Second Guessing Scioscia – Week 25: Playoff preparation

Welcome to Second-Guessing Scioscia, our look back at some of the questionable decisions that Mike Scioscia made in the last week. This isn’t because we dislike Scioscia, in fact, MWAH is officially pro-Scioscia. However, we do realize that he is not infallible and hope to use this series to bring light to the decisions in which he went wrong (or was at least perceived to be wrong by some). At a minimum, it will help us all come to a better understanding of what goes on during games but maybe, just maybe, we’ll get lucky and this will somehow make Scioscia more self-aware of his more chronic managerial missteps.

The playoffs are just around the corner and with the AL West all wrapped up, it is time for Scioscia to start getting prepared for the postseason. That means getting rest for the guys who need it, getting work for the guys who need it and getting some clarity on who the final roster spots are going to go to.

9/16/14 – Hamilton gets deep sixed
Josh Hamilton came back for one whole game! It was very exciting and very cathartic for some of the Hamilton haters who were glad to see him dropped down to the six-hole. This was something people had been clamoring for even prior to his shoulder issues.

Why? I’m not entirely sure. Hamilton was streaky, but he’d been hitting about as well as he had all season long leading up to his absence. It is probably that we are looking at his numbers through the lens of his $125 million contract. Because of that effect, there was a thought that Hamilton was no longer suited to hit clean-up.

That might be true, but the question I always ask to those making this claim is: who is qualified to bat clean-up?

This week, that was an easy answer. Howie Kendrick had been on an incredible hot streak, a hot streak that started well before he moved to the four-hole, by the way. But on the season, Howie is no more or less qualified than Hamilton. Literally, they both have the same offensive production as each carries a .325 wOBA and 113 wRC+. They just compile those numbers in different ways.

Howie’s batting average is 28 points higher, but his ISO is 48 points lower. He’s also got a 15 point edge in OBP, though Hamilton has a higher walk rate. The strikeouts for Hamilton were a big problem to be sure, but so are Howie’s well-documented issues with the GIDP.

What’s a manager to do? Scioscia opted to ride the hot bat. That’s normally not advisable since you can’t predict when the hot bat will cool off, but Hamilton needed to actually prove he was healthy first. Sticking with Howie until that time is more than defensible. No sense disrupting the lineup until he has to, especially with the playoffs coming up. It is especially defensible with the hindsight of Hamilton succumbing to injury once again after this game.

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9/16/14 – Don’t forget to stretch
If there is one thing that Mike Scioscia should be doing to prepare for the postseason, it is making sure he has another starter ready to go. The Angels rotation is perilously thin and that was before Matt Shoemaker‘s oblique strain. The Halos are hoping Shoemaker will be healthy for the playoffs, but there is no guarantee.

Knowing that, Scioscia should be doing what he can to come up with a good back-up plan. That plan should be Cory Rasmus, who has acquitted himself quite nicely in his four short starts. The only problem is that they are short starts, not long ones. Rasmus still hasn’t thrown over 50 pitches or four innings in any start.

With Rasmus cruising through the first four innings of this game on 43 pitches, it seemed like perfect opportunity to send Rasmus out for a fifth inning and push Cory close to the 60-pitch mark. With two more starts to make before the end of the season, Scioscia could’ve gotten Rasmus stretched out to 75 pitches, which is good enough if he had to make a spot start.

Instead, Scioscia got cautious, thought Rasmus looked tired and worried about the heat, so he pulled the plug, turning the ball over to the bullpen. The problem is that he won’t be able to work the bullpen so heavily on the playoffs. A bullpen day in the ALDS is a very risky idea. Now Scioscia will have to employ that tactic or try and start someone on three days’ rest should Shoemaker not get healthy in time.

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9/17/14 – You’re on your own, C.J.
This was a situation where you have to wonder how much postseason preparation came into Scioscia’s thinking. Up by one with runners on first and second, the Mariners brought in right-handed reliever Danny Farquhar to face the right-handed C.J. Cron. It is a pivotal moment in the game. Seattle has to be hoping to induce a doubleplay and Cron is an ideal candidate to hit into one since he lacks the platoon advantage and has a notoriously aggressive approach. Time to pinch-hit, right?

Apparently not. Scioscia had left-handed bats Efren Navarro and Brennan Boesch on the bench (and Hamilton, or at least we thought before we found out he was hurt again). Scioscia let Cron hit for himself even though he didn’t have the platoon advantage. To be fair, neither Cron nor Farquhar have big platoon splits.

Navarro and Boesch lack Cron’s talent, but the situation should override the gap. Thta is unless Scioscia is planning for postseason situations and wants to see how Cron handles that at bat since Cron figures to be a big part of the postseason roster. Scioscia might want to see if C.J. can be smarter in his approach in such a critical situation. After all, it wasn’t like the Angels HAD to win the game as they were on the verge of clinching the AL West anyway.

Or maybe Scioscia really just likes Cron or was playing a hunch. Who knows. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

VERDICT:

9/18/14 – Triple-A Appreciation Day
Figuring out who gets rest over this final week-plus is going to be a main focus for Scioscia. A lot of guys are banged up this time of year and clinching the division early gives them the luxury of resting players as needed. We saw Scioscia take that to an extreme on Thursday when he benched every single regular and pushed Jered Weaver‘s start back two days. The result was the Salt Lake Bees squaring off against Felix Hernandez.

Now, nobody is criticizing this. Not in a serious way, anyway, but there has to at least be a mild concern that the Angels basically forfeit a game when they haven’t yet wrapped up home field advantage. That is something they should strive for, but it also isn’t that important and would only come into play if both the Angels and Orioles win their respective ALDS series.

Not that I am in the clubhouse, but one has to think it was more important to let his regulars celebrate winning the division and take a day to bask in that glory (and get over their hangovers). Besides, they probably weren’t going to be King Felix anyway.

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