SF Giants Press Clips Monday, May 21, 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Giants get tiebreaking homer from Belt to beat Rockies Henry Schulman Who says the Giants can t develop outfielders? Their homegrown left fielder had quite a Sunday afternoon. Brandon Belt, who started in left field with right fielder Andrew McCutchen nursing a minor knee injury, got his first outfield assist in seven years before accomplishing what he really is paid to do. Belt broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer against Rockies left-hander Jake McGee, his fifth in the past seven games. Catcher Nick Hundley followed with another homer and the Giants won 9-5 in a game they had trailed by three runs to move within two games of first-place Arizona in the National League West. Standings mean little in mid-may, but a 4-13 Diamondbacks free-fall has allowed the Giants to stay relevant despite their injuries and spotty play over the past two weeks. Sunday s victory gave the Giants a split with Colorado, a 4-3 homestand and return to.500 at 24-24 ahead of an eight-game trip, not bad given zero starts from Madison Bumgarner, five 1
from Johnny Cueto, no saves from closer Mark Melancon, 23 games for second baseman Joe Panik, 17 for Opening Day left fielder Hunter Pence and five for his replacement, Mac Williamson. All of which led Belt to one conclusion. I think we re just pretty dang good, he said. Underneath the hood, the Giants have some issues, particularly on the mound. The rotation has struggled to provide length and quality starts without Bumgarner and Cueto. Since Cueto last pitched on April 28, the starters have a 4.45 ERA and lasted six innings in just eight of 21 games. Ty Blach was the latest to scuffle, allowing four runs in 41/3 innings to spot the Rockies a 4-1 lead by the fourth inning. That might have been a death knell last year. The difference this year is the offense, which the front office worked hard to augment over the winter. Newcomers McCutchen and Evan Longoria have made big contributions, as have the two Brandons Belt and Crawford who are hitting.313 and.302, respectively. The Giants are better equipped to come from behind and get contributions from throughout the lineup and bench. Gorkys Hernandez, who had no homers last year, hit his fourth of 2018 in the fifth inning with Miguel Gomez aboard to get the Giants within 4-3. Kelby Tomlinson provided a 5-4 lead with two-run triple in the sixth. After Sam Dyson allowed a run in the seventh, a Hernandez single and Longoria walk brought 2
Belt to the plate against lefty Jake McGee with one out in the bottom half. McGee left a fastball over the plate and Belt socked it into the arcade for his 11th homer of the season and his first off a lefty this year. Belt is on his way to shedding his reputation as a streaky hitter. This guy has got such a ceiling on him, and we re seeing it, manager Bruce Bochy said. Belt also contributed to a great third out at the plate in the fourth inning after a Pat Valaika double went over his head. Belt got the ball to Crawford, who had ventured so deep into left field to take the throw that he should have gotten an outfield assist as well. Crawford zipped the ball on the fly to Hundley, who tagged Noel Cuevas in time. ALSO: Giants reliever Moronta overcomes minor left-side injury The Giants understand they will have to win with defense, hitting and excellent relief until they can get Bumgarner and Cueto back. The starters need to be better, too, but at least they can count on some help from the bats. It gives us a lot of confidence as a pitching staff, Blach said. We can afford to give up a few runs here or there. We don t have to be as perfect as we want to be. MORE: Giants may try Pablo Sandoval at second base Andrew Suarez and Jeff Samardzija better be as perfect as they can be Tuesday and Wednesday in Houston when they face Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. Verlander leads the majors with a 1.05 ERA. Cole is right behind him in the American League at 1.75. 3
San Francisco Chronicle Giants reliever Moronta overcomes minor left-side injury Henry Schulman Here is one mystery solved. Reliever Reyes Moronta developed soreness in his left oblique, had an MRI exam and was not available for Thursday night s 12-inning loss to the Rockies. Moronta is fine now and threw a 98 mph fastball on his first pitch Friday night. When Pierce Johnson walked two Rockies in the 12th inning Thursday, manager Bruce Bochy had Cory Gearrin relieve him to face Gerardo Parra. Moronta, if healthy, would have been a better choice because left-handers were hitting over.400 against Gearrin. Gearrin retired Parra, but walked Nolan Arenado to load the bases and then allowed the decisive two-run single to another lefty hitter, Carlos Gonzalez. Moronta had a sore back in Atlanta earlier in May and said Sunday he believes he hurt his side muscle by compensating for the back injury. More injuries: Right fielder Andrew McCutchen sat out Sunday s game with a bruised knee he incurred while sliding into second base Saturday. Bochy rested him so he could get two days off in a row with Monday s off day. Asked whether he expects to play in Houston on Tuesday, McCutchen said, That s the plan. Second baseman Alen Hanson did not travel to Houston with the team and instead headed to Arizona to complete his rehab from a left hamstring strain. Bochy said Hanson will not come off the disabled list when eligible Wednesday because he will need at least a few more days to recover. Briefly: Sunday s game ended with an odd play. Trevor Story tried to go to third on a Hunter Strickland pitch that bounced high off the plate. Buster Posey leaped to catch it and made a wide throw to third, but Evan Longorialeft his feet to catch it and tagged Story while in the air. Posey batted second for the first time since 2010 and hit a first-inning triple, the ninth of his career. He scored on a Longoria sacrifice fly. Mac Williamson did not play for Sacramento on Sunday but is expected to remain with the River Cats and start Monday night. Austin Slater left Sunday s game with hip discomfort after a swing. 4
MLB.com Belt s blistering week ends with winning homer Michael Wagaman SAN FRANCISCO -- Outside of a few minor tweaks he made to his swing in Spring Training, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt insists his approach at the plate hasn't changed all that much. The results, however, have been far better than anyone could have expected. Belt's latest power display came Sunday when he and teammate Nick Hundley hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning as the Giants rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-5, for a split of their four-game series. View Full Game Coverage "I've known my approach to work in the past," Belt said. "At times I'd get away from it. I think I'm just sticking with it now through thick and thin and working on it as hard as I can and doing it to the best of my ability. When I get a pitch in my zone, I'm doing something with it." It was Belt's 11th home run this season and the fifth in seven games for the first baseman, who made a rare start in left field. The homer went 408 feet at a launch angle of 23 degrees with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph. "You feel good when he's up there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's really been swinging the bat so well and it's been over an extended period of time. Right now he's doing a good job of carrying us at times." A day earlier Belt repeatedly praised hot-hitting shortstop Brandon Crawford for being the key to San Francisco's offensive success. At this point, however, it's difficult to tell which Brandon has been more valuable. Crawford singled and scored in three at-bats. He's been one of the top hitters in all of baseball this month while going 32-for-72 (.444). Belt hasn't had the overall numbers but has been equally impressive. Over the last eight games he's batting.469 (15-for-32) with five home runs and 11 RBIs. "It's a combination of both [plate coverage and power]," Rockies starter Tyler Anderson said. "He's got a good swing and right now he's swinging at strikes and he's seeing the ball well." Gorkys Hernandez also homered, his second in three days, to send the Giants into the off-day 5
with a win. San Francisco had played 17 consecutive games without a break, its longest stretch of the season so far. The Giants needed it on a day when Rockies shortstop Trevor Story had two RBIs and made a stellar defensive play. Colorado also got three hits from Nolan Arenado but it wasn't enough. Coming off a 17-hit game Saturday, the Giants trailed, 4-1, and had a run erased by replay review but scored twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth, then powered up in the seventh. Hernandez hit a leadoff single against Rockies reliever Bryan Shaw and moved to second following a one-out walk to Evan Longoria. Belt then turned on a 1-0 pitch and crushed it into the right-field stands to put the Giants ahead, 8-5. Hundley followed with a more modest homer that went 380 feet with a launch angle of 23 degrees and exit velocity of 98.3 mph. Sam Dyson (2-0) allowed one run and retired three batters to win. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Left them loaded: The Rockies scored twice in the fifth but missed a critical opportunity to add on when they left the bases loaded. Giants reliever Cory Gearrin forced in a run with a walk to Noel Cuevas but got out of the jam by getting Carlos Gonzalez to strike out looking. Denied: Colorado led, 2-1, in the fourth and tried to add on when Pat Valaika doubled over the head of Belt in left field with two outs. Cuevas attempted to score from first but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect relay throw from Gold Glove-winning shortstop Crawford to catcher Hundley. SOUND SMART Giants reliever Will Smith struck out the side in the sixth and has not allowed an earned run this season. The lefty, who sat out all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery, has yielded only three hits over his eight innings, with 11 strikeouts and two walks. YOU GOTTA SEE THIS Posey began the day at first base but was moved back to catcher in the eighth and came up with a stellar game-ending play in the ninth. After Story singled with one out and took second without a throw one out later, Giants reliever Hunter Strickland bounced a pitch to Gerardo Parra. Story took off for third but Posey quickly jumped up and leaped in the air to grab the ball, then fired a strike to third baseman Longoria to nail Story for the final out. UP NEXT Following an off-day, the Giants begin an eight-game road trip Tuesday in Houston. Lefthander Andrew Suarez (1-3, 4.88 ERA) pitches for San Francisco and will try to get his season back on track after allowing 15 earned runs over his previous 27 2/3 innings. Righthander Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.75) takes the mound for the Astros. 6
MLB.com Giants considering unusual move for Panda Michael Wagaman SAN FRANCISCO -- Pablo Sandoval at second base? It's happened before with Boston, albeit briefly, and the Giants are toying with the idea of doing it again. Sandoval has been taking grounders at second base throughout this week and was at it again before Sunday's series finale against Colorado while injured starter Joe Panik and third-base coach Ron Wotus looked on. View Full Game Coverage "He is working," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's not bad. He surprises you how quick his feet are and he's pretty good around the bag." Sandoval has played 972 games at third base, 78 at first base and 14 at catcher. He also made an appearance as a pitcher earlier this season. The two-time All-Star has only minimal experience at second, having played two-thirds of an inning there on April 21, 2017, when he was with Boston. Red Sox starter Dustin Pedroia was forced out of the game with an injury, forcing Sandoval to move from third to second. The Giants have had a rash of injuries at the position, which is why the team is considering Sandoval as an option. Panik has been out with a thumb injury since April 28 and is still recovering from surgery. Alen Hanson, who was called up after Panik went down, is on the 10- day disabled list with a left hamstring strain. San Francisco called up Miguel Gomez earlier this week to back up Kelby Tomlinson but Bochy is still weighing the idea of using Sandoval. "He almost went to second yesterday," Bochy said Sunday. "It's easier putting him at first and [Brandon] Belt out in left field, but I was close to putting Tommy in left field and putting Pablo at second with the five-run lead somewhat comfortable but obviously not comfortable enough." Injury updates Right fielder Andrew McCutchen was held out of the starting lineup Sunday, one day after suffering a bruised knee sliding into second base. The Giants have an off-day Monday, which 7
will give McCutchen additional time to rest. "Probably could push a little bit but we'll give him a day today," Bochy said. Hanson is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday but Bochy indicated that's not likely to happen. Hanson will not accompany the team to Houston and instead will go to Arizona to continue his rehab. "He's coming around but just will take a few more days," Bochy said. NBCbayareasports.com Giants power past Rockies to salvage split Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Brandon Belt snapped a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer and the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 9-5 on Sunday. Nick Hundley added a solo shot later in the seventh for the Giants, who salvaged a four-game split after dropping the first two games of the series. Gorkys Hernandez hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Belt connected for his 12th home run this season and fifth in seven games to give San Francisco an 8-5 lead. He and Hundley both homered off left-hander Jake McGee. Belt came to the plate with Hernandez aboard on a leadoff single and Evan Longoria on following a one-out walk by reliever Bryan Shaw (1-2). Colorado lost for the third time in 11 road games this month. The Rockies trailed 5-4 going into the seventh before Nolan Arenado singled home a run off winner Sam Dyson (2-0). San Francisco rallied from a 4-1 deficit. Hernandez homered in the fifth off starter Tyler Anderson to make it 4-3. An inning later, the Giants took a 5-4 lead on Kelby Tomlinson's two-out, two-run triple off Shaw. The Rockies trailed 1-0 going into the fourth when Trevor Story's RBI double highlighted a tworun inning. Colorado sent eight batters to the plate in a two-run fifth, chasing starter Ty Blach. 8
The Giants took an early lead when Buster Posey tripled and scored on Longoria's sacrifice fly in the first. Posey's triple was the ninth of his career and first since Sept. 10, 2016. Arenado's RBI in the seventh was his 80th against the Giants. The only active players with more are Adrian Gonzalez (85) and Matt Kemp (91). Arenado was 3 for 5 and finished 8 for 18 in the series. He has reached base safely in 28 of his last 29 games and 39 of 42 overall. SECOND CHANCE? With two Giants second basemen on the disabled list, veteran third baseman Pablo Sandoval took grounders at second Sunday morning. He played two-thirds of an inning at second for Boston in April 2017. "He surprises me how quick his feet are and he's pretty good around the bag," manager Bruce Bochy said. TRAINER'S ROOM Giants: OF Andrew McCutchen was out of the lineup with a bruised knee and is day to day.... 2B-OF Alen Hanson (left hamstring strain) won't travel with the team to Houston. Hanson is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday but is a few days behind his projected return, Bochy said. UP NEXT Rockies: RHP German Marquez (2-2, 5.15 ERA) will pitch Monday's series opener in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. The 23-year-old is 2-2 with a 2.25 ERA in five road starts. Giants: LHP Andrew Suarez (1-3, 4.88) starts Tuesday's series opener in Houston against the defending World Series champions. The 25-year-old rookie has struck out 28 and walked five in 27 2/3 innings. The Athletic On Brandon Belt s ascent, a blooming May for Brandon Crawford and how the Giants became the NL West s top offense Andrew Baggarly Brandon Belt changed his walkup music this season. He steps to the plate to Weezer s Say It Ain t So, a catchy alternative rock hit released when (weeping as I look it up) he was a first grader. 9
I just really, really like 90s rock, said Belt, who lists Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots as two of his favorites. I don t know what it is. This season, Belt resolved to be himself. He isn t ashamed to celebrate what he likes, right down to his Spotify mix. He isn t deterred when a strike call goes against him. He isn t dismayed by a three-strikeout game. He hasn t let a bad result alter his trajectory or upset his mood. I ve definitely been more level this year, Belt said. In the past, I d try to make an adjustment or two and it would make it worse. Now I m sticking with what I know works. I have a lot of confidence right now and a mediocre stretch here or there is not going to take that away from me. A check of the numbers shows this: At this moment, Belt is the most valuable active offensive player in the National League West. Say it ain t so? He leads all active NL West hitters in WAR, OPS and wrc+. He ranks second among all NL hitters with 12.9 percent barreled contact, behind only the Brewers Eric Thames. Belt s strikeout rate has held steady while his slugging percentage has gone up. He already owns a pair of four-game streaks with a home run and he is on pace to hit 34 this season, which would make him the first Giant to cross the 30-mark since Barry Bonds in 2004 and the first Giants first baseman since Will Clark in 1987. He s really been a force, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. I think this guy is primed to have a really, really nice year. And he s doing that. Said Belt: This is what I felt like I could always do. This is what I thought I was going to be able to do before the season started. There s a lot of experience meeting up with the physical part this year, and I just feel like I can keep going. Now that Arizona s A.J. Pollock is out for four to eight weeks with a fractured thumb, the Rockies Nolan Arenado is the only other NL West player who even comes close to rivaling Belt s offensive contributions this season. Pollock and Belt rank 1-2 in the league in WAR. Arenado is ninth. Yet Belt wasn t the hitting star in the Giants 9-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Saturday. That would be his locker buddy, Brandon Crawford, who entered May with a.189 average and might stride into June with NL Player of the Month honors. He went 3 for 5 with a two-run double that put the Giants ahead in the third inning, followed by a two-run homer into the arcade in the sixth. He had one shot at becoming the first Giant to hit for the cycle at home since Robby Thompson in 1991. He struck out in the eighth. Was he thinking triple? Yeah, probably too much, Crawford said. I probably got out of my approach. 10
It was an understandable lapse. A rare one, too. Crawford credited hitting coaches Alonzo Powell and Rick Schu with encouraging him to adjust his load and get his bat started a bit quicker. While he was working to incorporate those changes, he heard from two teammates Pablo Sandoval and Gregor Blanco who told him that they remembered his hands being a bit higher. He put the two suggestions together April 27 and hit a home run in his first at-bat, off the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu. It was, That was easy, that s all I had to do, Crawford said. Well, no, there s more to it. But then we went on the road trip, and whether I was hitting it soft or hard, I was finding holes. Crawford had eye strain from watching so much video in April, and the hand position was such a small adjustment a few inches, really that he hadn t noticed it. Such is the value of continuity, and having teammates who have played with you for years and know your swing better at times than you know it for yourself. My front shoulder was dropping and that s really not a good thing, Crawford said. This keeps my shoulders level and helps me stay in the zone longer. And the confidence that comes with getting results? That helps also, he said. That s a big thing. Now the Giants have a trio of.300 hitters in Crawford (.302), Belt (.308) and Buster Posey (.307). They have a star player in Andrew McCutchen whose.248 average belies the amount of hard contact he s making. It was McCutchen whose single started the rally in the second inning, and whose two-run double in the fifth provided breathing room, and whose second double of the afternoon a blooper that fell between three defenders was owed to him after spending four dozen games making hard outs. As tough a luck as any hitter I ve seen as far as the hard contact, Bochy said. It s got to be frustrating for him. It s a matter of time before McCutchen has a month like Crawford is having in May. Joey Votto is the only NL player chasing fewer pitches out of the strike zone than McCutchen (17.9 percent). His average exit velocity of 93 mph ranks fifth in the NL. A good approach married to hard contact? That doesn t stay unrewarded for long. And the longer this group stays together, the easier it ll be for newcomers like McCutchen and Evan Longoria to feel fully integrated and have teammates that begin to know them as well as they know themselves. It takes time for a team with several assembled parts to become form fitting. Right now, the Giants are seeing what happens when one everyday player throws enough sparks to carry a lineup. It must be encouraging to think that they have the potential to receive this kind of streak from McCutchen, Longoria, Mac Williamson and others. They had enough firepower to batter the Rockies ace, Jonathan Gray, and they know this next trip is going to be a challenge: Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander in Houston, followed by more 11
accomplished pitching at Wrigley Field before ending up at Coors Field against a division rival that appears to have assembled its best pitching staff in its quarter-century of existence. I ve felt this. I ve said this, Bochy said. This offense is going to be better this year. I still don t think we ve hit our stride. Moving forward, it s going to be important we be consistent and put runs on the board. It hasn t shown up every day. It called in sick the first two games of the season. For four days in Philadelphia, it wandered off the base and failed to make contact. It will go through more pockets of frustrating times or be neutralized by a hot pitcher. But right now, the Giants rank first among NL West clubs in OPS and home runs while narrowly trailing the Dodgers in runs per game. They are a little more than two weeks away from getting another power hitter back in the lineup, too. Madison Bumgarner threw a 40-pitch mound session, he s all set to throw live batting practice in Houston on Tuesday, and he s on schedule for a minor league rehab start May 26 at Sacramento. The Giants are saying he ll need three or four outings. Don t be surprised if it s two. I mean, obviously, I m trying to get it going as fast as I can, said Bumgarner, whose fractured hand still has a bit of swelling but hasn t caused him any discomfort while throwing or hitting. It s a different approach than spring training. I d start out with more feel and then start pushing up the effort. We re trying to combine the two. You re not just going to come out of the gate at the same arm speed. It s 12 weeks of throwing. We re trying to get it done in half of that. Combine a Bumgarner start every fifth day with the prospect of a healthier offense, and you begin to think the Giants really could emerge from this wreck of a division. Because right now, the Giants feature the top offense in the NL West. Say it ain t so? The numbers say otherwise. ESPN.com Kevin Cash keeps thinking outside the box with use of Sergio Romo David Schoenfield The most interesting news from the weekend was Sergio Romo's starting consecutive games for the Tampa Bay Rays. It was pretty unusual for two reasons: (1) Romo's previous 588 career appearances in the majors all came in relief, and (2) he became the first pitcher since Steve McCatty of the A's in 1980 to start on consecutive days after pitching at least one inning the first day. 12
EDITOR'S PICKS Sergio Romo was so effective in his first career start Saturday that the reliever got another start -- on Sunday. Of course, Romo wasn't used like a regular starting pitcher. He pitched one inning on Saturday, striking out all three batters he faced. He got four outs on Sunday, walking two and striking out three and surviving with no runs allowed. The Rays beat the Angels 5-3 on Saturday before losing 5-2 on Sunday. The Rays have been doing intriguing things with their rotation all season, at least at the back end of it. They've skipped the fifth starter a couple of times to keep the main starters -- Chris Archer, Blake Snell and Jacob Faria -- on their regular four days of rest. The most curious aspect has been using the fifth-starter slot as a de facto bullpen game, with the "starter" going just two or three innings several times, even when pitching well enough to remain in the game. None of that compares to the unique deployment of a career reliever, however, an event strange enough that it requires a deeper dig. Why did the Rays do this? It was a strategic decision made possible in part because of the Angels' right-handed-heavy lineup. With Shohei Ohtani not hitting either day, the only lefty in the lineup on Saturday was Kole Calhoun, and the starting nine on Sunday were all right-handed. Romo, with his sub- 90s fastball and big, sweeping slider, has always been much better against righties, and his platoon splits have been even wider in recent seasons. So part of the reasoning was to get Romo in there against the top of the lineup to face the best right-handed batters on the Angels. The Tampa Bay starter on Saturday would have been lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Using Romo in the first meant Yarbrough would miss his first go-round with the top of the lineup: Zack Cozart, Mike Trout and Justin Upton. Rays manager Kevin Cash might be on to something with his unorthodox moves in the back of his rotation. John Cordes/Icon Sportswire Some of that was avoiding the lefty-righty matchups against the Angels' best hitters, which gets into the third-time-through-the-order penalty. To jog your memory, in general, starters fare worse the third time through the order. Here are the numbers for this season: First time through order:.697 OPS allowed ADVERTISEMENT Second time through order:.722 OPS allowed 13
Third time through order:.805 OPS allowed As pitch counts go down and the percentage of innings to relievers goes up, starters -- especially the back-of-the-rotation ones -- often don't make it through 27 batters. The average stint in 2018 is just a shade over 23 batters. That means going through the lineup twice and then facing the first five batters a third time. The most batters Yarbrough had faced this season was 22. Well, if you're going to face only a few batters a third time as you're tiring, it makes more sense that those are the 5-6-7-8-9 hitters in the lineup rather than 1-2-3-4-5. As Rays manager Kevin Cash said before Romo's first start, "It allows us, in theory, to let Sergio come in there and play the matchup game in the first, which is somewhat unheard of -- up until Saturday, anyway." On Saturday, Yarbrough came on in relief, pitched well and allowed one run in 6⅓ innings, facing a season-high 23 batters. The plan looks like gold when the pitchers execute. On Sunday, Matt Andriese followed Romo and came on for two innings, allowing two unearned runs, and two other relievers finished it off. Anthony Banda, another lefty who might have otherwise started, pitched the final 3⅓ innings. Maximizing leverage Another benefit to using a reliever like this is that it guarantees that a good reliever appears when the game is close. A tie game at any point is at least a medium-leverage situation. Obviously, a tie game in the first inning isn't the same leverage as a tie game in the ninth, but it's an important inning -- maybe the most important. Because it's the only inning in which you can guarantee who comes up; it's also the highest-scoring inning. The rate of runs in the first inning in 2018 is 5.27 over nine innings; the second-highest-scoring inning has been the sixth, at 4.91 per nine innings. The second inning is the lowest, at 3.70 runs per nine innings. On top of that, scoring first is important. Heading into Sunday, teams that led after the first inning were 246-95 (a.721 winning percentage). Now, most games are tied after the first inning, but if you have a shaky starter going, why not improve your chances of avoiding falling behind by using a decent reliever for the top of the lineup? Using reliever Sergio Romo to start consecutive games allowed the Rays to take advantage of the Angels' righty-dominated lineup. Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images The question, though: Which reliever? Romo was a perfect guy to use because he's good against righties, but he's not your closer, and he's not your primary setup guy. Would it be worthwhile to use your best reliever like this? To answer that, we have to understand leverage 14
indexes. FanGraphs has an in-depth explanation, and another look can be found at Tom Tango's complete leverage index table. The top of the first inning with no outs and nobody on has a leverage index of 0.9, which is a medium-leverage situation. Go to the top of the ninth inning with a two-run lead and the leverage index is 1.6, a high-leverage situation. But the index with a three-run lead in the ninth is 0.8, less than the first inning. Many closers are used with a three-run lead, but using leverage indexes, you could argue that you'd be better off using him in the first inning of a tie game than to protect a three-run lead in the ninth. Of course, when a game starts, you don't know what the score is going to be in the ninth inning. Using bullpens is complicated! It's safe to say managers want to keep their security blankets for later in the game and those potential highest-leverage moments. So maybe the Romo strategy is best used with your third- or fourth-best reliever. Is this a wave of the future? I have no idea. You're not going to see it with Max Scherzer or Corey Kluber or even Archer, Snell or Faria, but I think it does make sense for the Ryan Yarbrough types, who are unlikely to give you seven or eight innings and are going to be more vulnerable that third time through the order. If anything, I think the future of rotations is something like three starters used in regular turns, guys you're hoping to get seven innings from. The other two rotation slots become more of a grab bag -- shorter stints like what the Rays have done or now with a Romo-type starter for the first inning or two. The catch there, even with eight-man bullpens, is you need those hybrid starter/relievers who can throw multiple innings. You can't have eight one-inning guys in the bullpen, otherwise they're going to lose effectiveness from overuse (and extra-inning games present a whole other problem). Lefty specialists probably will become a dying breed for the most part because you can't carry a guy who gets five outs a week when you require so many relief innings. Bottom line: My gut says there's something here, while acknowledging the Angels are particularly susceptible to this strategy. But maybe it's just a different way of using a bullpen instead of a better way. Either way, give credit to the Rays for thinking outside the box. Of course, the best option is probably just to have a rotation with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Lance McCullers Jr., Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel. 15