White Sox (Cannon) vs Red Sox (Buehler): 4/21/25, 11:10am

[Bellhorn04]

12 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Nothing -- Cora just liked using him better for yesterday's match-ups coming up in the 8th. 

Chapman is used to being a "set-up" man from the role on other teams the past few years. Seems like a guy who simply tries to blow away anyone at any time. So he's not like one of those Sheldon closers who can only pitch in the 9th with a lead or they might lose their minds (thinking of a few borderline Hall of Famers who recently pitched in Boston).

Maybe Cora is transitioning Slaten, his youngest power reliever, into the closer role.

I think Cora would love to have 'co-closers' that he can slot in the 8th or 9th depending on matchups.

[moonslav59]

54 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Nothing -- Cora just liked using him better for yesterday's match-ups coming up in the 8th. 

Chapman is used to being a "set-up" man from the role on other teams the past few years. Seems like a guy who simply tries to blow away anyone at any time. So he's not like one of those Sheldon closers who can only pitch in the 9th with a lead or they might lose their minds (thinking of a few borderline Hall of Famers who recently pitched in Boston).

Maybe Cora is transitioning Slaten, his youngest power reliever, into the closer role.

You often need a second closer, when you have 2-3 games in a row that need closing.

I was responding to the post about Slaten being the new "closer."

[Kimmi]

14 hours ago, jdc69 said:

It was nice to have Buehler pitch 7, then the setup man, then the closer. No adventurous late innings.

I miss the days of a starting pitcher regularly going 7 innings (or more), then being able to go to the 8th and 9th inning guys.  I know analytics say otherwise, and I'm a big believer in analytics, but I would really like to go back to the days when starting pitching had more relevance.  I'm not saying starting pitching isn't relevant, it's just not as important as it used to be.

And amen to the "no adventurous late innings."

[jdc69]

54 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

I miss the days of a starting pitcher regularly going 7 innings (or more), then being able to go to the 8th and 9th inning guys.  I know analytics say otherwise, and I'm a big believer in analytics, but I would really like to go back to the days when starting pitching had more relevance.  I'm not saying starting pitching isn't relevant, it's just not as important as it used to be.

And amen to the "no adventurous late innings."

I can imagine everyone with ear pieces waiting for instructions while guys on computers feverishly punch in numbers. I know it's not like that but there's more than numbers to this game to get wins. Going back to Nolan Ryan, him wanting pitchers to go deeper into games comes from him as GM for Rangers. Him and his pitching coach, Mike Maddux both agreed. Maddux said a pitcher has had enough when the batters start hitting his pitches. He also said pitch counts limit their ceiling. Sounds very complicated now and hand holding-ish.

[Kimmi]

On 4/22/2025 at 5:16 PM, jdc69 said:

I can imagine everyone with ear pieces waiting for instructions while guys on computers feverishly punch in numbers. I know it's not like that but there's more than numbers to this game to get wins. Going back to Nolan Ryan, him wanting pitchers to go deeper into games comes from him as GM for Rangers. Him and his pitching coach, Mike Maddux both agreed. Maddux said a pitcher has had enough when the batters start hitting his pitches. He also said pitch counts limit their ceiling. Sounds very complicated now and hand holding-ish.

I often think a manager takes a pitcher out of the game too soon, Cora included.  Some of it is "babying" the pitchers with low pitch counts,  some of it is the 3rd time through the order thing.  Analytics say that even when a pitcher is more or less cruising through the lineup the first two times, he is likely to run into trouble the 3rd time through.  So while the rational side of me understands pulling a pitcher early, the fan/emotional side would like to see them go longer.  It's a manager's job to know his pitchers well enough to be able to go with his gut, not just analytics alone.

They don't make 'em like Ryan or Maddux anymore.