CLE 5, MIN 3: Odorizzi Fades, Busenitz Blows It

Why is Busenitz having such a difficult time adjusting to MLB?  I have no answer - just a question.

I still say Odorizzi is a perfect multi-inning BP pitcher.  Just do not let batters see him three times.

Some TD posters do not like my take on Kepler, but 227 is not an acceptable BA for him.  If he has a positive WAR it raises my skepticism about that stat.  Kepler is not meeting anyone's projection - what next?

Now the challenge for the Twins is to not lose 90 games.  Good luck.  

Insanity. Odorizzi can't make it through the order the 3rd time, so just keep making him do it, and expect different results. 

At this point there is little to lose from seeing if Odorizzi can get through a lineup a third time. He did it once this year, in the start just prior to todays. But those issues should definitely be part of the equation regarding how he figures into plans for 2019.

All true. The point isn't to win games, now, right? Just let him try. In Odorizzi's defense, the 3rd pitch to Rameriz was a perfect edge of the zone strike called a ball by inadequate eyes, and the 1st pitch to Encarnacion was a perfect low corner strike, also miscalled. The calls never really even out, they just keep magnifying different results.

Absolutely. He struggled through the 4th, he struggles 3rd time through the order.

Except that in his last start he didn’t. He retired all 7 A’s he faced third time around. Rather easily.

In a lost season, was it really so ridiculous to see if maybe, just maybe, he is improving in that area? Especially when said player is under team control for the next season and as such needs to be evaluated to determine what his role will be.

Busenitz just isn't fooling anybody right now. I think he's used to Triple-A hitters chasing his curveball and that's just not happening much when he's at the MLB level. It's a good pitch, but he can't just bury it in the dirt and expect guys to go chasing it very often.

 

 

I think that is some of it.    I think it is more pressure and nerves and adrenaline and some wrong thinking involved.   I don't think a .320 hitter in the minors becomes a .230 batter in the majors (Buxton) because of the better pitching.   The change is in the batter himself.   Yes, the pitching is better but its not 90 BA points better.   Likewise with pitching.    I haven't seen Buesenitz pitch that much but I saw it in May and Berrios when they first came up.   They didn't become 6 ERA pitchers in the majors because they were facing better hitters.   It was because they weren't throwing the same way.   They would throw a strike or two and then overthrow breaking balls that were truly waste pitches since they didn't even tempt the batter and now ahead in the count becomes behind in the count.    Yes, major league batters are better but I am guessing the minor league batters were chasing breaking balls much closer to the zone.   Its more Buesenitz changing than level of competition changing.    How often do you hear "trust your stuff"?    

Those were the first outs Odorizzi recorded past the 6th inning this year, IIRC.

 

He’s not improving. He struggles third time, this is factual and incontrovertible.

 

And this is about Molitor, in any case, and his dogged determination to squeeze more from his starter than is smart, or even helpful, since he routinely ends up using his bullpen in the inning in question anyway. As he did today. Only it’s with trouble abrew, or a lead gone, or a winnable game made not winnable.

Chief is absolutely correct. You know what else is factual and incontrovertible? Byron Buxton can’t hit major league pitching. Clearly, we should leave him in AAA until his options are exhausted, and then some team can take him in the rule v draft, if there is a team out there foolish enough to ignore the factual and incontrovertible evidence.

Odorizzi needs 1) a nutritionist, 2) an exercise coach and 3) a sports psychologist. If he believes he always has trouble after two times through the lineup, then he most certainly will. 

Odorizzi is so frustrating. Remember what I keep saying about his usage? He hasn't change a bit and at some point, you have to realize that he is who he is.

He is a 5-inning pitcher. His numbers confirm that. 

Those were the first outs Odorizzi recorded past the 6th inning this year, IIRC.

 

He’s not improving. He struggles third time, this is factual and incontrovertible.

 

And this is about Molitor, in any case, and his dogged determination to squeeze more from his starter than is smart, or even helpful, since he routinely ends up using his bullpen in the inning in question anyway. As he did today. Only it’s with trouble abrew, or a lead gone, or a winnable game made not winnable.

I am well aware of Odorizzi’s issues. What you seem to be unwilling to accept is that perhaps Molitor was trying to build on his success of the previous start. He didn’t. That’s on him. Not Molitor. I’m no fan of Molitor but I’ll be damned if I am going to criticize him for trying to develop a player into more than he has been.