Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:47 pm

Quote from Randy Manese on August 8, 2024, 1:41 pm

I have to disagree that Edwards has been decent in the minors this year, because of his record in the PCL.  I know it was in El Paso, but he gave up 12 walks in 17 innings to go along with 19 hits; I don't consider that decent.  Gillaspie had been good lately and Reynolds also.  Bachar was already on the 40 man and Omar Cruz was far more deserving from his recent performances to roster than Edwards.  Understand Edwards' history, but in baseball it is what have you done for me lately and Edwards was anything but dominant in El Paso.

I hope he reverts to his historical norm in the next couple of outings because we need an arm who can give us a little length when necessary.  I thought Hoeing could be the guy today, but obviously he wasn't able to go after more than 3 innings on Tuesday.  Perez in the wild card on Friday - if he can get close to replicating his last performance, the bullpen will be back in good shape.

Cruz seems to be an under-the-radar pitcher in AAA.  Very solid numbers.  Is he a potential starter in the bigs one day?

Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:53 pm

Quote from Randy Manese on August 8, 2024, 2:20 pm

The Iowa Cubs were so impressed with Edwards that they released him in mid-June despite his 1.85 ERA.  He also had walked 15 in 24.1 innings and given up 20 hits by that time.

Fangraphs exposed that 1.85 ERA performance to a 4.10 FIP and a 5.17 expected FIP; these stats tell me the 1.85 ERA was compiled by dodging many bullets and pitching in luck not skill.   Sorry, I still am not a fan of Edwards but I do hope he does better the next time out because the team needs to keep moving ahead and he needs to show he still has something left.

But do we need him if everyone is healthy?  I thought he only came up temporarily to replace Jacob while the latter got a breather. I’m expecting him to get sent back down tomorrow or something.

Quote from Jeremy Hill on August 8, 2024, 9:10 pm

Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:44 pm

Quote from Jeremy Hill on August 8, 2024, 1:19 pm

I'm guessing the guys who pitched out of the bullpen today were the only guys available. I'm also guessing they didn't want to count on any of them for more than an inning. You can't really count on Vasquez for more than 5. Jacob probably could have given you one, but they probably wanted someone who could give them some length if necessary. Edwards has pitched in parts of 10 seasons now and has typically been decent. He had been pretty good in the minors this year too. They have 6 more games before the next off day and they're going to have to cover some innings after Musgrove's start. It makes sense to bring up a fresh arm that might be able to give you some length given the situation. It didn't go how anyone would have liked today. I'm not mad at it though.

I would have had no problem with Edwards starting an inning.  My problem is that the game pretty much got away from us in that sixth inning; Adam is a high-leverage arm who should have been called upon to get out of the inning with two guys on and preserve the three-run lead.  He could have then started the next inning as he was well-rested.  Or Edwards could have started a clean seventh.

But Shildt may have thought that losing Adam so early in the game and hoping that Edwards could hold the lead in the later, more stressful innings was too risky?

Adam has only gone more than 1 inning 4 times this season. He threw 26 pitches in the first game. I don't think they wanted him to go more than an inning and probably wanted to avoid having him sit down and come back out. We saw how that played out with Matsui. There were 2 outs with the 7 hole hitter at the plate. They were probably hoping Edwards could get out of it and cover at least the next inning as well.

I just checked on a few guys in the minors. Cruz went 5+ on Tuesday. That means he wasn't an option. Crismatt went 5 yesterday. He wasn't an option either. Gillaspie has only gone past an inning a few times. Reynolds had some longer outings earlier in the year. He hasn't gone past an inning in almost a month. It looks like he's been much better in shorter outings. Brito hasn't made it out of the 1st in his 2 outings since returning from his shutdown. Bachar might have been a decent option.

Vasquez had made 16 starts before today and had only gone more than 5 in 3 of them. He had been under 5 in 6 of them and was coming off a 2 inning dud. They needed someone to provide some length in the event of a shorter outing. I just don't see any great option. It's easy to judge in the moment with the benefit of hindsight. I'm sure there's a lot more that goes into these decisions than we will ever even think to consider.

Quote from ultratvfan on August 8, 2024, 9:51 pm

Dbacks lose to Phillies pushing them out of a 2nd place tie to 1 game behind the Padres.

Quote from Stergios on August 9, 2024, 7:53 am

Quote from Jeremy Hill on August 8, 2024, 9:10 pm

Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:44 pm

Quote from Jeremy Hill on August 8, 2024, 1:19 pm

I'm guessing the guys who pitched out of the bullpen today were the only guys available. I'm also guessing they didn't want to count on any of them for more than an inning. You can't really count on Vasquez for more than 5. Jacob probably could have given you one, but they probably wanted someone who could give them some length if necessary. Edwards has pitched in parts of 10 seasons now and has typically been decent. He had been pretty good in the minors this year too. They have 6 more games before the next off day and they're going to have to cover some innings after Musgrove's start. It makes sense to bring up a fresh arm that might be able to give you some length given the situation. It didn't go how anyone would have liked today. I'm not mad at it though.

I would have had no problem with Edwards starting an inning.  My problem is that the game pretty much got away from us in that sixth inning; Adam is a high-leverage arm who should have been called upon to get out of the inning with two guys on and preserve the three-run lead.  He could have then started the next inning as he was well-rested.  Or Edwards could have started a clean seventh.

But Shildt may have thought that losing Adam so early in the game and hoping that Edwards could hold the lead in the later, more stressful innings was too risky?

Adam has only gone more than 1 inning 4 times this season. He threw 26 pitches in the first game. I don't think they wanted him to go more than an inning and probably wanted to avoid having him sit down and come back out. We saw how that played out with Matsui. There were 2 outs with the 7 hole hitter at the plate. They were probably hoping Edwards could get out of it and cover at least the next inning as well.

I just checked on a few guys in the minors. Cruz went 5+ on Tuesday. That means he wasn't an option. Crismatt went 5 yesterday. He wasn't an option either. Gillaspie has only gone past an inning a few times. Reynolds had some longer outings earlier in the year. He hasn't gone past an inning in almost a month. It looks like he's been much better in shorter outings. Brito hasn't made it out of the 1st in his 2 outings since returning from his shutdown. Bachar might have been a decent option.

Vasquez had made 16 starts before today and had only gone more than 5 in 3 of them. He had been under 5 in 6 of them and was coming off a 2 inning dud. They needed someone to provide some length in the event of a shorter outing. I just don't see any great option. It's easy to judge in the moment with the benefit of hindsight. I'm sure there's a lot more that goes into these decisions than we will ever even think to consider.

Ok, a lot of that makes sense.  Thanks for the clarification because it was really bothering me yesterday.  I knew there had to be a good reason, just didn’t know what it was.

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 9, 2024, 11:29 am

Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:53 pm

Quote from Randy Manese on August 8, 2024, 2:20 pm

The Iowa Cubs were so impressed with Edwards that they released him in mid-June despite his 1.85 ERA.  He also had walked 15 in 24.1 innings and given up 20 hits by that time.

Fangraphs exposed that 1.85 ERA performance to a 4.10 FIP and a 5.17 expected FIP; these stats tell me the 1.85 ERA was compiled by dodging many bullets and pitching in luck not skill.   Sorry, I still am not a fan of Edwards but I do hope he does better the next time out because the team needs to keep moving ahead and he needs to show he still has something left.

But do we need him if everyone is healthy?  I thought he only came up temporarily to replace Jacob while the latter got a breather. I’m expecting him to get sent back down tomorrow or something.

Quote from Stergios on August 8, 2024, 7:53 pm

Quote from Randy Manese on August 8, 2024, 2:20 pm

The Iowa Cubs were so impressed with Edwards that they released him in mid-June despite his 1.85 ERA.  He also had walked 15 in 24.1 innings and given up 20 hits by that time.

Fangraphs exposed that 1.85 ERA performance to a 4.10 FIP and a 5.17 expected FIP; these stats tell me the 1.85 ERA was compiled by dodging many bullets and pitching in luck not skill.   Sorry, I still am not a fan of Edwards but I do hope he does better the next time out because the team needs to keep moving ahead and he needs to show he still has something left.

But do we need him if everyone is healthy?  I thought he only came up temporarily to replace Jacob while the latter got a breather. I’m expecting him to get sent back down tomorrow or something.

Pretty sure Jacob can’t come back for 10 days