Mark Grove Sportswriter

 I found it odd. I can't rememeber what reliever was pitching. The Jays were playing St. Louis cardinals. It was the bottom of the ninth and the jays were winning 10-7. There was 2 out and one on base. The reliever was having a difficult time and so he was pulled for the closer Jeff Hoffman. If I have Hoffman's first name wrong i will correct it. Anyhow the reliever was paulled for Hoffman and what di you think happened on Hoffman's first pitch? Cirrect--a slam dunk of a himer!  Afte rthat Hoffman settled down and the batter popped out if I am correct. I was a little drunk yesterday.   Why do you think John Snneider pulled his reliever for Hoffman? Did Hoffman have experience against the batter? or was it a scouting report stat that got them to switch to Hoffman? Im just curious. In the end the Jays won. Was it a pitching count issue, or the fact this reliever was having difficulty and both Schneider and pitching coach pete Walker wanted this to go no further, and st...

  So Zuck, Are You And Your Cronies Going To Hide My Content ? Sorry, I'm being glib and sarcastic. I am looking at interviewing a baseball pitching coach on relief pitching. I have contacted on triple A team, and two seni pro teams in a canadian league in London. So one of may many questions on relief pitching is how do or does a pitching coach determine if a potential reliever is best suited in short relief, long relief, set up man or closer? What I want to do is interview a number of pitching coaches on relief pitching, and learn from these experts. What I want to eventually do is take a baseball data analytics course focusing on relief pitching. I know it sounds boring, but to me it's fascinating on how relievers are scouted and trained. Are relievers usually starters who don't have that edge anymore starter wise? Or are they taken from outfielders or utility players who don't have strong defensive or batting skills, but have rockets for an arm? And how are potenti...