OC Register: Angels looking for benefits from a six-man rotation

[AngelsWin.com]

TEMPE, Ariz. — Although the Angels’ six-man rotation was borne out of the pandemic, manager Joe Maddon is hoping it turns out to provide the benefit of actually helping the pitchers perform better.

With all pitchers facing a significant workload increase going from a 60-game season in 2020 to the normal 162 in 2021, the Angels decided the best way to manage that would simply be to add extra rest between starts by using an extra starter.

That begs a series of questions. Will pitchers who have been accustomed to a certain routine will be bothered by the extra rest? What happens when one or more of the pitchers performs so well that Angels want them to pitch more regularly?

“It’s all interesting,” Maddon said. “I don’t have the answers specifically. Theoretically, in my head, it makes sense.”

The first question, however, is whether the extra rest will actually help them pitch better. Maddon said the Angels have numbers that show that their starters actually have performed better with extra rest.

Of the four starters with a significant enough sample size, three have a career ERA that is slightly better with at least five days’ rest than it is with four. Andrew Heaney (4.40 vs. 4.61), José Quintana (3.66 vs. 3.86) and Alex Cobb (3.73 vs. 4.08) have all been more effective with the extra rest. Dylan Bundy’s ERA on four days’ rest is 4.59, compared to 4.67 with at least five days.

The other two starters, Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani, have not pitched enough in the majors to have meaningful numbers. In Ohtani’s case, he’s never even pitched in the majors with less than six days’ rest, though. The Angels have said this year he could pitch on five days’ rest if there are no off days between his starts.

“I’ve done it for long stretches, especially with Baltimore,” Bundy said. “I think the stats show most starters are a little better with that fifth day, so I don’t think it hurts anything. It’s just something to get used to.”

Heaney said the trick is adjusting the routine to account for the extra day.

“It’s a personal thing for every day,” he said. “Some guys like it and some guys don’t. It is what it is. You’ve got to figure it out.”

Maddon said one of the ideas they’ve had so far is to have pitchers throw to hitters occasionally between starts if the rest would be too long, perhaps if there’s an off day that would mean having six days’ rest.

Maddon said so far in spring training he’s noticed that the pitchers’ velocities are slightly up, which could be a factor of getting extra rest. He also believes he’ll be able to extend the starters deeper into each game because of the extra days off in between.

This is not the first time the Angels have tried something like this. They used a version of a six-man rotation in 2018, when Ohtani first began pitching in the majors. In that case, though, it was really four pitchers working on the normal four or five days’ rest, Ohtani working on six days’ rest, and a sixth pitcher going in and out of the rotation to fill the gaps.

This time, Maddon said the plan is to have all six on the same schedule, getting at least five days’ rest each time.

He conceded, though, that plan may need to change if one or two pitchers start pitching so well that he wants to maximize their starts by moving them back to four days’ rest.

“Something like that I would really consider later in the year,” Maddon said.

On the other side, if one of the starters is doing so poorly, or gets hurt, the Angels would face the question of whether they want to use their seventh starter or just go with the normal five.

“We’ll see how it all plays out,” Maddon said. “It’s just a plan. You love when theory and reality come together. We’re going to find out.”

NOTES

The Angels have not yet heard officially whether Jaime Barria will have a fourth option in 2021, but the Washington Nationals reportedly got word that Erick Fedde will not have the extra option. Fedde and Barria are among about a dozen players around the majors whose option status for 2021 was in the hands of an arbiter because of an interpretation of whether 2020 counts as a “full season” with regard to the option rules. …

Left-hander Jose Quijada finally arrived in Angels camp on Tuesday. Quijada had missed almost the entire camp because of a visa issue. Quijada was placed on the restricted list, but within 30 days the Angels will need to put him back on the 40-man roster. …

It may not be too late for Aaron Slegers to make the Opening Day roster after all. Slegers has missed most of the Cactus League schedule because of back spasms. Slegers threw Monday, and Maddon said on Tuesday that he felt good, so he’ll get into a game in the next day or two. The Angels would like to get Slegers in two or three games in order to declare him ready for Opening Day, Maddon said. At this point, it seems that even if he is delayed, it won’t be by much. …

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Albert Pujols was not in the lineup a day after he suffered a bruised forearm getting hit by a pitch, but he may not have been anyway. Maddon said Pujols he “had not heard anything negative” about Pujols, but expected he would be “sore.” …

Maddon, Ohtani and catcher Max Stassi participated in a video call with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who is an Ohtani fan currently working on the International Space Station. Maddon said he was impressed with Noguchi’s endurance after six months in space. “He was very upbeat,” Maddon said. “I can’t even imagine being in that confined space for six months.”

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[BTH]

2 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Maddon said one of the ideas they’ve had so far is to have pitchers throw to hitters occasionally between starts if the rest would be too long, perhaps if there’s an off day that would mean having six days’ rest.

Does he mean throw to hitters in a live BP session type thing outside of a game or throw to hitters in games?

[Docwaukee]

4 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Theoretically, in my head, it makes sense

for those of you who aren't a fan of analytics.  there you go.  

[Dtwncbad]

Ah, and the explanations for how they may not actually just rotate six are now coming in.

Somebody pitching really well and don’t want to delay getting them their next start, enough off days to go back to #1 instead of rolling out #6, and if someone isn’t 100% you probably want to avoid using your 7th best starter rather than going back to “normal”. . . 

Yeah, I think the real world takes over and you end up with a 5 man rotation with a sixth guy available to use where needed— which is basically the same as every rotation any of us can recall for as long as any of us can remember. 

But it was a fun story that kept everyone engaged and talking.

Edited March 24, 2021 by Dtwncbad

[Slegnaac]

16 hours ago, Trendon said:

Does he mean throw to hitters in a live BP session type thing outside of a game or throw to hitters in games?

I think it would be simulated game type of event.  Live pitching to batters followed by a rest period, then live pitching, etc.

[AngelsWest]

Maybe I'm being overly cautious but I'd like to see Ohtani make it through a whole season before having him start (as a pitcher) more than once a week.

[Angel Oracle]

So far, the 6 man rotation has been a hit.   The great majority of the starts have been solid.

[Chuck]

 

[totdprods]

So guessing maybe Bundy, Heaney, Canning, Ohtani, Quintana, Cobb as the rotation?

[Blarg]

Probably the same as the post above you. 

[Angel Oracle]

2 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Probably the same as the post above you. 

With Canning between Heaney and Ohtani?

[Blarg]

The key is Cobb following Bundy, after that the positioning of Heaney and Canning are interchangeable or possibly even one following Ohtani or Quitana. 

[Slegnaac]

Right

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Left

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[tomsred]

11 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

Right

Right

Left

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Got it......