Praising Hyde Thread 2023

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Surhoffan17 said:

Tony, what do you mean by that? Do you think it's basically derived out of some analytics based on the pitching matchup? I have heard that in this era, a lot of managing is almost like being an administrator (to a point). 

It is known that Elias, et al have a say in the lineup on an everyday basis.

[Gurgi]

I hated on Hyde for a very petty silly reason.  I hate the cutsy nicknames he gives everyone.  

And Odor.  I hated him playing him every freaking day down the stretch last year.  

[Aristotelian]

15 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

It is known that Elias, et al have a say in the lineup on an everyday basis.

Best resource on this is the interview Eve Rosenbaum gave to The Verge podcast this year. The process she describes, prior to each series Hyde meets with the advance scout team ("The Wizards"), the analytics team ("The Magicians"), and strength & conditioning coach/training staff. It sounds like a group process where they come up with a general plan for the series. She is clear that Hyde has "final say" whether that means he makes the actual lineup out or not. 

They start talking about lineups around 5:15...

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-verge/episodes/Episode-150-w-Eve-Rosenbaum-e229acq

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Surhoffan17 said:

Tony, what do you mean by that? Do you think it's basically derived out of some analytics based on the pitching matchup? I have heard that in this era, a lot of managing is almost like being an administrator (to a point). 

What we've heard is that Hyde is provided "information" from the analytics department, but has the ultimate say in the lineup. I believe he's given a lineup and unless a guy is banged up or sick or has something that the analytics department can't take into consideration, he's uses the lineup given. 

It's doubtful, Hyde would rock the boat over a lineup disagreement (if there was any). 

[bpilktree]

Hyde and his team of coaches are a analytics and data driven group and you can see almost all his moves come from that data and believe the numbers.  They know what hitters they want hitting in certain situations and what relief pitchers they want those hitters to face before the situation even comes up.   Yesterday he pinch hit for Ortiz with two outs with O’hearn which was part of getting lefty in their but also if he didn’t get a hit Mateo would come in and be leading off extra innings as runner on 2nd.   The staff also is very lefty righty split types which clearly the data tells them is better odds.  They know what part of lineup a relief pitcher will come in and inning doesn’t really matter except for Cano and Bautista.  
This series they clearly were one step ahead of the Jays as they basically pitched to half of the plate vs their right handers and just kept throwing fastballs outside with cutters and sweepers also working away to them something they had to see in data before it started the series.  The Blue Jays never made an adjustment only once or twice they went to right field to get a hit.  We are clearly not the most talented team with a bunch of guys that teams didn’t want and waiver wire pickups they have a type of player they want and guys they think they can improve and that is who they get even to normal fans seem dumb at times.  They won’t all work but they are playing odds and if player buys in good chance they succeed.  
The previous years we were always behind the advancements in the game but with the new regime we have caught up and passed many teams with analytics and we are starting to see the results.  As fans we need to start realizing with the coaches and organizational plan that we are playing chess while other teams play checkers and are a step ahead.  

[Aristotelian]

Hyde was taking a ton of grief in the game thread after pulling Irvin so I felt the need to bump this thread (Of course, the grief came after Baumann let the run score, not at the time of the decision).

After getting the leadoff double by Urias to score the ghost runner, Hyde called for McCann to bunt. McCann doesn't look like a guy with soft hands but he got the bunt down, leading Hyde to pinch hit Hicks for Mateo. Hicks got a good pitch and drove it just far enough to score Urias to give Bautista some extra cushion. A key call by Hyde and a couple of buttons pushed lead to the win. 

As for Baumann, some in the thread wanted Irvin to stay in, but he had gotten behind both hitters 3-0 and then got ambushed by the second guy for a one out double. Although he had not been hit hard to that point, it did appear he was tiring and this was his first game pitching into the 7th. Others wanted Coulombe, but the first two (and three of four) scheduled hitters were RHB. Baumann was a defensible choice that didn't work out, IMO. 

Not every move worked but he made some key decisions leading to the win. 

[Aristotelian]

Oh, and he brought Felix back for the bottom of the 10th. Will be interesting if there is a save situation tomorrow.

[Moshagge3]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

Oh, and he brought Felix back for the bottom of the 10th. Will be interesting if there is a save situation tomorrow.

I don't think there's any chance of Felix pitching tomorrow.

[FlipTheBird]

2 minutes ago, Moshagge3 said:

I don't think there's any chance of Felix pitching tomorrow.

He’s 100% not pitching tomorrow. Cano didn’t throw a lot, though, and obviously didn’t have to pitch in Thursday’s massacre. I imagine he’s “closer” tomorrow if needed.

[DirtyBird]

7 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

After getting the leadoff double by Urias to score the ghost runner, Hyde called for McCann to bunt. McCann doesn't look like a guy with soft hands but he got the bunt down, leading Hyde to pinch hit Hicks for Mateo. Hicks got a good pitch and drove it just far enough to score Urias to give Bautista some extra cushion. A key call by Hyde and a couple of buttons pushed lead to the win. 

Bunting there and pinch hitting for Mateo both seem like pretty easy decisions

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, DirtyBird said:

Bunting there and pinch hitting for Mateo both seem like pretty easy decisions

I don't think bunting was a no brainer. He was facing a guy throwing 100 mph high in the zone. Looking it up now, McCann is 9 for 14 in sac bunt attempts. There is definitely failure risk there and if McCann doesn't get it down you can bet the "second guessing" thread would be all over it. I agree, pinch hitting was obvious. I am saying it worked due to having the man on third from the bunt. He also could have pinch hit for Urias, who was having an awful game and was also getting trashed in the game thread.

[DirtyBird]

15 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I don't think bunting was a no brainer. He was facing a guy throwing 100 mph high in the zone. Looking it up now, McCann is 9 for 14 in sac bunt attempts. There is definitely failure risk there and if McCann doesn't get it down you can bet the "second guessing" thread would be all over it. I agree, pinch hitting was obvious. I am saying it worked due to having the man on third from the bunt. He also could have pinch hit for Urias, who was having an awful game and was also getting trashed in the game thread.

In an extra inning loss at Atlanta, we got a run in on leadoff single. Mateo steals second pinch running. Man on 2nd, no out. Mountcastle K’s and we end up only getting one. 
I think you have to try to manufacture that 2nd run in that extra inning situation, regardless of who is batting.

[Aristotelian]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

In an extra inning loss at Atlanta, we got a run in on leadoff single. Mateo steals second pinch running. Man on 2nd, no out. Mountcastle K’s and we end up only getting one. 
I think you have to try to manufacture that 2nd run in that extra inning situation, regardless of who is batting.

Agreed!

[tntoriole]

8 hours ago, FlipTheBird said:

He’s 100% not pitching tomorrow. Cano didn’t throw a lot, though, and obviously didn’t have to pitch in Thursday’s massacre. I imagine he’s “closer” tomorrow if needed.

Or Baker. 
 

[Aristotelian]

Game 3 of the Tampa series, another extra inning win for the O's with some critical decisions by Hyde leading to the W. 

In this case, despite Urias having reverse splits, Hyde pinch hit Frazier in a big spot and was rewarded with a leadoff single. 

Hyde then elects to have McCann bunt rather than swing away. Hyde seems to really like McCann's bunting (or dislike his hitting!) and did not want to risk a double play. Based on Run Expectancy your probability of ending up with zero is virtually identical, so I guess it is a good decision with McCann being one of our worst hitters. Fortunately, he gets the bunt down. 

Then Hyde makes the easier decision to pinch hit O'Hearn and is rewarded with another single and Frazier scores what will be the winning run. 

Earlier in the game, some wanted Grayson removed immediately after giving up that leadoff walk (on which he was squeezed on one clear strike). Grayson did give up one hard hit but battled to get two outs before leaving on a Franco grounder that found a hole in the shift. In my opinion, this was a solid decision that didn't work out. 

A lot of questions have been asked all year about Hyde's bullpen management. Going to Fuji rather than more familiar Baker or Baumann was an interesting choice in the 9th. Most of us on the game thread liked the choice based on how he looked the previous game. That is, until he walked the first two batters and all of a sudden it looked like a terrible decision. Fuji actually settled down but was undone by a base hit on a ball Mateo probably should have had (.410 xBA per Statcast).

At the same time, Cash arguably lost the game by bringing in Fairbanks for a third straight day. And if the O's make a late inning rally today with Fairbanks unavailable that decision could also reverberate today. 

Let's also tip the cap for Hyde's decision in Game 1 to pitch Felix for the 9th in a tie game, then play for one (again, Frazier pinch hitting for Urias but bunting this time), then have Felix come back for the 10th. Even with Felix, that move had a heightened risk of backfiring similar to Cash's use of Fairbanks yesterday, where you would lose the game and the pitcher's availability. 

Not all of Hyde's moves this series have paid off, but I liked most of them. More importantly, he's crushed it in the 9th and 10th of our two wins in the biggest series of the year.