Lookout Landing

If only there were someone who constantly warned against this sort of thing:

Riggleman said he first noticed that Silva might have a health issue during the fourth inning. The first batter doubled and the second one reached on an infield single. The next -- and final -- pitch Silva threw was hit by Kelly Shoppach for a home run.

"The pitch before that showed something," Riggleman said. "Kenji [Johjima] went out and checked on him, and Carlos said he was OK. After the home run, we went out, and he didn't protest too much about coming out."

I can't believe how often I've had to talk about this. I'm going to say it nice and slow, so that a fat idiot like Carlos Silva can't possibly misunderstand:

TRYING
TO
PITCH
THROUGH
PAIN
IS
STUPID
DON'T
TRY
EVER

Prior to the home run, Silva insisted he was okay to keep going. After the home run, he allowed Riggleman to take him out. We can infer from this that Silva believed his discomfort contributed to the home run, because otherwise he would've put up more of an argument. After all, he presumably wants to stay on the mound as long as he can. It wouldn't make sense for him to willingly leave the mound if he didn't think it necessary.

If Silva believes the discomfort contributed to the home run, that means he believes the discomfort made him pitch worse. If he believes the discomfort made him pitch worse, that means the discomfort was pretty substantial. If the discomfort was pretty substantial, he shouldn't have stayed on the mound in the first place. Because there's just nothing to gain by pitching when you hurt. Nothing.

Think about it. What's the possible upside? Proving yourself a warrior? Showing people that you have a lot of heart? Because the downsides are pretty obvious, and considering the upsides are personal while the downsides relate to the team, one could make the argument that trying to pitch through pain is the most selfish thing a player can do. It jeopardizes the team's big-picture goals for a shot at a pinch of individual glory. That's not being a hero, and it's not being a leader. It's being an asshole. Carlos Silva, you are a selfish asshole. Go shake hands with Miguel Batista. Perhaps you could form a club.

It's not up to the manager to know when a pitcher is laboring. He can guess, but only the pitcher knows how his body feels, and so pretty frequently he's the person who ultimately gets to make the call. Unfortunately, Silva decided to withhold pertinent information, and the team rather immediately suffered the consequences of his choice. Way to be a good teammate, stupid. Lying is totally good for everyone.

It's absurd the extent to which this whole pitching-through-pain thing is playing out. These guys really are that dumb.  Can we get past this already? Pitching through pain doesn't make you a soldier. It makes you a careless idiot. A careless idiot who's putting both himself and his team at risk for all sorts of bad news.

If I never again saw another guy try to pitch through moderate discomfort, I'd die a happy man. Here's to the day we stop applauding people for being morons, because perhaps only then will the majority of them quit being moronic.

Biggest Contribution: Jose Vidro, +9.3%
Biggest Suckfest: Carlos Silva, -28.7%
Most Important AB: Beltre double, +6.4% ; Johjima DP, -6.4%
Most Important Pitch: Shoppach homer, -17.6%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -32.2%
Total Contribution by Lineup: -17.9%
Total Contribution by Opposition: +0.1%
(What is this chart?)

I caught wind of RRS' starter conversion this afternoon via a text message from Dave. As the story goes, he's texted me to tell me about RRS' conversion and Felix's mention of the Open Letter, whereas I've ruined a Christmas party and a pleasant weekend by texting him news of the Bedard and Vidro trades. But anyway, as you can imagine, I'm absolutely in favor of this. It sucks for RRS in the short term because he has to go back to AAA, but the big league team doesn't really have room for him to stretch out at the moment, so Tacoma's his best opportunity. And should he pitch well, it won't be long before we see him again. I have to imagine that Batista's not long for the rotation, and even if his spot goes to Dickey, dumping Washburn on someone before the deadline opens up another slot. So would the team finally conceding that Bedard's a wreck and shutting him down. There will almost certainly be innings to throw, so as long as RRS makes a decent transition, his minor league stint should be pretty brief.

Good luck to you, Ryan. This is your chance. Seize it. We're all rooting for you.