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Starting Pitcher Platoon?

Nymr83 Jul 16 2008 09:08 PM

the Brewers managers plans to platoon Dave Bush and Seth McClung in the 5th starter's spot based on Bush's superb home numbers and horrible road numbers. I can't remember a team ever explicitly doing this before. Is there any statistical evidence that home/road splits for a pitcher are anything more than a statistical anomaly (after taking into account park effects of course)?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 16 2008 09:15 PM

I don;t know the answer to your question. I know this idea has been advanced before as a strategy the Rockies ought to try. My thoughts on this generally is that its not destined to last for very long: At some point or another a superior candidate for the preponderance of "5th starter" assignments will reveal himself, either within the platoon or outside of it. IOW this to me is making the most of a bad situation, not exploiting a particular strength.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 17 2008 07:09 AM

Didn't the Yankees once do something sort of like this with Ed Whitson, when he was having terrible struggles at Yankee Stadium?

metirish Jul 17 2008 07:30 AM

I like the idea , not sure how long it would work but the splits are hard to ignore, Bush is 4-2 / 2.49 era at home while on the road he is 1-6 / 6.95 era. McClung at home is 4-4 / 4.95 era and on the road he is 1-1 / 3.28 era. Should be interesting to watch.

Frayed Knot Jul 17 2008 07:43 AM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Didn't the Yankees once do something sort of like this with Ed Whitson, when he was having terrible struggles at Yankee Stadium? The Yanx did it with Whitson because he had been so bad at home that the crowd became abusive to the point where one could make a cause-and-effect argument that he was unlikely to ever pitch well there. Except that was really only part of it. This was back in the day when George reasoned that paying mediocre players top-notch money would suddenly make them play like top-notch players. When that magically didn't happen with Whitson, George retaliated by going all tough-guy and banning him from the home park was his 'I'll show him' form of punishment. IOW, it was as much a childish tantrum as it was a strategic decision.

AG/DC Jul 17 2008 09:06 AM

The fans who made Yankee Stadium so intolerable then concluded --- in classic boobird mook thinking --- that he was really worthy of abuse because he actively sought to not pitch at home.

MFS62 Jul 17 2008 11:34 AM

For years AL teams juggled their rotations to have their lefty starters avoid pitching in Fenway ,but start in the prior/ next series against the Yankees. But I don't remember anything this dramatic. Later