Master Index of Archived Threads


Strategy Qs

Frayed Knot May 17 2007 02:20 PM

Having not seen the game, and catching only the 9th inning on the radio (IOW, I was the good luck charm today), I admit I didn't have a feel for the entire game, but; - Newhan running in the 9th down 4 ?? Trying to stay out of a GiDP I guess but Wow that was risky. - would you have PHed Wright for Gotay? ... I would have. Howie and whatisname on the radio were confused about it also. I guess Willie was thinking about Green vs a LHP and maybe about the defense if it went into the 10th. I would have sent up any bat I could find and worry about the alignment if and when it came to that. Also, I'm guessing he would have done Wright-for-Gotay if two were out at that point instead of just one; speedier batter, less chance of GiDP, etc., and stil wright in reserve. The infamous Willie "gut" move came out smelling like a fuckin' genius today.

Johnny Dickshot May 17 2007 02:27 PM

I wouldn't doubt that on some level WWSB was worried about possibly having to ask Newhan or Wright to play SS, cuz you figure Reyes if available might have been a possibility to PH there as well. OTOH, even bigger nuts to PH for Green. I mean, wow.

metirish May 17 2007 02:29 PM

I could be wrong,and probably am but these not by the book moves by Willie seem to work more than they don't........

Willets Point May 17 2007 02:30 PM Re: Strategy Qs

Frayed Knot wrote: The infamous Willie "gut" move came out smelling like a fuckin' genius today. You're always defending Willie.

Benjamin Grimm May 17 2007 02:35 PM

I was thinking Reyes for Gotay. I wasn't thinking that Gotay would hit for himself.

Frayed Knot May 17 2007 02:36 PM

I was thinking about it as if Reyes weren't an option.

attgig May 17 2007 02:36 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 17 2007 02:39 PM

i like stickin with Gotay. if anything, I think Reyes would've been available if they really needed him. Both he and Wright had their batting helmets on in the dugout, waiting for the call. From what I hear, he's still playing this weekend, so, this is just a rest day.... not going to read into the hammy too much (ignorance is bliss?) I'm not a huge fan of bringing in Wright for Gotay, especially with Green coming up and lefty in the pen for the cubs.

Edgy DC May 17 2007 02:38 PM

From my viewpoint, Willie was likely (a) committed to not having Reyes play under any cirucumstances, (b) looking ahead and assuming that, more than likely, in order to win or tie the game, he'd have to go through Gotay's and Green's slots in the batting order, and (c) choosing Gotay to stay in over Green because of his ability to switch hit and stay out of a double play. Me, I don't want to risk going to bed with David Wright undeployed, especially if the tying run was ou there.

Nymr83 May 17 2007 02:40 PM

you've gotta send wright up. if it gets to green and they bring in a lefty you've got LoDuca (hitting .400+ against lefties this year and has generally hit them) on the bench if you dont trust green. at the end of the day though you can't let the game end with wright on the bench and they did take that chance,

Rotblatt May 17 2007 02:41 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on May 17 2007 02:57 PM

]OTOH, even bigger nuts to PH for Green. I mean, wow. Word. You pass up the chance to pinch hit for the weak-hitting Gotay, then you pull your hottest hitter in Green, THEN you leave the ice-cold dude behind him, who's 0-4 with a GIDP and a few K's, to hit? We're talking a gargantuan sack right there. I would absolutely have PH for Gotay, and left Green in, then thought seriously about PH'ing for Delgado--if Reyes weren't available, I might have put Paulie in there. He's a tough K and goes the other way well. But I'm pretty sure Newhan didn't steal second in the ninth, although he DID steal it in the 4th, when the Mets were down by one. At any rate, Willie's going to get a pass from the media today. Their questions will undoubtedly be phrased as, "How did you know that Gotay would come through for you," as opposed to the, "What the fuck were you thinkings?" that he would've gotten after a loss.

Frayed Knot May 17 2007 02:41 PM

]Me, I don't want to risk going to bed with David Wright undeployed, especially if the tying run was ou there. Yeah, it's [Edgy's] last point that got me thinking Wright, particularly since, at the time, it was still just the tying run at the plate leading the brain to want an extra-base hit. Or, as it turned out, three straight singles.

Edgy DC May 17 2007 02:50 PM

OK, just for giggles, say he pinch hits Wright for Gotay and then DeLuca for Green Chavez, RF Wright, SS Pitcher Delgado, 1B Franco, 3B Newhan, 2B Castro, C Gomez, LF Beltran, CF

Nymr83 May 17 2007 02:53 PM

I'm sure worse things have happened defensively (say, every time Hundley took the field in Left.)

Rotblatt May 17 2007 03:01 PM

Wow. Just did a little research, and Willie's smarter than I gave him credit for. Green's hitting .250 against lefties with a .618 OPS versus .350/1.009 OPS against righties. Delgado, meanwhile, is hitting lefties significantly better, with a .311/.675 against them, and a .173/.618 against righties. Against Eyre, Delgado was 3-7 with FOUR walks and a double. Even more telling, Green was 2-22 against Eyre with 10 K's--.303 OPS. So excellent call on pulling Green, and another excellent call on leaving Delgado in there. But oh wait, there's more . . . Mets on bench v. Dempster: Beltran: 5-7, 1 HR, 1 BB Wright: 2-3, 1 BB Reyes: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K LoDuca: 0-11, 2 BB, 2 K Mets on bench v. Eyre: Wright: 1-3 Reyes: 1-1 LoDuca: 0-4 Now, you can still argue that Wright should have pinch hit for Gotay, but if he reaches, and Eyre comes in--AND Reyes is unavailable--you're left with LoDuca pinch hitting for Green, and he's 0-4 against Eyre. So to sum up--I've changed my mind. Willie did a pretty nice job after all. Gotay's still questionable, in my mind, but it's not a terrible call, like I thought it was at the time. Who'da thunk it?

dinosaur jesus May 17 2007 03:03 PM

Franco could have switched to shortstop. He's played there as recently as 1987. It seems like only yesterday. When he played a few games at third last year, it was the first time since 1982.

Nymr83 May 17 2007 03:48 PM

the problem that except for LoDuca's 0-11 against Dempster those are all disgustingly small sample sizes from which to draw any conclusions at all. even Beltran's 5-7 with a homer off Dempster wouldn't give me much encouragement were Beltran not an otherwise good player. yeah dinosaur, i wouldnt have worried so much about hte extra innings defense, you gotta tie the game up first

Rotblatt May 17 2007 04:13 PM

Nymr83 wrote: the problem that except for LoDuca's 0-11 against Dempster those are all disgustingly small sample sizes from which to draw any conclusions at all. even Beltran's 5-7 with a homer off Dempster wouldn't give me much encouragement were Beltran not an otherwise good player. Green's 2-22 with 10 K's and Delgado's 3-7 with 4 walks against Eyre are pretty telling, though, aren't they? I would imagine that those numbers are exactly why Willie saved Wright for Green and kept Delgado in there, which makes an awful lot of sense to me.

Nymr83 May 17 2007 04:36 PM

you have loduca to pinch hit for green against eyre if necessary you dont need to save wright.

Edgy DC May 17 2007 05:22 PM

But then, you deal with Lo Duca's prior futility against Eyre, and the reality that LoDuca is the best double-play prospect on the team. You work with the samples you've got. Speaking of disgustingly small but nonetheless useful samples, Eyre, now has faced 26 lefty batsmen, and they've produced a line of .435 / .500 / .826 // 1.326. I'm going to bed tonight thankful that we went out and got Scott Schoeneweis. And that's a first.

Johnny Dickshot May 17 2007 06:10 PM

I seriously doubt Willie had those numbers committed to memory. He probably had them somewhere on a sheet of paper. But I doubt they ascended to the top rung of the Willie Decisionmaking Hierarchy. He had to be several steps from the top though when he sat one regular for another.

iramets May 17 2007 06:32 PM

Gotta admire the way he went aganst the book. That's my biggest complaint about his ingame decisions the last three seasons--too predictable, too easily defended, too cautious, too small ball, too playing-not-to-lose, too AL, too Yankee, too conservative. This was none of these.