Craziness in the Braves/Pirates game

[TruffleShuffle]

This was in the "other games thread" but I felt it deserved some attention of its own. Another reason why Bobby Cox is a great manager... and it almost worked:

 

Positional tomfoolery in the Pirates/Braves game tonight. Reliever Chris Resop enters the game in the 10th and walks two batters sandwiched around a sac bunt. (note - at this point there are runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out) He then goes out and plays left field after being relieved by Royce Ring (LHP put in to face a LH batter), who registers a strikeout. Ring is then taken out, Resop returns to the mound from left field (he was replaced in left by Gregor Blanco) and surrenders the go-ahead run, becoming the first player in 15 years to pitch, move to a position and then pitch again in the same game.

 

 

A little more background - the Braves were very thin at reliever because Mike Hampton shockingly got hurt in pre-game, so that was the only way they were gonna be able to go lefty/righty against the LH/RH batters was if Resop stayed in the game while Ring pithed to LaRoche. Given that LaRoche hits righties better and tends to struggle mightily early in the season - his career OPS in March/April is about 200 points below his OPS in all other months - I think it was a great move that showed some great creativity by Bobby Cox.

[BCVM22]

I loves me some positional tomfoolery.

[Post Count Padder]

I don't think I've ever seen something like that. Craziness.

[Derwood]

i loves me some fragile mike hampton

[MemphisVol]

I honestly didn't even know that was allowed. Now I feel stupid. Thanks, you ruined my day.

[brinoch]

It was pretty cool to see. The announcers were pretty stunned.

 

Too bad Resop isn't very good.

[Soul]

I don't know. Creative? Yeah, no question.

 

But Resop's just not able to register outs. At all. Shouldn't you at least consider Ring for the next batter? OK, so the matchup doesn't favor him. Resop was apparently going to struggle in ANY matchup.

[TruffleShuffle]

I don't know. Creative? Yeah, no question.

 

But Resop's just not able to register outs. At all. Shouldn't you at least consider Ring for the next batter? OK, so the matchup doesn't favor him. Resop was apparently going to struggle in ANY matchup.

 

royce ring isn't good either. if you have two below-average pitchers, it's probably best to use them with the lefty/righty matchups as long as they do better against same-handed hitters (they do), and the hitters perform worse against same-handed pitchers (they do - nady in particular is mediocre against RHP but is excellent against LHP).

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The Braves are a team that is going to need some help in the pen if they plan on contending.

[Derwood]

wasn't Royce Ring a guy the White Sox traded away, causing much consternation and hand-wringing?

[TruffleShuffle]

wasn't Royce Ring a guy the White Sox traded away, causing much consternation and hand-wringing?

 

yeah the consternation and hand-wringing were because he was a first round draft pick, which is a rarity for relievers. he's not particularly good.

[WilcoFan]

There was a mild debate between the announcers as to whether or not Resop should have gotten warm up pitches when he returned to the mound from left field. Is there a rule for that?

[dougdescenzo]

There is a section in The Book, Playing the Percentages in Baseball that explains how teams would be wise to employ this strategy more often. I agree with the Truffle, it shows why Bobby Cox is one of the best managers in baseball.

[radarluv1]

i cant believe that hasnt happened more often. if you have an athletic pitcher who could cover some outfield, this could let you use a loogy or roogy twice in an inning. depending on when they have to bat you may not lose much at all.

[Andy]

FWIW the announcers later said that Resop was originally drafted as an outfielder, so that probably made Cox's decision easier. I was personally hoping that Bobby would keep having to switch them from pitcher to LF on matchups.

 

Agreed though, great thinking on Bobby's part.

[TruffleShuffle]

There is a section in The Book, Playing the Percentages in Baseball that explains how teams would be wise to employ this strategy more often. I agree with the Truffle, it shows why Bobby Cox is one of the best managers in baseball.

 

well don't give him too much credit; he only did it once and it was partly out of necessity. but i would guess that 80-90% of managers would not have the creativity or the balls to make a move like this. i do really like that part in The Book; it's something that I had never really considered, but after reading what they said about it, hiding a pitcher in the outfield for one batter does make a lot of sense. you don't have to burn another reliever, and the chances of the ball being hit to him, and him being forced to make a tough play, are very small.

[CubmanPi]

A friend of mine was telling me about this at work last night, and I thought it sounded pretty impressive. Good stuff.

[SouthSideRyan]

Zimmer did this at least once with Lancaster, possibly more.

[rawaction]

The Braves are a team that is going to need some help in the pen if they plan on contending.

 

They will get Mike Gonzalez back next month, I believe. I think they will have a solid pen once they get Gonzalez to go with Soriano at the back end of the pen. Moylan and Acosta are solid. Ohman has a chance to be solid if used properly, which isn't an issue w/ Cox.

[circlechange]

I can't believe how many people in this thread are impressed by this. Must be young'ins. I do enjoy positional tomfoolery as well but I didn't think it was that uncommon as to not have happened in the last 15 years.

 

Was he allowed warm-up pitches? I don't see why he shouldn't be.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

Zimmer did this at least once with Lancaster, possibly more.

Les Lancaster was the last major leaguer to pitch, play in the field and go back to the mound in the same inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He did it for the Chicago Cubs on June 13, 1990, in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Zimmer did this at least once with Lancaster, possibly more.

Les Lancaster was a men amongst boys. I once saw him play all 9 positions at the same time

[salukifudd]

There was a mild debate between the announcers as to whether or not Resop should have gotten warm up pitches when he returned to the mound from left field. Is there a rule for that?

 

I heard the announcers say he gets 8 warm up pitches, not sure if that is the rule or not.

[frostwyrm]

I didn't know this was allowed. It's a great idea. If you're desperately short-handed in the pen you're much better off taking a chance on putting a weak defender in LF for one batter than wasting a reliever. Resop in LF couldn't be much worse than Daryle Ward in RF. Edited April 4, 2008 by frostwyrm

[frostwyrm]

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