Breaking: Cal finally to the IL

[Sibelius Hindemith]

It better not be 2 months

“Obviously, he didn’t make it worse,” Hollander said. “Hopefully, we can get the lingering soreness out of there, and then he can resume baseball activities, but we’ll go week to week with it. Right now, we don’t anticipate this being a long, long time, or anything like that. But we want to make sure that when he gets into a game, he’s doing it with full confidence and pain-free

So it didn't get worse but now there's pain when there wasn't before. Okay.

[Hy Feiber]

That’s why I explained here sometime ago that having your expectations sky high after just missing the World Series, can result in a real come-down.

Every year is different, with a clean slate, look at all the injuries Toronto has.

And fans have to remember that in the critical fifth game of the series with Detroit, Hinch gave Mariners the victory by taking out ace Skubal, who was dealing.

The over-managing of modern baseball.

That never would’ve happened with a Bob Gibson, or Don Drysdale, or Sandy Koufax, on the mound.

In the olden days.

[Donn Beach]

Other than Casey Stengel being considered the "father" of the modern platoon system. There was platooning before him but he's credited with really formalizing it like you're seeing with Wilson today. I mean he's kinda an olden days guy

[D-train]

That’s why I explained here sometime ago that having your expectations sky high after just missing the World Series, can result in a real calm down.

Every year is different, with a clean slate, look at all the injuries Toronto has.

And fans have to remember that in the critical fifth game of the series with Detroit, Hinch gave Mariners the victory by taking out ace Skubal, who was dealing.

The over-managing of modern baseball.

That never would’ve happened with a Bob Gibson, or Don Drysdale, or Sandy Koufax, on the mound.

In the olden days.

Guessing they would never have Pinch hit for two of the best hitters on the team for two pieces of trash that have no business being on an MLB roster just because they hit Right handed either.

[Hy Feiber]

That’s why I explained here sometime ago that having your expectations sky high after just missing the World Series, can result in a real comedown.

Every year is different, with a clean slate, look at all the injuries Toronto has.

And fans have to remember that in the critical fifth game of the series with Detroit, Hinch gave Mariners the victory by taking out ace Skubal, who was dealing.

The over-managing of modern baseball.

That never would’ve happened with a Bob Gibson, or Don Drysdale, or Sandy Koufax, on the mound.

In the olden days.

Guessing they would never have Pinch hit for two of the best hitters on the team for two pieces of trash that have no business being on an MLB roster just because they hit Right handed either.

Refresh my recollection.

[Donn Beach]

Some pretty big names were getting platooned by Stengel. Of course it worked. He utilized his talent effectively

If you look back at some of those rosters, it’s clear that Stengel knew about percentages because he took advantage of platooning LH & RH hitters on a regular basis. Just using 1954 as a snapshot, you’ll see that the everyday 1B Joe Collins (who hit LH) didn’t even get 400 AB’s because Bill Skowron (who hit RH) was available. “Moose”, in his rookie season, hit .340 in 215 AB’s. In the corner OF positions, Gene Woodling, Irv Noren & Enos Slaughter batted from the left side, while Hank Bauer & Bob Cerv batted from the right side. Even HOF Shortstop Phil Rizzuto had less than 400 AB’s because switch-hitting Willy Miranda was available.

[Hy Feiber]

What a joy it was for a Washington Senators fan to see the old Yankees come to town in 1961.

If memory serves even John Blanchard hit 20 Home runs that year, substitute catcher.

The Yankees had a practice then of picking up supposed castoffs from the Kansas City A’s, putting the pinstripes on them, and turning them into heroes.

Like Hector Lopez.

[D-train]

Some pretty big names were getting platooned by Stengel. Of course it worked. He utilized his talent effectively

If you look back at some of those rosters, it’s clear that Stengel knew about percentages because he took advantage of platooning LH & RH hitters on a regular basis. Just using 1954 as a snapshot, you’ll see that the everyday 1B Joe Collins (who hit LH) didn’t even get 400 AB’s because Bill Skowron (who hit RH) was available. “Moose”, in his rookie season, hit .340 in 215 AB’s. In the corner OF positions, Gene Woodling, Irv Noren & Enos Slaughter batted from the left side, while Hank Bauer & Bob Cerv batted from the right side. Even HOF Shortstop Phil Rizzuto had less than 400 AB’s because switch-hitting Willy Miranda was available.

So use good hitter. Great idea. I get using Ref initially but we are approaching the 1/3 point of the season and he is hitting .116. Its f-ing over. He's cooked. Kick him to the curb.

[D-train]

What a joy it was for a Washington Senators fan to see the old Yankees come to town in 1961.

If memory serves even John Blanchard hit 20 Home runs that year, substitute catcher.

The Yankees had a practice then of picking up supposed castoffs from the Kansas City A’s, putting the pinstripes on them, and turning them into heroes.

Like Hector Lopez.

21 HRs in 275 PAs. .995 OPS Dream season for him then he went back to being a mortal for the rest of his career:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... jo01.shtml

[gil]

Some pretty big names were getting platooned by Stengel. Of course it worked. He utilized his talent effectively

If you look back at some of those rosters, it’s clear that Stengel knew about percentages because he took advantage of platooning LH & RH hitters on a regular basis. Just using 1954 as a snapshot, you’ll see that the everyday 1B Joe Collins (who hit LH) didn’t even get 400 AB’s because Bill Skowron (who hit RH) was available. “Moose”, in his rookie season, hit .340 in 215 AB’s. In the corner OF positions, Gene Woodling, Irv Noren & Enos Slaughter batted from the left side, while Hank Bauer & Bob Cerv batted from the right side. Even HOF Shortstop Phil Rizzuto had less than 400 AB’s because switch-hitting Willy Miranda was available.

So use good hitter. Great idea. I get using Ref initially but we are approaching the 1/3 point of the season and he is hitting .116. Its f-ing over. He's cooked. Kick him to the curb.

Yes, it seems like they were all good hitters when they were being used in those Yankee platoons. Refsnyder this year is far from measuring up to that standard.

I think in the Stengel era there were more position players on the bench, weren't there? They didn't have 10 guys in the bullpen, or whatever it is we have now.

But in 2026, how many position players are on the bench in a given game? 4? That means there is a much higher opportunity cost - compared to the the Casey Stengel era - of using a platoon. I don't mean choosing your staring line up to get the L vs R and R vs L matchups, I mean pinch hitting during the game. We've seen just this year so many times the pinch hitting gets you the preferred matchup for one at bat. Then you are back to a suboptimal matchup (esp. when it's Refsnyder). If you have only 4 guys on the bench, pick hitting should be very strategic with an eye toward how the game will play out. That is, do not automatically PH when a lefty replaces a righty or vice versa.