which is as effective as any in all of baseball? Yes of course but if it’s not working in the pen or not in the game the first couple times he throws it, then I’d like to see them move away from it. 
 

The splitter is as difficult to command as it is to hit it. Mo Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher of all time for a reason. He commanded his cutter better than the difficulty it was to hit it. 
 

Felix’s split could be that good but he has no clue where it’s going the majority of the time. 

[Frobby]

2 hours 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. 

He needs the splitter IMO.  He just hadn’t looked himself for about 2-3 weeks now. 

[Aristotelian]

On the one hand, he is wild and has an elevated risk of a wild pitch. On the other hand, he can be borderline unhittable and certainly capable of some big strikeouts with men on base. Unfortunately you don't get to pick and choose your spots for a "clean inning" once you are in extras. Looks like he was 1 for 2 in those spots last year, although he pitched both the 10th and 11th so arguably he was 2 for 3. Pitching with an automatic runner on 2nd is going to be tough no matter who you bring in.

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

He needs the splitter IMO.  He just hadn’t looked himself for about 2-3 weeks now. 

I don’t necessarily think he does. He’s got good enough stuff without it. Maybe show it every so often when it’s not working just to keep batters honest. And certainly don’t throw it when there’s a runner on third that can make it home on a wild pitch…if, of course, it’s not working. 
 

He hasn’t had the splitter for weeks now, yet some people want him to keep throwing it often. I’m not sure why. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Moose Milligan

[sportsfan8703]

15 hours ago, interloper said:

Honestly if we're really trying to win games, it's time to make Cano the closer until Felix figures out how to throw the splitter again. 

Without Cano in set up recently we likely don’t get to a save situation in the 9th. 

[sportsfan8703]

We need one more high end backend bullpen guy. Baker is what he is. Perez is currently a middle inning loogy. Baumann could become that guy. Tate was last year but how does he respond coming off the injury?  Same with Given. Is he just a middle innings Righty?  

[Just Regular]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We need one more high end backend bullpen guy. Baker is what he is. Perez is currently a middle inning loogy. Baumann could become that guy. Tate was last year but how does he respond coming off the injury?  Same with Given. Is he just a middle innings Righty?  

Its Tyler Wells.    He's 28.75 and our Zach Eflin in the great Rays emulation path that culminates with Adley and Wander Frankenstein switching half their talent.     That role is more certain for the tournament roster than Gibson or Kremer's.