Don't leave your best weapons on the shelf
Okay, you're Lou Piniella, and you're looking to pick your playoff roster. You have to leave one of the following pitchers behind. Which would you pick?
Pitcher A is Joel Pineiro, and he got left off the playoff roster, presumably because he's young. Well, the Mariners felt that today, when Pineiro wasn't there and Lou had to go to pitchers C, D, and E, who combined for six innings pitched, 13 runs allowed.
The Indians and Cardinals ignored the old "youths are not battle-tested for the playoffs" and started two rookies, C.C. Sabathia and Bud Smith, because they had pitched well during the regular season. Both won today.
In a short series, how likely is it that you'll want to go beyond Nelson and Rhodes as your setup men for Sasaki? Not likely, unless you're getting shelled early, and even then, you should probably just ride Rhodes and Nelson if you want to survive. You don't need Paniagua. Yes, Pineiro is a starter, but you bet a manager would use Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez or another starter as a relief pitcher if they felt it would help. Pineiro should've been on the roster, and you could make the case he should have started Game 3.
Innings pitched | WHIP | ERA | |
| Pitcher A | 75.1 | 0.94 | 2.03 |
| Pitcher B | 78.1 | 1.28 | 3.56 |
| Pitcher C | 163.0 | 1.42 | 4.25 |
| Pitcher D | 66.0 | 1.47 | 4.36 |
| Pitcher E | 110.1 | 1.43 | 4.73 |
Pitcher A is Joel Pineiro, and he got left off the playoff roster, presumably because he's young. Well, the Mariners felt that today, when Pineiro wasn't there and Lou had to go to pitchers C, D, and E, who combined for six innings pitched, 13 runs allowed.
The Indians and Cardinals ignored the old "youths are not battle-tested for the playoffs" and started two rookies, C.C. Sabathia and Bud Smith, because they had pitched well during the regular season. Both won today.
In a short series, how likely is it that you'll want to go beyond Nelson and Rhodes as your setup men for Sasaki? Not likely, unless you're getting shelled early, and even then, you should probably just ride Rhodes and Nelson if you want to survive. You don't need Paniagua. Yes, Pineiro is a starter, but you bet a manager would use Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez or another starter as a relief pitcher if they felt it would help. Pineiro should've been on the roster, and you could make the case he should have started Game 3.