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brian bannister q&a

attgig Sep 10 2007 09:55 AM

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3011594&name=olney_buster&univLogin02=stateChanged ]2. Billy Beane says he enjoyed talking with you in the workout room in Oakland, and said he was impressed with the way you think. Has there been someone in baseball who has imparted particularly memorable advice or thoughts on the game to you? BB: Billy Beane is a very special figure in the game of baseball for me because he was able to make people rethink how they calculate the actual worth of a player and their contributions to the success of a team. I feel fortunate because I was brought up under another special thinker, Rick Peterson, the pitching coach for the Mets. Under the surface, baseball is simply a game of skill and probabilities amplified by the physical tools a player has when performing those skills. Rick is able to show his pitchers how to put those probabilities in their favor by controlling what counts they pitch in, and then tailoring the pitches they throw to each individual pitchers' skill set and talent. In his system, velocity is the least important of the four variables a pitcher can control, even though it is typically prioritized with fans and scouts alike. He also is a tremendous psychologist, and he knows what it takes to get the most out of each of his pitchers. It is no surprise that his staff is at or near the top of the league year in and year out.

metirish Sep 10 2007 10:02 AM

Yeah I bet Beane liked chatting with Brian. ] 3. Can you compare your game preparations for AL lineups, compared with when you face NL lineups? BB: When I am preparing for a lineup before a game, I start by building a plan based on the on-base percentage and slugging percentage of each spot in the lineup and their individual history against me. I then take it deeper by looking at how many pitches each hitter sees in an average at-bat and where I might be able to get some quick outs. My personal challenge each game is to throw seven innings in under 100 pitches before I am taken out. Good teams will not only beat you by getting more hits, but by running up your pitch count. I also note which hitters are prone to strikeouts if I have runner(s) in scoring position, and which runners have a high stolen base percentage if it is a tie or one-run game. In the AL, the 7, 8, 9 spots are generally the lower OPS hitters, although some managers will put a high OBP hitter with speed in the 9-hole. The hitters here are generally either young, over-aggressive, or low OBP/high SLG types, and it is crucial that you keep your pitch-count down and prevent them from setting the table for the high OPS hitters at the top of the lineup. In the NL, the most important thing is avoiding putting the 8 or the 7 and 8 hole hitter on base with no outs, because the pitcher will always sacrifice the runners over. If there are already two outs, you will usually pitch the 8 hole hitter with a lot of 2-strike type pitches in hopes he chases, because odds are that the pitcher will be an easier out.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 10 2007 02:03 PM

the Bannister trade was the most surprising to me this off-season. I wonder if there was something there that we didn't know about that prompted Omar to send him off, or did they just figure with Pelfrey and Humber they had plenty of starters and wanted to boost the bully.

smg58 Sep 10 2007 02:15 PM

I'm pretty sure the latter. Bannister's numbers last year weren't better than OK, and presumably in the organization's eyes Pelfrey and Humber had passed him on the depth chart. It seemed like a good move to me at the time, but 20/20 hindsight certainly suggests otherwise.

sharpie Sep 10 2007 02:16 PM

I think they just really wanted Burgos. I remember this past offseason reading Rob Neyer and that other guy he writes about the Royals with castigating KC management for letting Burgos go for the mediocre Bannister. I gotta admit I thought it was a good deal too.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 10 2007 02:40 PM

Still early in this deal's horizon too. Boogers was/is younger and arguably posseses better ability than Bannister. I mean, Bannister didn't make the Royals out of spring training. No doubt he's had a good year this year but I'm not about to heap praise upon a guy just days after he couldn't even keep his team in the game vs the MFYs. Why couldn't he shove the folly of this trade up our asses this weekend is what I wanna know.