Platoon Pitchers?

by jonk on Jul 15, 2009 2:38 PM EDT

Non-Phillies idea here, but I was wondering if it would make sense to platoon pitchers. If you had Micah Owings on your team (and maybe Dontrell Willis of old), you basically put on in left field while the other pitches and switch back and forth between left handed and right handed batters. The platoon advantage you get might be worth the 1 less bat in your offense even if you don't have a Micah Owings.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I think that in order to make it practical and worthwhile, you’d need a couple guys who are good enough athletes to competently field a position, and with sharp enough platoon splits to justify and drop-off in offense/defense. It might be a rare circumstance, but it could be fun to see if someone tries it.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Jul 1, 2009 9:52 AM EDT reply actions

has it ever been done before?

by phils11 on Jul 1, 2009 10:00 AM EDT reply actions

I know there have been weird cases of teams running out of bench players before, and putting pitchers out in the field (I seem to remember the Pirates in the 1970s doing this once with Kent Tekulve, and he caught the games final out in left field) but I don’t know if it’s been done by design since maybe the Deadball Era.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Jul 1, 2009 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions

maybe Babe Ruth did it! Don Newcombe should have. The best Philly pitcher I saw hit was Rick Wise!!

mark ferraro

by ginzo on Jul 20, 2009 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions

robert person

that man could swing the bat

by jack is better than asante on Jul 22, 2009 2:47 AM EDT up reply actions

I think the biggest detriment would be the warming up and the time it would take to have the pitcher run out to left field as the left fielder ran in.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jul 1, 2009 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

Would the ‘new’ pitcher be allowed to warm up? If not health implications probably throw that out the window. Even so the game time would be greatly extended. Definitely amusing though.

Trade for Owings and call up Savery. Or not.

by FredEx on Jul 2, 2009 3:50 AM EDT up reply actions

There was a Mets game during the Davey Johnson years that went to some ridiculous number of innings, the last couple of which he had Jesse Orosco and either Doug Sisk or Roger McDowell alternate between pitching and one of the outfield corners, depending on whether the hitter was lefty or righty.

by dajafi on Jul 1, 2009 12:53 PM EDT reply actions

I think Dan Plesac did this once too. They moved him to 1B and then back to the mound.

Of course, the main problem with alternating Micah Owings and Dontrelle Willis on the mound is that you have to have Micah Owings and Dontrelle Willis on the mound.

by taco pal on Jul 1, 2009 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

similar situation

there was a mariners game I remember where jeff nelson pitched part of the eight inning, moved to left field when a lefty came up, and then returned to the mound to pitch the bottom of the ninth

by char6587 on Jul 1, 2009 10:57 PM EDT reply actions

Bumped for this little tidbit…

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sweetspot/0-4-57/Uncle-Lou-digs-deep-into-bag-o—tricks.html

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jul 15, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions

Bobby Cox did this in a game last year…..(I love baseball-refernce..)
Here’s the game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL200804030.shtml

Chris Resop (RHP) came in to pitch the 10th. His line went BB, SAC, BB/PB, so he headed to LF with 1 out, men at the corners while Royce Ring (LHP) came in to face LaRoche and struck him out. Matt Diaz (the previous LF) was done.

Resop came back in to pitch. Blanco took LF. Resop gave up a single to score the go ahead run, then induced a groundout to 1st.

So….the question I wonder is…did that count as allowing an inherited runner to score?

by Bilzo on Jul 15, 2009 3:18 PM EDT reply actions