KT 65.10—Letting the game control the bullpen during ST1

[JRamirez]

Let's how the game AI handled Des Moines's relief pitching during the ten contests that comprised the 10-game simulation known fondly as Spring Training Sim No. 1, or ST1. JRamirez assigned no roles to the relief corps, which comprised 10 arms (20 if you count the non-throwing ones).

That is to say: 10 relievers, all set to roles of "None Specified." That's not the same as NOS or "Not Otherwise Specified," a partial diagnosis your psychiatrist might make. After we do that, we'll see what changes, if any, that JR has introduced into the bullpen for very much beloved Spring Training Sim No. 2.

That's right, the decision-making process of which reliever to use when, how long to toss, which games to appear in, how many, and when, and how many innings, with how much rest, was left up to the game, or perhaps that means pitching coach Tristan Barber, who needs to earn his keep somehow.

Barber, or "the game," did very well and has been given a score of A for the way it, or he, in the case of Tristan, handled the pen the first ten games. First, there was an equitable spread of innings pitched across the spectrum (another word your psychiatrist might use—Des Moine's shrink uses it all the time) of relievers.

Pitcher Name,Innings Pitched (IP)

• Enrique Flores,6.2
• Javier Arteaga,6.0
• Raul Castanelda,6.0
• Juan Mendez,6.0
• Raul Morales,5.1
• Bob Butler,5.0
• Alonso Gonzalez,5.0
• Pepe Dominguez,4.2
• Fernando Ramirez,4.2
• Scott Everard,4.1
• Lorenzo Souza,2.1

The mean (average) of innings pitched in 10 games was 4.9. The standard deviation was ~1.22.

Our teenage intern has supplied the following information:

Off Topic

Dispersion and Consistency
The standard deviation (~1.22) is relatively moderate compared to the mean (4.9). This shows that most of the performances were reasonably consistent and clustered around the average, rather than being wildly spread out. The majority of the pitchers threw between 4.9 - 1.22 = 3.68 IP and 4.9 + 1.22 = 6.12 IP.

Performance Clusters
The data shows distinct clusters of innings pitched:
The Deepest Appearances (6.0 - 6.2 IP): Four pitchers (Enrique Flores, Javier Arteaga, Raúl Castanelda, Juan Méndez) successfully completed six innings or more. These represent the most effective or longest outings.

The Middle Tier (5.0 - 5.1 IP): Three pitchers (Raúl Morales, Bob Butler, Alonso González) hit the five-inning mark.

The Short Appearances (4.1 - 4.2 IP): Three pitchers (Pepe Domínguez, Fernando Ramírez, Scott Everard) pitched just over four innings.

The Shortest Appearance (2.1 IP): Lorenzo Souza has a significantly shorter outing, which was likely a brief relief appearance or an unsuccessful short start.

I'd like to personally thank our intern, Lila Thompson, for preparing this detailed analysis. I think the take-home points are that innings were equalized across the available actionable spectrum, with only Lorenzo Souza suffering the situation of getting shafted.

Souza's amount of pitches in ST2 are not anticipated to increase, exponentially or otherwise, as he and Fernando Ramírez have been set to None Specified:Avoid High Leverage, although who knows, maybe they'll see more action than the 12 tossers now set to None Specified. These include two in the mix that did not participate in ST1, Bryan Cunningham, claimed off Cobble Hill, and Edward Joseph Pfeffer. We'll see how good ole Tristan manages the mean mound, or mound mean, this simulation.

Then there's four new designations this sim: José González—Emergency SP (in case, one assumes, any of the Big 4 need to skip a start); Javier Duarte—Middle Relief: Use More Often|Long Relief; and Kernel Youth (aka Tater Tots) Víctor Trevino and Cipriano Díaz (starters in ST1) each set to Stopper:7th & Close Game|Middle Relief.

With all those designated roles, and the many still undesignated, we'll see how Barber (i.e., the game) assigns relievers to actual game situations. Then, we can be sure, Lila can earn more stripes by typing a new analysis.

And, second, anecdotally, as your grandpa might say, or he might just say anecdotes—does your grandpa or your grands-parents (French for grand parents) relay anecdotes or tales or stories like mine do?—that is, by observing, sometimes leisurely, sometimes frenetically (in which case, the observing becomes scanning) replays of the ten matches of ST1, the relief arms were used appropriate to anticipated, or perhaps, historical role of each hurler: long relief, middle relief, hold situation, save situation, etc. For that, Tristan may get a Chanukah bonus.