It seems that 2018 is the season that MLB is testing APBA. I’ve already written about Shohei Ohtani and the challenges his dual role poses for the APBA Game Company in assigning him a position rating.
He’s not the only strange situation from this year though. Fellow IAL manager Rob Moore has brought up the unusual case of Ryne Stanek. Pitching for the Rays, “opener” Stanek has appeared in 51 games and has started 25 of them. The catch? He hasn’t gone more than two innings in an appearance even in games he has started.
It’s not that he hasn’t done well either. For the year, Stanek sports a 2.62 ERA and could conceivably receive an A grade. Who wouldn’t want a Grade A pitcher with 25 starts?
| Split | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| as Starter | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2.57 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35.0 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 45 |
| as Reliever | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2.70 | 26 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.1 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 25 |
Without some outside regulation or self-discipline, Ryne Stanek could easily dominate or at least collect some unrealistic numbers in replay, league or tournament play.
One easy solution is to make Stanek a C(A*). As a reliever, he would be a Grade A pitcher but when he starts, his grade would be a lowly C. I say it would be an easy fix but it wouldn’t be accurate. As you can see, Stanek actually pitched better as a starter (2.57 ERA) than a reliever (2.70).
Taking a different turn, it’s almost like the APBA Game Co. foresaw this situation. With the very recent implementation of the Starting Pitching Fatigue chart, I’m sure Stanek’s usefulness will be diminished as a conventional starting pitcher. The IAL hasn’t adopted the SPF Chart yet (because you know, it’s different). I wouldn’t mind trying it to be honest. We would have to throw out our current method of limiting pitching usage (actual games and innings) because the two systems would be incompatible.
I’m wondering how tournaments would handle this. I know most tournament-goers don’t want to review a whole bunch of rules before playing. If a manager can play a Grade A pitcher for nine innings to win, he will. At the same time, is that the best thing for the tournament?
Thoughts?
Photo by DominantShredder – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
TBL uses batters faced for fatigue (for both starters and relievers), very similar to what APBA has done with starter fatigue. He may deserve an A grade, but with only 25 starts, APBA might “downgrade” him a grade for not being a full-time starter. It’ll be interesting to see.
Hi Steve,
APBA used to do that as matter of course. Now, not so much. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did with Stanek.
Strange managerial decisions call for desperate measures.
Tom