Hector Noesi and making your MLB debut with 4+ innings of relief
Posted by Andy on May 19, 2011
Last night, Hector Noesi made his major league debut, pitching the last 4 innings of the Yankees' win over the Orioles. (Those were innings 12 through 15 after Mariano Rivera blew another save in the 9th inning.)
I thought it would be exceptionally rare for a pitcher to make his debut with at least 4 innings in relief, but it's not all that uncommon:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hector Noesi | 2011-05-18 | NYY | BAL | W 4-1 | 12-15f,W | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 66 | 36 |
| 2 | 1 | Amauri Sanit | 2011-05-12 | NYY | KCR | L 5-11 | 4-8 | 4.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 81 | 51 |
| 3 | 1 | Dusty Hughes | 2009-09-06 | KCR | LAA | L 2-7 | 4-8 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 62 | 35 |
| 4 | 1 | Wilton Lopez | 2009-08-28 | HOU | ARI | L 7-14 | 3-6 | 4.0 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 92 | 60 |
| 5 | 1 | Esmailin Caridad | 2009-08-10 | CHC | COL | L 5-11 | 2-7 | 5.1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 79 | 49 |
| 6 | 1 | David Price | 2008-09-14 | TBR | NYY | L 4-8 | 3-8 | 5.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 87 | 55 |
| 7 | 1 | Chris Smith | 2008-06-21 | BOS | STL | L 3-9 | 2-5 | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 31 |
| 8 | 1 | Max Scherzer | 2008-04-29 | ARI | HOU | L 4-6 | 3-7 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 47 | 35 |
| 9 | 1 | Billy Buckner | 2007-08-25 | KCR | CLE | L 4-9 | 3-7 | 5.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 39 |
| 10 | 1 | Lee Gronkiewicz | 2007-06-19 | TOR | LAD | L 1-10 | 5-8 | 4.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 27 |
| 11 | 1 | Chris Sampson | 2006-06-02 | HOU | CIN | L 3-14 | 2-7 | 5.1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 81 | 55 |
| 12 | 1 | Chris Oxspring | 2005-09-02 | SDP | MIL | L 2-12 | 2-7 | 5.1 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 95 | 57 |
| 13 | 1 | Jeff Harris | 2005-08-02 | SEA | DET | W 4-1 | 2-6 | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 65 | 41 |
| 14 | 1 | Matt Thornton | 2004-06-27 | SEA | SDP | L 1-5 | 6-9f | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 30 |
| 15 | 1 | Clint Nageotte | 2004-06-01 | SEA | TOR | L 5-6 | 3-6 ,L | 4.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 81 | 42 |
| 16 | 1 | Julio Manon | 2003-06-05 | MON | ANA | W 8-7 | 10-13 | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 60 | 35 |
| 17 | 1 | Jason Davis | 2002-09-09 | CLE | TOR | L 9-11 | 3-6 | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 48 | 33 |
| 18 | 1 | Michael Bacsik | 2001-08-05 | CLE | SEA | W 15-14 | 3-8 | 6.0 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 96 | 58 |
| 19 | 1 | Ryan Drese | 2001-07-29 | CLE | DET | L 3-8 | 4-8f | 4.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 51 |
| 20 | 1 | Brandon Knight | 2001-06-05 | NYY | BAL | L 3-10 | 6-9f | 4.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 79 | 50 |
He's not even the first guy to do it this year.
Some other notables in recent years were Sidney Ponson in 1998, Kelvim Escobar and Keith Foulke in 1997, Russ Springer in 1992, Kevin Tapani in 1989, and Doug Drabek, Eric King, and Eric Plunk in 1986.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
This gets weirder. Here are all the pitchers to make their MLB debut in relief this year:
Generated 5/19/2011.
The Yankees have had THREE guys do it while going at least 3 IP.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
It does seem unusual to me that a long relief stint would be in extras (unless the bullpen was shot and there were no other options).
However, a long relief stint in a blow-out game seems like a reasonable, low pressure, way for a guy to get his feet wet. So, to me, not too unusal to see a number of occasions like that.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Apparently it helps to have a funny name....
May 19th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Last night there were 5 games , where one of team shutout their opponent.
And in only 3 games was more than 10 runs.
It's a bit rare to watch events like this in one day.
Maybe you can find , when in one day was more than 6 shutouts or more.
Sory for my English , but i'm not native speaker of this language
May 19th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Saberhagen did it in 1984...replacing Paul Splittorff, who was in his final season. Sabes went 4.2 hitless @ Yankee Stadium.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198404040.shtml
May 19th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
my error...it was actually in KC.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
MLB must be quietly honoring Earl Weaver, who used to say that the best place for a rookie pitcher is long relief.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
@4, Rrr -- I was also intrigued by the 5 shutouts yesterday. But it turns out that there were 6 shutouts on one day just last year -- August 22, 2010.
Below is a link to the only 1-0 game among those 6 shutouts -- a lovely duel between Jhoulys Chacin and Daniel Hudson, who each went at least 7 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI201008220.shtml
P.S. Don't worry about your English -- your point came through clearly.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
BTW, "Hector Noesi" anagrams into:
-- Heroic Onset
-- Echoes Intro
-- Nice Shooter
-- Sincere Hoot
(Among other things....)
May 19th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
... while "Amaury Sanit" could be made into:
-- Aim Yarn At Us
-- Sanitary Uma
-- Say Arm, Autin
May 19th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Looking at the way the Yankee bullpen is currently constructed, and how they've extended their bullpen down through the minor leagues the last few years, having the top three guys is not all that shocking.
With Colon moving into the rotation because of Phil Hughes' injury (or whatever he has), the Yankees do not have a true long man, or even a mop-up guy. (They had Mitre, Moseley and Gaudin at various times last year filling that role.) That means they've been rotating long-relief arms up from the minors to sit out in the pen for when they're needed. The Yankee starter got blown out against the Red Sox a few days ago, so in comes Sanit to pitch. Noesi (who unlike Sanit and Pendelton is a legit prospect) has been up and down twice this year, sitting out in the pen for weeks as insurance, but never pitching, that is until last night when he was the last man standing.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Yankees add another man to this list. They will probably send Noesi down and bring up another arm to sit out in the pen in case he's needed the next game or two. If a starter gets blown out, or there's another extra-inning game, expect to see the fourth Yankee rookie on that list.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
... or: Samurai At N.Y.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
@ 9
How about "Chinese root"?
May 19th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@13 -- That's the spirit, Richard!
P.S. Chino Stereo
May 19th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@10
John:
How about a possible long lost relative of yours: Sam Ray Autin
May 19th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Al Alburquerque?! I was hoping he pitched for the Isotopes in the minors, but alas it's not to be. I can hear the PA now..."Now pitching for Albuquerque, Al Alburquerque."
May 19th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
@1
The most 3 relief IP debuts in a season for any one team (1919-2011) is 5 by the '75 Tigers.
The '34 A's had 4.
The Yankees are tied with 22 other teams for 3rd place. They are also the first team since 1995.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/xJQ1p
May 19th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
@16 Larry R - Good one 🙂 I hadn't heard of this guy but in looking up his stats, he's off to a nice start (23 K's in 13.1 IP). If he can maintain success, he's bound to get more headlines with a name like that.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
"He's not even the first guy to do it this year."
According to your list, he's not even the first Yankee to do it in the past week. Sheesh!
Now there's something - do you get two guys for the same team so close to each other at any point in history? I wouldn't think so.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
4+ relief innings in an MLB debut may not be all that rare but 4+ innings and a win hadn't been done since Sept. 5, 1999, when Jim Brower did it.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I threw 4 innings in ML debut. Of course that was all in my head. 🙁
May 19th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Well, well -- I thought I had done too many random posts hyping Alberto Alburquerque, but now it seems that I haven't hyped him enough!
His performance so far doesn't seem like his true talent level, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts -- he may get shipped out to the Isotopes, or disappear into the Springfield Mystery Spot....
May 19th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
Andy is the "weirdness" of your second list the fact that the 3 Yankee relievers are at the top of the list or the fact that there are so many relief debuts already this year?
The three Yankee rookies pitched 11.2 innings which is as many as the bottom 13 pitchers on the list combined.
@11
Rob, I think the fact that there are 3 members of the NYY 40-man roster on the list speaks volumes about the lack of defined roles in their pen this year.
You can't fly by the seat of your pants in managing a bullpen over the course of a 162-game season. I realize injuries can forces changes in roles, but shuttling pitchers from the minors to stock your pen seems short-sighted.
And, of course, Noesi's outing was only made possible by Mr. Boring becoming Mr. Adventure in closing Yankee games. You want to yawn instead og biting your nails when your closer comes in.
May 19th, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Rivera has had 16 save opportunities in the Yankees first 41 games (39% save opportunity rate) and has blown 3 of them (81 % effective).
Assuming he is used similarly for the rest of the season, Rivera will be used in 63 save opportunities this year and will blow 12 of them.
I know, I know, small sample size for the season so far, but is there cause for concern? Small change in location and velocity this year or just bad luck?
May 19th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
On 06/19/1999, Rick Greene made his ML debut pitching 5 2/3 innings of relief for the Cincinnati Reds. Eight years to the day, 0n 06/19/2007, Lee Gronkiewitz debuted by hurling 4 innings of relief for the Toronto Blue Jays. For both pitchers, it was their only appearance in a big league game.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Re Rivera: No, I'm not concerned.
I don't think I saw his first two blown saves, but I did see last night's, and I've seen a good number of his appearances this season. To me, he looks as good as he ever has. His velocity is in the low 90s, where it's been most of the last several years. He still has good movement on his cutter and sinker, and great location. Velocity doesn't even seem to matter that much to him. In '09, for some reason, I think he rarely got into the 90s, but it didn't make him any less effective. Last night, Jones hit a pretty solid liner up the middle. But then Markakis hit an average grounder which just happened to find a hole, and Jones was able to reach third because the ball didn't get to the outfielder fast enough. Medium fly ball and the run came in. The three blown saves are the only games in which he's allowed any runs. His ERA is under 2, and his peripheral stats are all excellent as ever. And yes, we're 1/4 into the season now, but still dealing with small samples to an extent. Before last night, he was converting 87% of his save opps, not far off his career total (90% since becoming the closer).
May 19th, 2011 at 9:06 pm
@26
Johnny Twisto, I'm not in the NY market so I have not seen MR close out many games.
I saw his blown save against Toronto earlier in the season and with his wild pitch he didn't look the same as in past seasons. Granted that the Jays can run the bases and that hurt Mariano when you look at the gamelog.
However.......... at his age you can lose it in a hurry.
May 19th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Paging Charles Dickens....
May 20th, 2011 at 2:13 am
@26, agreed. I do live in the NY market, too, and Rivera has been fine. Generally, at least once every year, Rivera will hit a patch where his command of the cutter is slightly off, leading to a blown save. It's not shocking for him to blow another save, or take a loss, in the following few games as the command issue may take a couple games to correct, and then he's back off and running again. The two blown saves earlier this fit that pattern, as they were back-to-back.
In the Toronto game it wasn't running, it was four hits and a walk; five runners on in a single inning. He put more runners on in that single inning than he had in his previous ten appearances to start the season, surrending only four hits and no walks. His next appearance he surrendered another couple hits and a walk. So, @27, if you're only seeing him in a game like that, then it will look like he's lost it. If you see him reguarly, the Toronto game, and the one following it, were normal for Rivera for when he hits one of those patches.
Watching him reguarly, it's easy to see when his cutter is just a bit off. After that game, he went back for another nine scoreless outings until Wednesday's game. Unlike his other two blown saves, he actually seemed fine last night, so may guess is this was random. We'll know soon enough.
May 20th, 2011 at 2:23 am
@23, I would say it's just the opposite when it comes to "define roles" in the Yankee pen. If anything, Girardi defaults to defined roles to my great annoyance.
Bullpens are a bitch. The Yankees and the Red Sox both started out the year with what appeared to be killer pens, and now both are trying to patch together a missing piece or three, be it because of injuries to players like Bobby Jenks or Rafael Soriano, or injuries in their rotations, forcing a restructuring of their pens. The Yankees never replaced Colon out of the pen, but they haven't been forced into a situation where they've had to. That will change.
May 20th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Then, of course, there's Nector Hosei...
May 20th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Two unrelated thoughts:
(1) No worries about Mariano. Two of Mo's 3 blown saves have come when he was protecting a 1-run lead and allowed exactly 1 run. Mariano leads the majors with 16 save opportunities, but has only allowed a run in just 3 games; 9 pitchers have allowed at least 1 run in 4 or more save chances.
(2) Not to say that signing Jenks was a dumb move, but if Boston was actually expecting him to pitch well, they must not have been paying attention over the last 2 years, when he had a combined 4.08 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 12 HRs in 106 IP. I'm surprised to see that they gave him a 2-year deal worth $12 million.
May 20th, 2011 at 11:31 am
He's had AT LEAST 27 saves for FIVE straight seasons. I think that must be some kind of record. Jenks is a BARGAIN no question!
May 20th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Johnny Twisto I am nto sure if yo are joking or not....but if not: 27 saved for 5 staright years? Woopie. if he does it for 10 more years he will equal Rivera. 5 years? John Wettland beat that.
May 20th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
JT is being what we in the biz call "facetious".
Also @23 Neil, yeah I found it weird that the Yankees already have so many qualifying games.