July 06, 2006
Save and a Send Down
I received this text message on my cell phone this morning:
Congrats on your first ml save, in an 18-9 game.
Renyel Pinto pitched three innings for the Marlins last night. He entered the game with an 18-5 lead and proceeded to give up four runs in the seventh. He finished the game without further incident and earned the save under the three inning rule.
That was a mistake. See rule 10.20(3)(c):
He pitches effectively for at least three innings. No more than one save may be credited in each game.
Four runs in three innings is not pitching effectively. For his efforts, Pinto is going back to the minor leagues ( via FishStripes):
After the game, the Marlins optioned Pinto to Triple-A Albuquerque and recalled left-hander Jason Vargas. Since Pinto threw 72 pitches, he would not be available in the next couple of days. The Marlins didn't want to be caught short-handed with Saturday's doubleheader looming.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:15 AM
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Jae Seo of the Dodgers (at the time) did NOT get a save in a 10-4 LA win over Pittsburgh on June 23, giving up four runs in four innings of work. The official scorer ruled that he was "not effective."
Although that wording exists, I think the case with Seo might be the only time that it was ever put it into use.
I believe that if a pitcher is in the game for three innings or more and isn't taken out, he is effective. If he were ineffective, he would be taken out.
And why does this particular part of the save rule contain this wording, when there are situations like there were earlier in the year when Julian Tavarez entered a game against Tampa Bay with the bases loaded and the Red Sox ahead 6-1 and then went K-PB, BB, BB, BB, RBI single with the tying run being thrown out at the plate.
In the Tavarez situation, he's coming into a situation with the game on the line. In that case, the save is automatic. In the three inning big lead situation, the rules give the OS the option of rewarding the save or not.
But I still don't see why a distinction has to be made. There should be fewer discretionary stats.
I agree with Bob. Pinto preserved two-thirds of the Florida lead. Last night, Takashi Saito allowed two-thirds of the Dodger lead but got a save. Given the relative tasks, it's easy enough to argue that Pinto was effective.
The rule for a three-inning save is there, and the rulemakers had to be fully conscious that it would almost always come into play in blowouts. So how effective does the guy have to be?
The job of a long reliever in a blowout is to put the ball over the plate and spare the bullpen. Admittedly, Pinto did not perform the first task so well in his first inning of work, but he followed it up with two shutout innings (one walk, no hits, four strikeouts). Mission accomplished.
Similarly, Seo comes into a 10-0 game and throws the ball over the plate. He goes three innings, walks none, preserves 60 percent of the lead, saves the rest of the pitching staff. Not Cy Young material, but gets the job done.
When the average number of runs/9 given up by a pitcher in the game is 13.5, I don't see why 4 runs in 3 innings (12 runs/9) can't be deemed "effective."