Could Mike Baumann be pitching his way into high leverage situations?

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, waroriole said:

You don’t trust Tate, but you trust Baumann? I don’t really see Mike as a MLB pitcher. More of a AAAA guy. 

You are welcome to have any opinion as you like, but I would imagine 30 major league GMs would have a different opinion. Baumann's issue last year was consistency and being worn down by constant use, not a lack of major league stuff.

[interloper]

2 hours ago, waroriole said:

You don’t trust Tate, but you trust Baumann? I don’t really see Mike as a MLB pitcher. More of a AAAA guy. 

Lol, huh? Baumann has his question marks, but the guy pitched 60+ innings on 101-win team with an ERA under 4. He's a major leaguer, period. 

Whether or not we eventually find an upgrade for him is a different question. 

[IPlayGM]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

You are welcome to have any opinion as you like, but I would imagine 30 major league GMs would have a different opinion. Baumann's issue last year was consistency and being worn down by constant use, not a lack of major league stuff.

My impression of Baumann is that he shrinks in big moments. Feel the same way about Baker. They both have legit back end stuff, but do they believe it?  Sometimes that’s just important as the actual stuff.

[interloper]

Just now, IPlayGM said:

My impression of Baumann is that he shrinks in big moments. Feel the same way about Baker. They both have legit back end stuff, but do they believe it?  Sometimes that’s just important as the actual stuff.

I don't think a guy who shrinks from big moments would be able to vulture 10 wins. 

[waroriole]

29 minutes ago, interloper said:

Lol, huh? Baumann has his question marks, but the guy pitched 60+ innings on 101-win team with an ERA under 4. He's a major leaguer, period. 

Whether or not we eventually find an upgrade for him is a different question. 

The number of games his team wins is a factor into how good of a RP he is? His ERA might’ve been under 4, but that appears to be good fortune. 

[interloper]

Just now, waroriole said:

The number of games his team wins is a factor into how good of a RP he is? His ERA might’ve been under 4, but that appears to be good fortune. 

I'm just saying if he was a bad player, he wouldn't have stuck that long on a very good team. Not saying there isn't room for improvement (FIP, WHIP, etc), but he was an above average middle relief guy (110 ERA+). 

[oriole]

I’ve leaned more towards Tate taking that role and I’d love it if Wells were the guy instead of filling in for injuries in the rotation. 
 

Not to be that guy, but they’ve got more major league ready prospects than they know what the do with. Norby and Stowers specifically could net a very helpful bullpen piece. Otherwise they’re going to be chilling in AAA all season whether they’re ready or not.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, IPlayGM said:

My impression of Baumann is that he shrinks in big moments. Feel the same way about Baker. They both have legit back end stuff, but do they believe it?  Sometimes that’s just important as the actual stuff.

I do think that's something he will need to prove. I 100% agree with you that Baumann will have to prove he can pitch under pressure to receive those high leverage opportunities, but the stuff is absolutely there to do so from what statcast is showing.

He was a little less successful in high leverage situations (.213/.296/.447/.743) then medium leverage (.235/.371/.314/.685) and low leverage (.219/.308/.365/.673) but not terribly different. Where he really struggled last year is in what BR calls Late & Close, which are Plate Appearances in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck. Batters slashed .286/.400/.571/.971 off him in 51 PAs. So that might be what you are remembering and you're not wrong.

Last year was the first time Bauman had to come in and relieve for a whole season, That's part of the reason why I'd prefer the Orioles take guys that probably are relievers and use them in that role once they hit AAA (or AA in some cases) because that way they've already learned how to rest and rest more often in the minors vs doing it for the first time at the major league level.

It's a skill set that not all pitchers have so training to be a reliever is important in my opinion. I think we may see a better version of Bauman this season due to what he learned from last season in the pen.

[Frobby]

The game last year that really pissed me off was the one in Seattle where Mullins bailed out Baumann by robbing a gane-tying homer with one out in the 9th and then Baumann allowed a game-tying homer to the very next batter. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!  And both pitches were truly awful.  But, hope springs eternal.  

  

[Spy Fox]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

I don't think a guy who shrinks from big moments would be able to vulture 10 wins. 

Taking a look at those 10 wins, in seven of them he entered in the 5th or 6th innings. One of them he entered in the 7th, and two of them he entered in extra innings. So, for the most part he got to 10 wins by being the first reliever into the game for a team that had a lot of comeback wins. 

[IPlayGM]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I do think that's something he will need to prove. I 100% agree with you that Baumann will have to prove he can pitch under pressure to receive those high leverage opportunities, but the stuff is absolutely there to do so from what statcast is showing.

He was a little less successful in high leverage situations (.213/.296/.447/.743) then medium leverage (.235/.371/.314/.685) and low leverage (.219/.308/.365/.673) but not terribly different. Where he really struggled last year is in what BR calls Late & Close, which are Plate Appearances in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck. Batters slashed .286/.400/.571/.971 off him in 51 PAs. So that might be what you are remembering and you're not wrong.

Last year was the first time Bauman had to come in and relieve for a whole season, That's part of the reason why I'd prefer the Orioles take guys that probably are relievers and use them in that role once they hit AAA (or AA in some cases) because that way they've already learned how to rest and rest more often in the minors vs doing it for the first time at the major league level.

It's a skill set that not all pitchers have so training to be a reliever is important in my opinion. I think we may see a better version of Bauman this season due to what he learned from last season in the pen.

Thanks for putting some data out there for this conversation! 
 

I do think it is interesting the idea of learning to relieve. I would agree it is not just the physical demands but also the mental ones, and it is certainly intuitive that you would get more comfortable in those spots the more you do it.

[IPlayGM]

47 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The game last year that really pissed me off was the one in Seattle where Mullins bailed out Baumann by robbing a gane-tying homer with one out in the 9th and then Baumann allowed a game-tying homer to the very next batter. Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth!  And both pitches were truly awful.  But, hope springs eternal.  

  

My memory might be jaded because of that one too @Frobby!!!

[Billy F-Face3]

I think Mike Baumann has earned back his role from 2023 into the 2024 season, and he would make for a depth piece as a long relief swing man/backup starting pitcher if they want to stretch him out a bit. His starting experience could come in useful if necessary.

[Sports Guy]

I think Baumann will have at least one ML season where he is a very good high leverage reliever. He has the stuff to do it. Whether or not it’s this year or with another team, who knows but the upside is there for sure.