2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Letting one runner get on is one thing. Loading the bases is another. There is a big difference. If you can't see that, forget sticking to one team, you should stay out of baseball discussions entirely.

Loading the bases before locking down the save certainly qualifies as a shaky inning. I'm sure he will be fine, but I'm not a Yankees fan suddenly getting an extended look at life without Rivera. I'm sure what some fans really needed to calm their concerns was a smooth inning from Robertson.

I also wrote that your use of the 1.38 career WHIP is not an indication of the pitcher Robertson is now. It isn't. He didn't put up that 1.08 ERA in 2011 with a high WHIP. He did it with a 1.13 WHIP, which is damn good, better than some top closers from last year such as Axford, Valverde and Feliz.

Your post seemed to suggest that he is constantly pitching through trouble and that just hasn't been the case since the start of 2011. If it was, I'd wager that Soriano would be the one getting the first crack at closing.

 

He allowed multiple baserunners in 23 of 66 innings pitched last year. He allowed a run to score in just seven of those innings with multiple baserunners. Hence, the nickname Houdini.

(He allowed at least one baserunner in 41 appearances, BTW).

So yes, he often pitched with multiple baserunners and got out of the jams 70 percent of the time. That's not including any innings in which he may have inherited baserunners (which wasn't often).

I never said last night wasn't a shaky inning. But it did fit right in with his profile. He walked two batters and struck out two (and gave up a single). That's what Robertson does. Anyone who watches the Yankees on a regular basis knows this.

Your assertion was that it should make Yankees fans uncomfortable. But since putting baserunners on has always been a part of Robertson's MO, including last year when he really blossomed, it does not make Yankees fans uncomfortable.

Certainly, the Yankees don't want him loading the bases every night, but until he starts allowing runners to score and blows saves, then Yankees fans have no reason to be uncomfortable because we already know that this is who he is as a pitcher.

Stick to the Pirates, OOP.

 

That does not seem like a sustainable way of pitching over the long haul.

 

Loading the bases every night is not, no.

 

Don Stanhouse begs to differ. (So does Brian Wilson as well.)

 

There are some differences for sure. Harper was a catcher as a prep. And his domination at age 17 of a wood bat junior college baseball conference was most impressive. Hamilton also pitched, though, which added to his legend as a teen. Both had INSANE baseball tools as teens.

 

How many clean innings did he have? You left that out, intentionally I'm sure. (though we can figure that one out with a little math given that you included how many times he allowed at least one baserunner).

How many times did he load the bases? You left that out, too.

You still haven't even admitted that using his career WHIP was misleading at best given that he never got his ERA below 3.30 for a season until he was able to significantly cut the number of baserunners he allows. Robertson allowed fewer baserunners overall than many of the top closers in MLB in 2011. You conveniently ignored that fact as well. He doesn't allow baserunners at an unusually high rate, which is what you seem to be trying to argue.

You still can't get past your image of Robertson during his first three seasons. That is your failing, not mine.

Stick to something other than baseball.

 

Yes, you should be able to deduce from my post that he had 25 clean innings. Not sure why you need me to spell that out for you.

You really are fucking dense.

Your assertion: Yankees fans should be uncomfortable because he loaded the bases last night.

My assertion: Yankees fans are not uncomfortable because we've seen him pitch out plenty of jams because he strikes out so many batters.

I then backed up my assertion with the above noted statistics from last year, when he blossomed into a strong reliever. The statistics prove that he is adept at pitching out of jams. Last year, he was almost as likely to allow two or more baserunners as he was to get through an inning cleanly. He was more likely to allow at least one baserunner than to get through an inning cleanly. Yet he still pitched to a 1.08 ERA.

So now that he's pitching even better this year, it's not a cause for concern when he puts runners because Yankees fans know he can pitch his way out of it.

Maybe you should just sit out the next time a thread involves reading comprehension.

 

You say it proves a skill. I say it proves he was lucky.

 

Crazy:

 

http://patientblog.clotconnect.org/2011/03/01/testosterone-and-blood-clots/

Anabolic steroids may also lead to increased blood clot formation, even when taken only short-term, because they (a) increase levels of clotting factors (= pro-coagulant factors), (b) decrease levels of blood clot-dissolving proteins (= fibrinolytic proteins), and (c) make blood platelets more sticky (= lead to increased platelet aggregation)

I knew it!

 

Exactly, it usually doesn't last.