What did DT do wrong tonight?

[El Gordo]

He may have seen something I didn't because I thought Hill was cruising before he gave up that hit and that other...whatever (it wasn't an error, but Izturis should have had it so I don't consider it a real hit). I guess with Olivo coming up it was an OK move. I liked that he didn't bother with any funny "bring in someone to pitch to one guy" business tonight.

Not really anything to complain about, in my eyes.

I think what he may have seen was that Hill was coming off an injury rehab and had only thrown 90 pitches once this year his last time out. With it being a 1 run game most of the way he had been pitching under a good deal of stress, so they were not an easy 88 pitches.

[Mike B]

I think what he may have seen was that Hill was coming off an injury rehab and had only thrown 90 pitches once this year his last time out. With it being a 1 run game most of the way he had been pitching under a good deal of stress, so they were not an easy 88 pitches.

I agree. Hill did very well and I think they wanted to let Baez come in and get him out of the inning. I thought the move was right on time. Hill is just back from elbow problems. He threw very well, left happy with his performance. Smart move by DT, and the O's won.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I think what he may have seen was that Hill was coming off an injury rehab and had only thrown 90 pitches once this year his last time out. With it being a 1 run game most of the way he had been pitching under a good deal of stress, so they were not an easy 88 pitches.

Sure, I can see that. I just thought he could have gone one more batter.

But like I said, it's not something I consider a bad move. Maybe an unnecessary one, but sometimes I am willing to defer to the guy closer to the situation

[RShack]

I thought he did the right thing to take Hill out when he did. He left with a chance to win and his pitch count shouldn't have gone much over 90.

In the game thread, I asked if anybody saw Hill getting iffy. A couple folks gave the rationale, including Weams who provided a list of rationales. All of which makes perfect sense to me. I just wondered if there was anything to see in how Hill was doing except for the pitch count.

I didn't see anything, but that's not saying much because I don't have a great eye for little pitcher-related things.

[RShack]

During the game they said it is the 3rd baseman's job to catch it over the catcher. (I dont know who's right, just sayin)

Right. Well, the way it's supposed to work is that anybody who might get it is supposed to go get it. When there's more than 1 guy on the scene, there is a hierarchy, a pecking order of who gets to call off whom. The pecking order isn't about who the guys are, it's about what positions they play. In this case, 3B is higher in the pecking order than the C is. So, they're both supposed to go after it, and if the C can get it, then he's supposed to call it. But if 3B (or any IF'er) calls for it, then the C is supposed to get out of the way because he's lower in the pecking order. Doesn't matter if the C is Yogi Berra and 3B is Joe Schmoe, the C is supposed to defer to 3B. It's not just a matter of who's in the vicinity, it's a matter of who calls for it. So in this case, if Mora thought he couldn't get it, or that the C had a better shot, then he's supposed to not call for it, and since the C doesn't hear anybody higher in the pecking order calling for it, then he's supposed to catch it. The C only let's it go if he's called off of it by Mora. Just knowing Mora is in the vicinity isn't enough.

If there's multiple IF'ers involved, then middle IF'ers are higher in the pecking order than corner IF'ers. And if it's between the 2 middle IF'ers, then the SS wins. If it's a case where it's out farther, and the guys involved are both IF'ers and OF'ers, then any OF'er trumps any IF'er. If it's among OF'ers, then CF wins. The reason they have the pecking order is so that you don't have guys standing around thinking too much and looking at each other, trying to decide who's gonna get it, and letting the ball plop down with nobody catching it. It's supposed to be an automatic thing among the guys who call for it, based on the pecking order among positions.

The only caveat I was taught was that, if it's a play involving IF-ers, and it's unfolding in front of the C, and all the IF'er are looking straight up at the ball and thus not seeing each other, and if the C can see a train wreck is about to happen, then the C can direct traffic and holler out who's supposed to get it. However, I gather there is some disagreement about this, because this came up recently involving a play near the dugout where Huff nearly steamrollered whoever the P was, and there was a strong difference of opinion about whether the C should have ordered people around to prevent that. Some guys including me said the C was supposed to boss people around, and other guys said that's not true. Too bad they won't just publish the old Oriole Way training manual, because then we could just look it up and see.

[El Gordo]

In the game thread, I asked if anybody saw Hill getting iffy. A couple folks gave the rationale, including Weams who provided a list of rationales. All of which makes perfect sense to me. I just wondered if there was anything to see in how Hill was doing except for the pitch count.

I didn't see anything, but that's not saying much because I don't have a great eye for little pitcher-related things.

He didn't look like he was struggling or getting tired to me.

[Skeletor]

Today's game got me a little angry, so take it with a grain of salt.

1. Koji. He is a stud for 90 pitches, then he's Adam Eaton. He's done it every time. You have to get someone up the minute he starts to struggle and then stall. He should know this by now.

2. JJ. Just hasn't been effective on consecutive days. I realize he's one of the guys we depend on, but if he can't go, he can't go.

3. Hit and runs. I understand the strategy behind it, but you have to play to your players strength. You don't just blindly call it because it's the right "baseball" play. Melvin at the plate and Huff at first is a recipe for disaster.

[LookitsPuck]

Inconsistency from DT:

He very rarely (hasn't in May if I recall) allows JJ to go more than 1 inning, but he'll put JJ in back to back games, even though he's been ineffective as such. But what happens today? He shuttles him out there in a close game after pitching yesterday.

[byrdz]

Today's game got me a little angry, so take it with a grain of salt.

1. Koji. He is a stud for 90 pitches, then he's Adam Eaton. He's done it every time. You have to get someone up the minute he starts to struggle and then stall. He should know this by now.

2. JJ. Just hasn't been effective on consecutive days. I realize he's one of the guys we depend on, but if he can't go, he can't go.

3. Hit and runs. I understand the strategy behind it, but you have to play to your players strength. You don't just blindly call it because it's the right "baseball" play. Melvin at the plate and Huff at first is a recipe for disaster.

The starters need to carry there weight or prepare yourself for our best relievers to give up a lot more runs.

[Skeletor]

The starters need to carry there weight or prepare yourself for our best relievers to give up a lot more runs.

koji is what he is. If you leave him inthe starter role, you're going to have to deal with that every five days.

[BMoreJayMo]

Dumb hit and run when Hochevar couldn't throw strikes early in the game - Os should have been up big early and cruised, thereby avoiding the difficult choices re: bullpen usage. DT seems clueless sometimes, regardless of his post-facto justifications. It's almost like he is not dialed into the game at hand, his players' strengths and weaknesses and moves made by the opposing manager.

[Flosman]

Dumb hit and run when Hochevar couldn't throw strikes early in the game - Os should have been up big early and cruised, thereby avoiding the difficult choices re: bullpen usage. DT seems clueless sometimes, regardless of his post-facto justifications. It's almost like he is not dialed into the game at hand, his players' strengths and weaknesses and moves made by the opposing manager.

Yea I wish DT would take a little more out of Weaver's book in this area. We seem to be constantly running ourselves out of potential big innings this season. As to DT's handling of the pitchers, I will withhold evaluation until we have a ML staff.

[DrungoHazewood]

Inconsistency from DT:

He very rarely (hasn't in May if I recall) allows JJ to go more than 1 inning, but he'll put JJ in back to back games, even though he's been ineffective as such. But what happens today? He shuttles him out there in a close game after pitching yesterday.

Looking at his numbers he does have a pretty pronounced split when pitching on zero days rest vice one or two. It's .700-ish OPS on no rest versus under .500 on 1-2 for his career, and uglier this year.

I think this is more evidence that strict roles by inning are a pretty ham-fisted, one-size-fits-none way of doing things. How hard can it be for an intern to figure out matchups and rest and all of the other stuff necessary to organize that day's pen, and print out a cheat sheet for Trembley to follow? The pile of evidence is mounting that the O's pen regularly pitches in sub-optimal rest and matchup conditions just to give the universe more order and organization.

[SilentJames]

koji is what he is. If you leave him inthe starter role, you're going to have to deal with that every five days.

He gave up 4 ER all game. I don't care if he gave up three after 90 pitches. The last five starts he hadn't given up more than three.

Point is, we lost that game because of offense and not making KC pay for their horrid defense. Give Koji some run support and then we shall see how he does.

[SilentJames]

Dumb hit and run when Hochevar couldn't throw strikes early in the game - Os should have been up big early and cruised, thereby avoiding the difficult choices re: bullpen usage. DT seems clueless sometimes, regardless of his post-facto justifications. It's almost like he is not dialed into the game at hand, his players' strengths and weaknesses and moves made by the opposing manager.

Nevermind the fact that Huff was safe at second and people have been complaining that Roberts wasn't stealing enough.

Again, the Orioles got FOUR HITS ALL GAME YESTERDAY. That is why we lost.