Back in 2012, Robin Ventura didn't really look like a rookie manager until September rolled around. Expanded rosters threw off his equilibrium. The number of pitching changes spiked, late-game substitutions also increased, but the flurry of activity often resulted in thrusting underqualified players into high-leverage situations at a time when every game counted.
We haven't found out whether Ventura learned to compartmentalize his roster for the next pennant race, because the White Sox's last two Septembers ... well, they haven't exactly demanded heavy-handed managing. However, Mike Petriello's post about September baseball at FanGraphs shows that a lot of managers end up in the same boat year after year.
As the site's name suggests, he has a graph and a chart to explain the issue, but there are two key takeaways:
- Since 2000, 57 percent of regulation-length games that included a team using seven pitchers occurred in September.
- Since 2000, there have been 100 more 3½-hour games in September than any other month.
Put another way, 57% of all such games this century have come just in September, which for our purposes also includes the rare times it’s happened in regular season play in early October. Each of the eight times a team has used nine or ten pitchers in a normal-length game, it’s happened in September. Certainly, it’s not only due to expanded rosters, because a contending manager in a situation where every game counts is more likely to manage a game like it’s a do-or-die playoff scenario rather than giving a pitcher extended leash, but that hardly explains this overwhelming number. Managers don’t like to sit idle. They make moves because they can, and in September, they can do just that more than ever.
Although it would take some deeper thought to close loopholes, I've always like the idea of making a team lock in a 25-man (or 27-man?) roster before the start of a game after rosters expand, just to prevent a bloating that warps September baseball from what it looks like the first five months. It would put a dent in baseball's length-of-game problem, but it might even help save managers from themselves.
Christian Marrero Reading Room
- Viciedo not yet showing complete package at plate -- whitesox.com
- Your typical Dayan Viciedo recovery -- The Catbird Seat
Scott Merkin's article about Dayan Viciedo could have been written at any point over the last three seasons, at least if you took out the game-specific references. That's one of many reasons James at the Catbird Seat says you shouldn't fall for a few impressive late-season homers.
Josh Phegley is never short on confidence, but the quotes from White Sox management match up better with his self-assessments this time around.
- Wilkins working hard to fill Dunn's shoes -- Daily Herald
- Adam Dunn on zero postseasons, a new twist on retirement ... -- SFGate.com
- Redux: The eternal autumn of Adam Dunn -- Poetry in Pros
Scot Gregor is still beating the Pedro Alvarez drum, and Adam Dunn sound pretty much the same in Oakland as he did in Chicago. Brett Ballantini reposted his article from 2011 to highlight how Dunn's disarming nature made it easier to overlook just how big of a disaster he was.
Arizona beat reporter Nick Piecoro says the Diamondbacks will announce the firing of GM Kevin Towers this morning. What's funny -- Piecoro lists a number of players the Towers shipped out for minimal return, and he didn't even get to Adam Eaton.
Ichiro Suzuki still conducts interviews with the media through a translator, but he knows more English than he reveals, and it turns out he also has added some Spanish to his arsenal, to the delight of Latin players around the league.
Veteran first baseman Carlos Pena remembered one of his frequent encounters with Ichiro. He was defending first for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Ichiro had just arrived on one of his patented infield hits. Ichiro peered over at Pena and asked, "Que coño tu mira?," or, "What the hell are you looking at?" Pena clamped his lips together to prevent the laughter from bursting through.
Ichiro says he cannot carry a conversation in Spanish, which he has gradually picked up during his years in baseball. But, contrary to his stoic image, he feels compelled to engage Latin players.
"I feel a bond with them," he said. "We're all foreigners in a strange land. We've come over here and had to cope with some of the same trials and tribulations. When I throw a little Spanish out at them, they really seem to appreciate it and it seems to strengthen that bond. And besides, we don't really have curse words in Japanese, so I like the fact that the Western languages allow me to say things that I otherwise can't."
Jorge De La Rosa had been floated around these parts as a potential second-tier pitching target, but he's off the market after signing a two-year, $25 million extension with the Rockies.