Article: September Piggyback Ride

[yarnivek1972]

The "Opener concept" is nothing new. Its used in Little league everywhere. Start an ok pitcher and bring in a better one to change the speed on hitters. Harder to adjust

 

Personally, I think it is a fad that will fade away. Starters don't like being bumped for a stop gap to start.

I think the upper echelon starters will always be. But, I think where openers are likely to stick is with a team’s 4th and 5th slots. Odorizzi types. Maybe not for every team, but “bullpen games” are not really a new concept either.

 

Every team will look at their roster and do what they think best gives them a chance to win.

[gman]

I'm for it. However, I would skip a couple of starts for both Berrios and Gibson into the schedule. Berrios especially has looked a little ragged recently. It wouldn't be the first time a starter got a rotation day off.

 

You could also schedule a relief pitcher only day once a week or so. I would leave Hildenberger out of this and let him gets some rest.

[jorgenswest]

Well thought out and intriguing.

 

My first reaction is that I would prefer a model that might work with a 12 man pitching staff. This model works for September and maybe for the 25 with 2 piggyback slots.

 

I am certain they are studying the opener model and thinking about whether the talents of some of their staff would fit that model.

 

The remainder of the season is a great opportunity to try a different model. I prefer that look be something that they might also be able to use next April.

[Kelly Vance]

You know, why not move starters back a couple days or even let them go on a every 10th day rotation in, say, September. Earlier if you have a huge lead. Let the Dawg days be a good excuse to call guys up and rest your starters for the playoffs. Look at Boston this year. They could let their starters take a week off easy.  But will that be enough to give the arms time to bounce back? 

[rileyroy]

Great idea, but no mention of May and Moya. Do you not consider them part of the future?

[Riverbrian]

I'm a big fan of out of the box thinking. 

 

We are not going to win the world series. Try new concepts. 

 

Seth... You should start your own club. The "Piggyback" or "Dual Starter" Club. 

[DocBauer]

I absolutely love this idea! Player A can start, as stated, and player B comes in, again as stated. The next "start" you can flip-flop the two.

 

This provides a great opportunity for Gonsalves, Romero, Stewart etc, to stay in a routine, gain experience, and build towards 2019 and more traditional role. It's a lot better than coming up to maybe sit on the bench and maybe get an inning or two out of the pen as a reliever.

 

I agree that the second "starter" could feel uncomfortable coming in early and disrupting his routine if the initial starter should falter. But they could prepare themselves as necessary for their targeted inning, and a traditional reliever could come in to bridge the gap until that time.

 

I think this is the perfect way to approach September. We are playing for and auditioning for 2019. This is an ideal way to do so for these arms.

[h2oface]

I love it!

[Kelly Vance]

 

I think it's a good idea. But, can you imagine how much more some of these pitchers will nitpick if they think they are only going 3 or 4 innings? Tell a guy 4 innings, and he might think he can now use 100 pitches over 4 innings. If piggybacking, I think I'd rather give them a pitch limit to incentivize efficiency. Then if one guy goes 5 innings on 70 pitches and another 4 innings on 50 pitches, then great! Bullpen would get a rest that day.

Its worse than that and starting pitchers who need to go 5 innings to claim a win would call it a ridiculous idea. Look at last night's game. Stew goes 4.2 innings and gives way to Buzz for 1 out in the 5th. He loses the ability to win the game as his first major league win. Do you really think this is going to catch on? I don't.