Games » Cleveland Indians
Apr20Why Ned stayed with Luke
Lee Judge
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OK, Luke Hochevar was lights out for five innings, blew up like the Hindenburg in the sixth and then comes back out for the seventh. Why?
Because Ned Yost wanted to see if he could do it.
After the game I asked catcher Matt Treanor if he was surprised Luke was sent back out for the seventh inning after five hits, a walk and two balks in the sixth. Matt said a bit, but understood what Ned was doing: Luke is the No. 1 guy, and he’s got to learn to work through bad innings. Treanor pointed out that the next time Luke blows up, it might be the third or the fourth and going to the pen early might not be an option.
“So this was a long-term managing move?”
Absolutely. Fans tend to think short-term: I’m here at this game, I want to see a win. Managers have to think long term, otherwise Joakim Soria would pitch every inning of every game. Ned’s trying to develop Luke into a #1 guy and this is the kind of stuff No. 1 guys have to do.
Interesting point: apparently Hochevar had retired 31 straight batters before giving up a lead-off single in the sixth. After five 1-2-3 innings in this game, people in the press box were starting to think we might be on the verge of seeing something special. When Hoch gave up the single to Michael Brantley, it took me back to a conversation I had with Clint Hurdle.
I asked Clint if he had ever noticed how a pitcher would go from throwing a perfect game to not being able to get out of an inning. I said that if a pitcher gave up his first hit late, it seemed like a good time to visit the mound. The guy’s probably upset and out of focus and reminding him how well he’s pitched, but there’s still more to do, might help him regain his composure.
Clint said, “That’s good. I’m going to use that,” which impressed me deeply: 1. A major-league manager put his ego aside and used a good idea, no matter the source. 2. I came up with a good idea? (For the record, Matt Treanor agreed and went to the mound to deliver that exact message after the second hit … but it didn’t help, so maybe it wasn’t such a hot idea after all.)
The TV appearance
The Fox Sports Midwest guys invited me on the pregame show, and I jumped at the chance. That meant showing up for a rehearsal at 3 p.m. for the 6:30 show, which was nice of them. Joel Goldberg, Kevin Shank and the guys all came out to help me get comfortable with the process, which goes like this:
Someone is talking to you through an earpiece. Other people are talking to you at the same time in real life. You need to look at Joel when he speaks to you, but then turn and look at the camera when you speak and make sure that when you turn, you take the microphone with you and then find the right camera, because there are two, so someone will point at the camera that’s on and then when they roll video they will point at the monitor showing the video so you can describe what you’re seeing and (let me take a breath) in the meantime, Paul Splittorff will be giving you a hard time about being a “cartoon boy.”
Baseball humor being what it is, Joel and Kevin warned me that Paul was going to pull an old cartoon out and give me a hard time about it. They then set me up to get back at Split by asking me who my all-time favorite Royals lefthander was.
“Darrell May.”
I’m not sure of the timing, but I think that was when Split punched me in the shoulder. The guys couldn’t have been nicer, and they really helped me through the experience. Any moment that seemed less than professional was on me. (Although three people from The Star warned me not to cuss on the air, which I managed to do … but it was a long five minutes.) Apparently, it went well because they’re inviting me back.
Side note: After showing up in a mangy, moth-eaten knit tie from the ’80s, the website editor offered to take me tie shopping before the next appearance. My response?
“But I already own a tie.”
Keep watching to see how long I can get away without investing in any new neckwear.
Other stuff
*I asked Kila Ka’aihue if he’d found something in this game (a walk, two solid singles). He said same approach, but this time it worked. At this level, hitters will tell you, one hittable pitch per at-bat is all you can expect. If you miss it or foul it off, you’re in trouble. Major league pitchers rarely make two mistakes in one at-bat.
(Sometimes they don’t make any: last year, on a night when Zack Greinke had it working, he stuck out Red Sox Kevin Youkilis in Kevin’s first at-bat. Youkilis apparently came into the dugout, flipped the bat away and said, “Sweet Jesus, we’ve got no chance.”)
Anyway, Kila said that in this game he hit the hittable pitches he had been fouling off.
*Chris Getz got hit with a pitch on his sore left shin (got taken out while making a double play) and still got down to break up a double play.
*Matt Treanor had the beginnings of a porn ‘stache going, but after a bad night (0-3, 2 strikeouts) he says it’s gone. Check out the game tomorrow to see if he stuck to his plan.
*If you look at the box score tomorrow you’re going to see that Jeff Francoeur had an error. This is another case of numbers not telling the full story. I missed it once in live action and twice on video, so after the game I asked Mike Aviles what happened when a runner tried to advance to third and Frenchy’s throw got away.
“Ball hit the runner in the head, if that doesn’t happen, he’s out.”
Good throw, bad luck and Francoeur gets the E.
*Kanekoa Texeira told me his finishing position wasn’t the greatest. He falls off the mound to the first base side. I asked how he protected himself if a line drive came back at him: “Jump straight up, that way you don’t get hit in the head.” Learn something new every day, don’t you?
Speaking of Tex
He issued an intentional walk in this game. For the purposes of this system we don’t count those. They’re strategy, not failures, although we do need to add a ‘balk’ category. For now I’m putting Hochevar’s balk with a runner on third as a defensive mistake. Clearly, starting your motion and then stopping is a brain cramp.
Lee Judge talks concussions with Royals Chris Getz
Judging the Royals blogger Lee Judge chats with Kansas City Royals Chris Getz on any long lasting effects from his concussion last year. April 20, 2011 (Video by John Sleezer/The Kansas City Star)
Francoeur
Cabrera
Gordon
Morning Lee....that was quite the melt down by Hochevar last night. As with all hindsight, those two walks in the 7th do get interesting when you see the ninth inning. The thing I take away from this game, as with most of the losses right now, is that this team has not given up when things turn sour. Frenchy could have easily whiffed on the ball, but went yard and drove in three to get us back in the game. Kila showed production last night. There are still positives in the performance...and one negative that's almost worth a point deduction...There's already one Carl Pavano in the league, we don't need another catching for the Royals. I'm glad Treanor said he's using the razor...
BTW, your 'good idea' was almost word-for-word what Frank White said on air during the game... so you know it must be a good idea -- just not uniquely yours :)
I enjoyed the pre-game show; I think you did well handling the pressure of live television.
Another good article. Good read.
Thanks, guys, anytime I'm having the same idea as Frank I feel pretty good...and I'm sure I wasn't the first to make that observation. Although you still see it not done on a routine basis.
And I'm with you on Treanor's facial hair. Maybe we should be grateful for his 0-fer, if he got a couple hits who knows how long we would've had to look at it.
I understand the need for 'managerial moments' where the long-term needs are considered; but Hoch had at least one of those last year. I remember that being a big discussion before he got hurt. When does a dog get old enough that it's understood he can't learn a new trick? How many times does Ned leave Hoch out there until Hoch realizes that he is the one that needs to stop the bleeding? I guess the general question would be how many times do you try and manage a lesson at the expense of making the game at hand competitive?
Appears that Hoch mentally gives up at times. It appears that way, may not be true, but that is the appearance to the fans. There were positives in the game, and we have tonight to even the series.
Excellent article. I've enjoyed every one so far. Since you gave an open invitation to correct spelling...I found one for you. "...he stuck out Red Sox Kevin Youkilis in Kevin’s first at-bat." "stuck should be struck"
I blame my proof readers. I did that at 2AM and warned them I was dog-tired...and after I went to all that trouble to get 'Youkilis' right.
Andrew: I'm not sure I agree with leaving Hochevar out there either, but the reasoning seemed worth hearing.
Just found the site, love it and it is now on my daily must read. Very interesting and funny perspective. The scoring system is also very intriguing. However, it is hard to take it too serious when it over values saves and especially wins for pitchers. A simple tweak, make both worth one point instead, and you have a much better system. That way you don't have guys like Soria outscoring Crow.
I think there's plenty question in the system, but eventually decided to trust in Ron Polk's judgement. I tell people to ignore the points if they want and just focus on patterns.
Like the Royals breaking up double plays at a much faster rate than last year which tells you something about the emphasis on base running.
The system's main purpose is to allow me to talk about the way the game is played and get the players' point of view.
I like the system, but a winning game can have a wide range of total points. Even a low scoring game can have a rather high total points. It would be interesting to compare what the other team scored for the game. An example, a 1-0 victory that we scored 30 points but the other team scored 60 would seem we caught some breaks. A reverse scenario having us lose 1-0 and scoring double the opponent, we could see that we played well enough to win. Even on the player level it would be deceiving such as the April 20th game against the Indians. We played well for five and then imploded for a few innings. The last inning we tacked on three runs to boost the points, but then again it was mop up duty and no walk situation for the opposing pitcher. If the score was closer, say 6-4 and we scored one more in the ninth, that has more value. Or, as I write this, a Melky game winning hit.
Well, 2 or three major changes and we could have the Lee Judge system and it would be a great improvement from the prior system.
I meant to say minor changes.