62.056 | Vidaca Throws 5 Hitless

[RonCo]

Off Topic

Case For Starting Made



August 21, 2062 | Forever Land: It took Felix Vidaca only 47 pitches to dispose of fifteen Surfers today, striking out three of them. "I felt good," the veteran said after being handed the ball. "I've been telling them I thought I could help the team in the rotation. That's what I'd like to do."

Last off-season, the Krill's front office made a decision to keep the 36-year-old Vidaca in the bullpen, something that hasn't settled well with the veteran, who has been vocal about wanting to expand his usage. "He's been a versatile player for all his career, so you can see why he would want that," said Misty Morgan, sports anchor of the Forever Land Broadcasting Network. "He really mowed them down tonight."

Vidaca clearly wanted to stay in the game to pursue his no-hitter, but after being in the pen all season had hit his somewhat limited pitch limit.

Manager Kate Fiscus didn't quite go so far as to put the breaks on any speculation that Vidaca was going to join the rotation full time, but seemed less inclined to make that happen than Vidaca would like. "It's good that Felix has that desire," Fiscus said. "I want all my pitchers to be driven by desire. It helps them push ahead. All my players, for that matter. I talk to all of them about keeping their desire up. But at the end of the day, it's my job as the manager to say when they go in and when they don't. I plan to pick my spots, just like I always do. That's in my DNA, you know?"

The team will face Long Beach again tomorrow in what is probably a another must-win situation.

[Jwalk100]

Dude is a Swiss Army knife.

[ae37jr]

In recent years I have had a theory that it's better to have high stamina pitchers in bullpen and low stamina pitchers in rotation.

Reason being, bullpen usage is a lot less controlled. If you play back to back extra innings. You need pitchers to throw those innings. Your manager will make the best choices he can, but if nobody is rested, he'll throw some RP out there till their arm falls off. It leads to poor performance and possibly injury. I have absolutely looked for more stamina in recent year. And not just one "long man". I feel it helps me get more out of the pen.

As far as low stamina for starters. If you can find the sweet spot, it could get the most out of the pitchers. It's a very controlled environment. Take Vidica for example. Have him as a starter with a 50 pitch limit, and you know he is pitching 50 pitches every 5 days and getting back to full strength the rest of the time. Have him as a stopper and he throws 30-40 pitches on any given day. Maybe then he has a day off and then two more on. He's probably entering a lot of those games at 60-70% unless you have sliders set to rest at X%. But again. Back to back 18 inning games, your manager has to pitch somebody.

I haven't really tested the low stamina starter part. Mostly cause I don't do test or solo leagues and I'm afraid to go all in on this strategy. And I don't really know what I mean by low stamina starter. 1's and two's are probably still too low. 3's and 4's might be ok and 5's and 6's are probably safer. Obviously, the lower stamina you go, the more you could squeeze out of this if it works. But I also think, the lower the stamina, the better the pitcher would have to be.

[BaseClogger]

It seems like unless I make every role in my bullpen a specialist my manager ends up using my relievers for multi-inning, high pitch count appearances nearly every time. Even with my hook slider all the way up.

Just another reason to want high stamina in the bullpen.