Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto on targeting fly-ball pitchers: ‘This year that bug has bit us’
Sep 1, 2017, 10:56 AM
The Mariners' pitching staff has struggled with keeping fly balls in the ball park. (AP)
(AP)
The news that the Mariners have been snake-bitten this season is not new, but as a result of their injuries the team is setting new records with their pitching rotation – just not the ones general manager Jerry Dipoto would like to see.
Dipoto told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny, Dave and Moore that by the time the Mariners finish their September call-ups Friday, they will have had more pitchers on a roster than any other team in MLB history. And with Mike Leake set to make team debut on Friday night against the Oakland A’s, he will become Seattle’s 17th starting pitcher this season.
“We’ve also, I believe, broken the all-time Pacific Coast league record for number of pitchers used in a season with, it’ll stun you, 54,” Dipoto said about Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.
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The problem has been exacerbated by Seattle’s use of fly-ball pitchers, which Dipoto himself admitted has backfired this season partially due to how injuries have forced the Mariners to rely more on their depth than what would be ideal. That was a factor in his acquisition of Leake, who is one of baseball’s more well-known ground-ball pitchers.
“The fact is that the fly-ball pitcher wasn’t a target because we enjoy fly-ball pitchers; it was a variety of things, not the least of which is historically Safeco Field treated fly balls a little more kindly than other parks,” Dipoto said. “And generally speaking, ground-ball and strikeout pitchers … they cost a lot of money and you can’t get them. We targeted a group of pitchers who were generally accessible … and we were willing to live with the fact that they might give up an extra homer here and there.
“And then lo and behold, over the last two years Safeco became much more friendly to the home-run ball and fly balls started going out of ball parks at record rates. So obviously some adjustment is needed on our part… we had a need to fill depth in the rotation and the easiest way to do it was with fly-ball guys, and this year that bug has bit us.”
Dipoto was quick to take responsibility for how the strategy has worked out.
“I will blame it on myself. Obviously it’s a strategy that didn’t work particularly well this year… I will say I’m not entirely sure how many (home runs) we would’ve given up if we would have had the pitching staff we believed we would. But they were still homer prone as well. So home runs are part of what we do, as a pitching staff, and we were designed not to walk them and to have a defense that could run them down. And we’ve done most of those things. The challenge has been that many of the fly balls are going over the fence.”
