Played baseball up until college. A prior poster notes that the movie is confusing for those who haven't played.
Most baseball fans love this movie, and consider it a classic.
So fire away with some of the jargon/baseball stuff that confused you.
Why was Snell taken out in the 6th?
shareManagers have one # on their mind when it comes to starting pitching. (Besides pitch count)
The THIRD time around the batting order the batting average shoots from .200 to .300.
Generally the more pitches a batter sees from a pitcher in a given day, the advantage goes to the hitter.
So the pitch count was low and he struck out the next 3 batters twice each. Instead of an instant hook, shouldn't the manager have a conversation as to how he feels? Obviously, he had command of his pitches all night. Wouldn't you say this is an example of the system not working?
shareAbsolutely!
I was a pitcher myself and love stats, but I know that somedays your 'stuff' is better than others.
Statistics are a useful tool, but they are ment to be a guide, not set in stone.
Many managers used to manage by gut and observation, now sabermentrics is their God.
So if you were Kevin Cash, you would not have pulled Snell?
As a Dodger fan, I was SHOCKED. As a Dodger fan, I know first hand how it works and doesn't work when DePodesta was the GM. I do love advanced stats in all sports. It is interesting and valuable to use, but it doesn't take into player/team chemistry or gut feelings, which is what sports is all about.
So as a pitcher, what pitches do you think are the best pitches to have to mix up a batter?
I didn't watch the game, but I would base my decision on how the pitcher is doing. If he's cruising and not giving up loud outs, and his velocity, location, and movement haven't diminished, he's staying in. Replacing a known quantity with a pitcher out of the pen is gambling that your reliever doesn't have a bad outing in the chamber.
From what I read about the game, everyone in the free world (and a coach in Cuba) all questioned the move to pull Snell at the time it happened, not after the game.
EDIT: As a manager, I would have a relationship with the catcher where he would have hidden signs about how a pitcher is doing. A pitcher can go 1-2-3 in an inning just throwing batting practice pitches right down the middle. It happens. The catcher is the first person on the planet other than the pitcher who knows what kind of stuff the pitcher has.
You make very good observations. I do believe sabermetrics as an assessment tool, but every game is different and the human factor has to be assessed by the manager. I has shocked. I was happily surprised, just as the batters were as they said after the game.
Snell was in the zone that night. His out pitch was a rising fastball out of the zone that the batters continually chased. 9 Ks in 5 innings. 2 hits. I think he gave up one walk. Low 70s pitch count. It was the 9th batting spot that got a hit that chased him out.
The THIRD time around the batting order the batting average shoots from .200 to .300.
Because he's a 5 inning pitcher that isn't that good. The Rays success came from their bullpen all year long, it wasn't their SP. So the Rays were sticking to what got them that far and not going to deviate from that. People overhyped Snell and talked about how him going to the Padres would be great for him because he could now show just how great he is. He has an ERA close to 5 and averages under 5 innings a start. And that's pitching in the NL in a year where offense is supposed to be down all around baseball.
shareI love this movie and don’t understand baseball that much or even like it for that matter. I only played a little pitching machine. To me it’s the most boring sport to watch. But here’s two simple question I can think of. Do all players have to be on defense at some point or can some only be used for batting? And do all players on the team have to be in the batting rotation?
share1 can not some, that player is called the DH, designated hitter. The players that start are in the Rotation, the others are called Substitutes & can be put in to bat for other players such as the Pitcher after he's been pulled.
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