2016 Postseason Thread

Enscheff said:
I think we also saw the pendulum swing a little too far in the direction of BP usage, verging into over-usage. While it was wrong to "save your guys" for the 9th, it is also wrong to err too far the other way and pull effective starters too early like Maddon did with Hendricks. BP guys are BP guys for a reason, and that reason is typically that they don't have the stamina/repertoire to go multiple innings in multiple outings over a short period of games.

There's a balance that needs to be found with starter vs BP usage, and hopefully Snitker can find it. I seriously doubt he will, but I can hope.
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Oh yeah, they're definitely still figuring it out (hopefully). But the fact that the pendulum moved at all is significant, and I hope it'll lead to managers thinking more about leverage and times through the order when they make decisions about pulling a starter or which reliever to use.
 
nsacpi said:
except for miller the tribe lacked a lefty to bring in to face rizzo/zobrist...it was a significant flaw in their roster construction...they shoul have asked us for one of cervenka/krol/alvarez
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They had Merrit, right? They could have used him then brought in Otero. Which brings me to, why didn't they trust him more and had so much faith in Shaw? What makes Shaw a better pitcher than Otero?
 
50PoundHead said:
I think with the Royals it was different because Yost pretty much used everyone in a similar role to the regular season (Herrera, Davis, Holland in 2014 and Herrera, Madson, Davis in 2015). Some multiple inning appearances for those guys, but it was all pretty much late game.

Early use of the closer/set-up man has been advocated by the deep stat community for a long time and some are now subscribing to it. It has its strengths and weaknesses, but in a series of close games, you're always going to have to roll the dice at some point. I think the use of Miller and Chapman with five run leads borders on the ridiculous and that showed last night when they both showed signs of being worn down. I don't know what Rodon did to Maddon's dog to make room for himself in the doghouse. Cubs' acquisition of Montgomery hasn't been talked about enough as a key move at the deadline. Really helped the Cubs a lot. Cleveland could have used a proven LOOGY in their pen for the earlier high-leverage situations and preserved Miller. I think we are going to see a run on second-tier relievers at next year's deadline. Just my take.

As for Theo, very good GM and he took the long view with the Cubs. They were terrible early in his tenure, but he drafted well and made some solid international signings. He didn't make any stupid FA signings to look like was competing before the team was ready to compete. But while money isn't everything in the building of a team (although I don't know where the Cubs are without Lester), it's huge in maintaining a team. There will be some big bills coming due shortly and having financial resources at his disposal will help keep the core of this club together.
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The bottom line is this. All the data and information on past situations is nice to have to look at, but when it comes to making a decision in the heat of the moment for that moment in time, you have to have a feel for the situation. You have to have a feel for your players. Sometimes, I think Joe Maddon lacks in this aspect. He's great when he has great players, but I'm not convinced he can take a team of baseball vagabonds and guide them to win.
 
gilesfan said:
They had Merrit, right? They could have used him then brought in Otero. Which brings me to, why didn't they trust him more and had so much faith in Shaw? What makes Shaw a better pitcher than Otero?
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Merritt barely has any major league experience. He's done well in a very small sample, but not enough to win Francona's confidence.
 
KB21 said:
The bottom line is this. All the data and information on past situations is nice to have to look at, but when it comes to making a decision in the heat of the moment for that moment in time, you have to have a feel for the situation. You have to have a feel for your players. Sometimes, I think Joe Maddon lacks in this aspect. He's great when he has great players, but I'm not convinced he can take a team of baseball vagabonds and guide them to win.
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Did you remember him managing in Tampa? Not that he's the greatest since sliced bread, but they didn't have a ton of talent.

Nothing bothers me more than "managing for feel," etc. It is used as an excuse to why you made a bad decision. In the small percentage of time where it works out (Ross hitting a homer), it's used as confirmation.

What would Freddi have said if his non use of Kimbrel somehow worked out? "Hey, you just gotta know your players."
 
nsacpi said:
Merritt barely has any major league experience. He's done well in a very small sample, but not enough to win Francona's confidence.
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Then don't carry him on the roster or find someone else. Not hard. I mean, the Cubs went to the bat with Carl Edwards Jr. and Mike Montgomery.
 
KB21 said:
The bottom line is this. All the data and information on past situations is nice to have to look at, but when it comes to making a decision in the heat of the moment for that moment in time, you have to have a feel for the situation. You have to have a feel for your players. Sometimes, I think Joe Maddon lacks in this aspect. He's great when he has great players, but I'm not convinced he can take a team of baseball vagabonds and guide them to win.
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I'm confused - what do you think he did with the Rays in 2008?
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Having that kind of money helps. lol
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Guys like Baez, Chapman, Schwarber, Bryant, Contreras, Rizzo, Fowler, Arrieta Russell etc werent because of money.

Only real guys who make a ton of money are Lester and Heyward.

Cubs were mostly home-grown.
 
As far as I'm concerned, Maddon made two obviously bad decisions: pitching Chapman in game 6, and pulling Hendricks prematurely in game 7. That said, he won the series, right?

To criticize him for not having a feel for his players is to ignore his entire Tampa Bay track record.

And regardless of how you feel about his tactics in the World Series, he clearly had this very talented Cubs team buying into his program.

KB, if you're not going to give Maddon credit for winning with superior talent, how does it reflect on Bobby Cox that he arguably lost with superior talent more than once?
 
nsacpi said:
except for miller the tribe lacked a lefty to bring in to face rizzo/zobrist...it was a significant flaw in their roster construction...they shoul have asked us for one of cervenka/krol/alvarez
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That was the big weakness on the Indians' roster. If you're not going to use Merritt, why have him on the roster? It's not like the team was brimming with extra bats. The Cubs addition of Montgomery (I mentioned that earlier) was pretty big in the whole scheme of things because it gave Maddon a one or two out guy to match up against the Indians' LHH. The Chapman move got most of the buzz (and deservedly so), but the Montgomery move was a shrewd one. Indians should have done something similar, especially if you are planning on using Miller early. Once Miller was spent, the Indians didn't have another LHP to push match-ups.
 
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