Mound Musings: Life, the Universe and Everything

Mound Musings is all about interaction. I appreciate the questions, and discussing whether this guy or that guy is the best pitcher to have on a roster is what it's all about. That said, over the past couple of years, Life, the Universe and Everything, has gradually become a semi-regular part of Mound Musings. As we try to answer the ultimate question, I'll occasionally dedicate this space to elaborating on questions from you, the readers, and rambling commentary from me on the state of the game. So, without further ado, let's go:

When is enough, enough?

I have been predicting stormy weather on the pitching front for quite some time. Injuries and innings are piling up at unprecedented rates, and while fantasy owners might wonder why a team added so much extra depth, we are seeing that pitching depth is mandatory for this part of the season. If you want to win it all, you better have extra arms.

The best example I can come up with is the Dodgers. This spring, everyone wanted to know what they would do with all that starting pitching. As we approach the end of August and the September push, Walker Buehler might be the favorite for the NL Cy Young award, but lefty Clayton Kershaw is hurt and may not start when/if he returns; Dustin May is out for the season; Trevor Bauer is out of the picture indefinitely; swingman Tony Gonsolin has been banged up and hasn't ever gotten into a groove; and now Julio Urias is on the injured list, quite possibly to manage his innings as much as anything else. David Price has been forced into the rotation; Mitch White has been pressed into service; and, of course, they felt the need to acquire yet another ace at the deadline, so they went out and got Max Scherzer. It looks like no matter how much pitching you have, there can never be too much.

Don't limit the need to starting pitching either. Why does a team like the White Sox go out and acquire Craig Kimbrel when they already have Liam Hendriks? It seems like greed over need, but in reality, it's all about covering yourself for the pennant chase, and, perhaps more importantly, having healthy, relatively fresh arms when the playoffs begin.

Do you like this?

Have I ever mentioned that I love baseball? I do. Really. I LOVE baseball like a fat man loves a deep-dish pizza with a hot fudge sundae chaser. But, believe it or not, I sometimes do things unrelated to baseball, like watching old movies. My problem is, it seems like many of those movies remind of things going on in baseball in some way. Just recently, I watched Amadeus. Excellent flick.

In one scene, the Austrian emperor unexpectantly comes to the rehearsal of an upcoming Mozart opera. There is a portion of the opera that includes ballet – dancing with music. The emperor has forbidden ballet in state-sponsored opera, so there is no music at this juncture, and the dancers look rather ridiculous. It's pretty obvious, and he asks the obvious question …

I find myself asking the very same question about baseball. Maybe the powers that be should ask to see baseball with the pitching put back in? I mean, I actually like home runs, but they seem better when they are a bit dramatic, coming at a crucial point in the game, rather occurring two or three times an inning. Almost every night – frankly I can't remember it not happening – as I glance over the scoreboard, there are a few games with scores like 24-2 or 15-11, or 18-6.  

Am I the only one who thinks the call for a return to fundamentals is becoming more prominent? At first, you didn't hear much. Then, it was whispers. Now, it seems like more and more people in the game are speaking out. Especially former players who aren't comfortable watching the game deteriorate. We're talking Baseball 101 here. Poor baserunning. Poor fielding. Failure to produce "productive" outs. Occasionally you used to see really outrageous plays on the highlights. It was rare, but a player would make a serious fielding gaffe or have a brain freeze. Most of the highlights were just that. Those follies in the field only happened enough to be a novelty. Now, it's every night.

Here, we focus on pitching, and pitching is certainly a fundamental being overlooked. Simply stated, young pitchers are not being taught good mechanics. It's all about velocity. Throw harder. Harder. Harder. Hopefully a pitch will find the strike zone now and then, but throw it hard! Funny thing though. There have been eight no-hitters this season (tying a MLB record), but virtually all of them have been authored by what we used to call "finesse" pitchers. Only Carlos Rodon has a fastball averaging more than 95 mph. The other guys actually focus on throwing quality strikes, locating their pitches, changing speeds. Maybe people in the game are beginning to realize that is still an important part of the game?

So, do you like the current version of baseball? Yay or nay?

Targeting favorable matchups: Fantasy baseball, from week to week, has always been influenced by matchups. If you had hitters travelling to Colorado, you wanted them in your lineup while they visited Coors Field. Conversely, you might rest a fringe hitter scheduled to face the top Dodgers starting pitchers, and it might be time to bench a starting pitcher who would be facing a dangerous offense like Toronto.

That said, I feel like matchup managing might be more important than ever this year. Specifically, some teams have been so stripped down, they are little more than a Triple-A collection. The Cubs have to be at the top of the list. In June of 1954 the Cubbies set a franchise record for bad baseball going 4-21 for the month. They have a real shot at shattering that record this year. As of right now, they are 3-14 for August. They can't hit, their fielding is shabby, and their pitching is even worse. They won't lose every game the rest of this season (I don't think), but I'll take my chances.

While not as bad as the Cubs, at least on paper, the Orioles, Pirates, Royals, Rangers, the Diamondbacks, the pitching-starved Nationals, the Rockies on the road, and maybe even the banged-up Marlins are also pretty good targets.  Even AL vs. NL advantages are taking a backseat to talent-based matchups these days.

Traditional wisdom has always been that American League pitchers are at a sizable disadvantage because they have to face an extra hitter rather than a weak hitting pitcher. It makes sense, but I'm not totally convinced that the disadvantage isn't shifting to near equality, as National League pitchers don't benefit from a designated hitter where the worst of the stone-gloved batters can be hidden in the dugout rather than creating amazing blooper videos in the field. That's all you see on the daily highlight shows.

Roster expansion is different this year: Finally, just a quick reminder, rosters will expand in September. However, it's no longer a 40-man roster. Rosters will go from 26 to 28 players. It almost seems like you may not notice.

Theoretically, this should mean rotations and bullpen roles will remain relatively set. Of course, that assumes they were set from April to August. My concern is we may see more out of gas pitchers sent to the mound. I'm sure teams will use anyone with an option left to refresh their staff as much as possible, but it is unlikely to be enough. As mentioned above, depth is imperative. Teams that have it will weather the storm, while those that don't could find themselves in even more 15-11 games.

Some Notable Rotation Ramblings:

• Cleveland's Triston McKenzie gave us a little taste of what he's got in his recent start against the Tigers. Eight innings, one hit, no walks, 11 strikeouts. When he has everything in sync, he has some of the most electric stuff in the game. Right now, he's 2-5 with a 5.12 ERA. That's not where he'll eventually be.
• I talked above about pitchers learning how to pitch. Adam Wainwright would be a very good example of how it should be done. His fastball averages just 89 mph, but he pitches with surgical precision. Imagine what the 39-year-old pitcher could do with a 29-year-old arm. I actually think teams may be starting to see it.
• Kenta Maeda has really disappointed this year, but I think lingering injuries have been a major factor. I watched some of his last start in which he allowed just three singles over six shutout innings against Tampa Bay, and it was the first time in a long time where his motion looked free and easy. I'm encouraged.
• I was hoping maybe Jake Arrieta might turn things around. I liked him even when he was toiling in Baltimore and couldn't find any consistency. Then, he got out of Birdland and he enjoyed a pretty good ride before falling on hard times. Unfortunately, his first Padres start was in Colorado, and he got hurt on top of it.
• Kansas City's Daniel Lynch got off to a horrible start to his career, earning a ticket back to Triple-A in May. He looked lost on the mound. He's back now and has apparently found his way, pitching like the prospect everyone expected. I watched his last start against the explosive Astros, and he looked sharp.
• A couple months ago I suggested pursuing San Francisco's Logan Webb, noting, "he has the best stuff of any Giants starter not named Kevin Gausman." He then promptly spent a short time on the IL, but he never missed a beat and has now strung together 11 consecutive starts allowing two or fewer runs,

Endgame Odyssey:

I don't think there will be bushels of saves to be had in Texas, but, as predicted, it looks like Joe Barlow is first in line now. He's not an elite closer by any means, but he is a lot better than the alternatives. Speaking of Barlows, Greg Holland is now on the IL in Kansas City with a shoulder impingement. That could mean more save chances for Scott Barlow or maybe Jake Brentz, although I personally think it's time to have another look at Josh Staumont, and leave Barlow in a set-up role where he fits best. Detroit lefty Gregory Soto was torched in a recent outing (six runs, five earned, in less than an inning), but he is probably still in the mix to close games with the oft-injured, but right-handed, Michael Fulmer. After a brief stay on the Covid IL, Josh Hader is back in the Brewers bullpen and is as nasty as ever. Their bullpen allows them the luxury of more carefully controlling the workloads of the starting pitchers, and that helps keep the value of those starters maximized.