Anibal Sanchez reinstated, Cristhian Martinez optioned

by craig on Aug 20, 2009 11:07 PM EDT in News Comment 16 comments

After the game the Marlins optioned Cristhian Martinez to Jacksonville to make room for Anibal Sanchez who will start on Friday in Atlanta.

More later.

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Okay, what the hell?

Why did we option Cristhian Martinez? He’s been pitching great as a reliever. Why are we not keeping him as opposed to some of the … shakier people in our bullpen?

More importantly, I love watching Gaby Sanchez get some playing time as he’s actually a very close friend of a best friend of mine and any friend of my friend is cool in my book. But seriously, after today, why is he still chilling out there? Either give him more playing time so that he can actually work his offense back up, or send him back down to the minors until September. We need to call up people like Cameron Maybin (who is doing fantastic) or Brett Carroll (who is always a solid option). And we need to hang on to the pitchers that are doing well for us. The bullpen should be Martinez / Sanches / Badenhop / Donnelly / Meyer / Calero / Nuñez, and then with five starters we should be pretty much set.

by nothingxs on Aug 20, 2009 11:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

With NJ out

Fredi thought we’d be short corner infielders if we didn’t have six of them available to him.

I kid, he only wants 4. Still.

And anybody can look good in small sample sizes. Martinez may be a case of that, so let’s not get over excited.

Marlin Maniac, a Florida Marlins blog

by SFiercex4 on Aug 20, 2009 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let's not forget the case of Tim Wood

He was great in the short time he came up at first, but on the second call-up…yikes…

The Player's Commenter

by ocelotfox on Aug 21, 2009 1:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Pitching great" = a 5.11 ERA?

Martinez has been mediocre at best so far. I know, small sample sizes, but still… there’s no reason to believe he’s better than anyone in our bullpen.

I agree we should either play Sanchez or send him back. But did you see Maybin earlier this year? He was hopeless. The kid obviously can’t identify or hit the major-league curveball. So the fact that he’s doing well against minor leaguers isn’t relevant — he was doing well against minor leaguers last year, then he was promoted, and he posted sub-Bonifacio statistics and struck out all the time. Clearly, they don’t think he’s learned enough to be brought up, and given what we saw at the beginning of the season, I’m glad to believe them.

He's currently two-thirds man, one-third amazing. Which, let's face it, is still a pretty good ratio.

by 3.3seconds on Aug 21, 2009 6:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wrong move AGAIN

STINKO PINTO (after a four year sample size) IS STILL HERE ………WHY? where do these fredi defenders come from?

by WHOLETRUTHY on Aug 21, 2009 1:26 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, four years and a 3.62 career ERA.

Look at the stats — Pinto has a solid career ERA. That’s probably aided a bit by the fact that he’s brought in mid-inning sometimes, but over his career, opponents have hit .217 against him, with a .688 OPS. And his numbers this year are equal to that, if not slightly better. I don’t know what planet you live on, but in the real world, that’s an above-average relief pitcher.

He's currently two-thirds man, one-third amazing. Which, let's face it, is still a pretty good ratio.

by 3.3seconds on Aug 21, 2009 5:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

3.62 ERA is saying Hermida and Jacobs have 70 some HR in 3 years

His ERA in non-important situations is great, but any pressure and he crumbles like… something that crumbles really easy.

by jrsyeagle on Aug 21, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh.

I’m always amazed when Pinto’s ERA comes up on-screen, because it seems like it should always be higher. I know he gets scoreless innings here and there, but you’re right—he’s lousy under pressure.

I’d be willing to bet he lets a ton of inherited runners score, which won’t show up on his ERA even though he’s the one who blew it.

by Fishcrazy on Aug 21, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I thought that too, but it doesn't seem to be the case that much.

He’s got a really high WHIP for a guy with such a low ERA — but that seems largely to be due to his poor control. He walks more guys than he should, but he also strikes out a lot of guys, and doesn’t allow many extra-base hits. Again, he’s allowed a .688 OPS against him — that’s pretty much exactly between Hermida and Bonifacio. This year, the number stands at .668 — worse than Wes Helms. You may not think the guy’s a good pitcher, but the facts suggest that he’s consistently pitched well.

This “closer” nonsense is the problem. The two worst men in our bullpen — aside from the likes of Leroux, who have no business being in the majors — are Lindstrom and Nunez. The team would be better off putting literally anyone out there — in the ninth inning or at any other time — than these guys. But because the superstition that some pitchers are ninth-inning guys and others aren’t is so prevalent in baseball, we’re stuck with these two mediocrities out there.

He's currently two-thirds man, one-third amazing. Which, let's face it, is still a pretty good ratio.

by 3.3seconds on Aug 21, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In other words, you don't like him, so you remember his bad outings and not his good ones.

Nobody is good or bad “under pressure”. Either a guy is good, or he’s bad. “Clutch” is a ridiculous myth.

He's currently two-thirds man, one-third amazing. Which, let's face it, is still a pretty good ratio.

by 3.3seconds on Aug 21, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dan would disagree about "clutch" being a myth. But still....

I don’t know if “under pressure” is exactly the same as “clutch.” Nonetheless, just look at Nunez. He was a very good middle reliever, but every time they trot him out in the ninth, he gets smacked around. Is his stuff different in the 9th than it was in the 7th or 8th? I doubt it. But he’s clearly not the same guy in the ninth.

I don’t know enough about strategy and coaching to understand why they don’t just try Kiko as the closer. Meyer, Nunez and Lindstrom can’t get it done, so why not try Kiko? Is he too valuable in his earlier-inning role?

by Fishcrazy on Aug 21, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know if "pressure" is the same as "clutch".

And I’m not sure Nunez’s play has been anything more than simple fluctuation. His ERA by month this year: 3.18, 3.77, 5.40, 3.46, 6.75. I’m willing to accept that as part of normal fluctuations for a guy who is (based on talent) a 4.00 ERA guy (or thereabouts). Note that his July stats were in line with his first two months, and he was the closer throughout that month, earning six saves.

I would agree that Pinto might not be the guy you want out there if you’ve already got men on base, because of control issues. But aside from control, he’s great out there. He’s allowed the aforementioned .215 batting average this season. In 45.2 innings, he’s only allowed 35 hits and 2 home runs.

Compare Dan Meyer — same number of appearances/innings, same hits allowed, half as many walks — but he’s allowed six home runs. And as of this writing, exactly the same ERA. So if I’m the Marlins, I’m going to use Meyer when I’m facing guys who aren’t big home run threats, and Pinto when I need to avoid the long ball. I’m going to use Meyer when we can’t afford a walk, and Pinto when we can put a guy on base relatively safely.

And I think of Meyer as just a little better than Pinto, but an honest examination of the numbers suggests they’re not really that different. Pinto looks less impressive, because he can be wild, and because he does allow a lot of base runners. But you can get away with a few small mistakes when you don’t allow big mistakes. And Pinto, historically, is good at not giving up the big mistakes.

He's currently two-thirds man, one-third amazing. Which, let's face it, is still a pretty good ratio.

by 3.3seconds on Aug 21, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs