Even so... McHugh is not going to be this team's every game 7th inning guy. And Devenski eventually will get high leverage innings again. Harris will probably be demoted or DL'd/DFA'd once everybody is at full strength. And don't forget Pressley who also will be getting some of the later inning appearances. Its a great problem to have... depth up the wazoo, anchored by getting a back of the bullpen guy at the trade deadline. Hinch is going to need to get them all appearances to stay sharp... its going to be a hard job.
Managing in the NL is easier... yes, I said it. You have a built-in opportunity to take out your pitcher. Double-switches are no-brainers, and don't require some extra college degrees to execute. Telling a pitcher to bunt or hit also isn't what I'm paying my manager for. Now, knowing when a pitcher has it, or doesn't... in the 6th or 7th inning, when you don't have the built-in PH opportunity is a helluva lot tougher than most give them credit for.
Agree. And intentional BB's are strategy, though they are risky. Sometimes the #8 hitter is intentionally walked to force the pitcher to bat, and in some situations it gets the managers to pinch hit (or at least think about it). I also feel like bench players get way more use in NL ball. Anyway, I disagree with the Stro poll. I personally think JV was more important to us than the Lance/Charlie duo last postseason. But that's me.
I’m pretty sure analytics say intentional walks are almost always a bad decision. I would guess the Astros lead the AL and of course all of baseball in fewest IBBs.
Let's see what happens with McCullers but this makes the Osuna deal even better now. McCullers would've been relegated to pen for postseason. If he is indeed hurt, it would hurt, but we can suffice to say we still would have the big 4 ready.
And after checking the Astros lead baseball with only 3 IBBs while the Dodgers are 6th with 28 IBBs. So glad we have smart people running this team.
