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18 comments
@leilaannette
@leilaannette

Thanks for this post. Been complaining about this for a while and after yesterday's game (and watching Romo's reaction after getting pulled after facing only one batter.....and not so Bochy could bring in a lefty or something understandable)....looks like we're not the only ones questioning Bochy's usage of Romo.

Samson
Samson

Wheeler's fastball has a tail with some fur on it

Will
Will

is there any sense in limiting Romo's innings now to keep his arm fresh for the second half of the season while seeing what Runzler can do? [Romo also pitched twice as many innings last year than any of his previous years]

Rory Paap
Rory Paap

I'm thinking that limiting him to seven batters over three weeks would be a bit excessive, don't you? If he's hurt-ish, that'd be an explanation. But if that's the case, shouldn't he be DLd instead of getting splinters on the bench?

E-Nack
E-Nack

Not necessarily. They shelf guys in the minors when they have minor ailments. The thing is, in the bigs, all bets are off, everybody and I mean everybody has to pitch with ailments; some small, some not. A rule of thumb with injuries, is if the pain gets worse, you stop. If it stays the same or diminishes, you pitch through it. Romo could be there right now. Some injuries that are merely sprains or strains or bruises while not DL-worthy, just take time to heal. Even a blister or bad hangnail can diminish a guy's effectiveness or durability under stress. One other thing with Romo. He is pretty much a one-trick pony, with his frisbee slider, though his command of it is unusually adept. It's an unusual pitch for most guys to look at, that it moves hitters' eyeballs around in a way they're not used to. The more it is seen, the more it can be timed and adjusted to by hitters. Believe that guys in the NL West spent a lot of time in the offseason looking at film of Romo, and if he's not 100 percent, he can get banged up in a hurry; and I think that may be some of what is going through Bochy's skull. I'm not a big fan of Bochy, but don't think he is obtuse nor vindictive. In any event, a very interesting read and take, glad I discovered this place.

E-Nack
E-Nack

With Rivera those were hard cutters, less apt to hang or squirt and giving a hitter less reaction time, even when the pitch misses its intended target. More wiggle room for mistakes. Romo's actually kind of reminds me of Eck after he was converted over. And like Eck, when he misses, he gets bombed--but like Eck he hardly ever misses. You'll get no disagreement from me on Romo's effectiveness. I'm heavily partial to Division II players who not only make it to the show, but establish themselves as very good players, and Romo is certainly on that level of very good relief pitchers. I'm merely suggesting that there could be elements in play here that we're not privy to. He could very easily have a tweak in his arm, a toe, ankle, knee, elbow, knuckle or any number of things that are nagging and affect his ability to pitch through it for any length of time--coincidental with having to face guys he's going to be facing during crunch time in August and September. They also could be giving Runzler an extended look in order to make him fish or cut bait now, rather than wait until later in the season. Who knows what goes through Sabean's and Bochy's minds Guys within their own division face each other 19 times, so they spend a lot more time looking at film from intra-divisional rivals who give them trouble, and Romo gives every late-inning hitter fits, so it behooves Bochy to minimize his exposure this time of year if Romo's not 100 percent effective. I'm not saying any of this is necessarily the case, just that Bochy despite his mumbling ways is not stupid or vindictive or woefully ignorant of the pluses and minuses of his middle to late inning relievers.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

I think certain relievers with plus-pitches can get away with being one trick ponies. See: Rivera, Eckersly, Hoffman. That's not to say he shouldn't look to add something else to his arsenal, but his slider has been death to hitters since he brought it into the league. I haven't look at the specific numbers this year, but it seems to me that it's still giving hitters fits.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

They are saving him for the stretch drive in 2015!

@crazycrabbers
@crazycrabbers

I think that I could watch that .gif over and over again

Ian
Ian

Good points. It would be interesting to see what the score was when the meltdown twins came in. From my recollection, it seems like they aren't getting very many hold opportunities. I also would expect to see Casilla come back in replacement of Runzler. No need for 3 lefties in the pen.

Johnny
Johnny

agreed. Is there any trade value for either of them?

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Also, I like Zack Wheeler.

Rory Paap
Rory Paap

But do you like Jose Reyes more? (Or, dislike Tejada more than you like Wheels?)

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

If Reyes wasn't a rental, I'd probably trade for him. Right now, I'd rather target someone else.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Good post, you sum up my thoughts nicely. Affedlt's knee-jerk extension is looking pretty bad right now. I think I'm going to try and do a PFX post on him soon. One of his major reasons for success in 2009 was he really did a great job of keeping his fastball down in the strike zone so hitters would pound it into the ground. Checking his GB% this year I'm actually a little shocked; his GB-rate is near what it was in 2009. Interesting stuff. Affeldt's been a little homer prone (1.17 HR/9 vs 0.82 career) and his xFIP pegs him at a 4.00-ish reliever. That's not terrible, but he doesn't look very good right now.

Rory Paap
Rory Paap

Affeldt's peripherals in 2009 were pretty meh. In fact, they were much better the year prior in CIN when his ERA was nearly double. The difference in 2009, was the 8 (!) GDPs he "induced." That's just flat out luck, and a career high. There were baserunners crawling on the bases versus Affledt in 09. His other high is 12, coming in a season with double the innings and when he started. The Giants swung and missed when evaluating him after 09.

BilliamFloyd
BilliamFloyd

Wow. Great stuff. I prefer to carry-on under the assumption that there's some sort of brilliant end-game involved w/ Bochy's bullpen usage this yr...but when you see all the relevant data laid out in this manner, it looks much more like poor decision making than the early goings of some otherworldly, diabolical scheme.