Royals to stick with James Shields in rotation, but should they?
After James Shields had another poor postseason start, Ned Yost told reporters he'll still start his ace in Game 5 of the World Series. But shouldn't he consider an alternative?
By
Matt Snyder
•
3 min read
KANSAS CITY - After the Giants dominant 7-1 win over the Royals in Game 1 of the 2014 World Series, we're gonna ask a question. It's a question that would have been unthinkable coming into the postseason, but here we are:
Should the Royals consider removing James Shields from their starting rotation?
I don't know if they should actually remove him or not, but put me in the "yes" column for whether or not they should consider it.
To be certain, they won't remove him from the playoff rotation. Manager Ned Yost was asked if Shields will be the Game 5 starter and he said "yeah," without hesitation.
“I’ve been in this game a long time and I’ve seen guys struggle two, and three and four times and all of a sudden come out and throw a fantastic game," said Yost. "He has the ability to make adjustments. He hasn’t been as sharp as he’s been, but with the extra rest and then coming back five days from now, we think it will benefit him."
Shields was battered Tuesday night in Game 1 of the World Series by the Giants, coughing up five earned runs on seven hits in three-plus innings of pretty shoddy work. That gives him a 7.11 ERA and 1.79 WHIP in four postseason starts. He hasn't been fooling anyone and this time around, he rarely missed bats. Even several of the Giants outs in the early going were the type we could classify as "loud outs."
Shields said after the game that he didn't feel uncomfortable or anything, but maybe he was "overthrowing" a bit.
"I just gotta bear down and get the job done," he said. "Hopefully I'll get another start."
Meanwhile, Danny Duffy -- who had a 2.55 ERA in 25 regular-season starts -- came in and threw well for three innings, for the most part. He did walk two quickly after taking the mound, one of which forced in a run, but he settled in after that. Plus, he had only warmed up for one batter before being summoned from the bullpen and is a starter by trade. He also hadn't pitched since Oct. 2. Allowing the RBI triple chased him in the seventh, but he'd already given the Royals some important length.
“I felt good," Duffy said. "Just tried to battle out there a little bit. I made some good pitches and got into a little bit of a groove.”
The Duffy innings helped save some of the bullpen. With Shields only recording nine outs, it could have been emptied with Game 2 coming just 24 hours later. Instead, several members -- the key players, too -- of the bullpen head into Wednesday fresh.
Duffy was sharp at times, especially in the fifth and sixth innings. He missed enough bats to strike out three hitters in three innings. Shields, though, had diminished velocity and missed more spots than we're used to seeing from him. Is he tired? He's up to 246 innings pitched, including both the regular season and postseason. He's also thrown over 200 innings every single year since 2007. Every arm only has so many bullets. Obviously Shields wouldn't say he was tired because he's such a competitor, but it's definitely possible.
Still, Duffy wasn't dazzling and he hasn't started a game since Sept. 27, when he was shelled in Chicago in just two innings. When asked if he could start a game if called upon, Duffy did a nice job of avoiding controversy.
“I can’t call it," he said immediately. "Skip’s gonna do whatever he wants to do and what he does will be the right decision.”
It would appear that decision has already been made.
Having said everything above, it's a pretty tough move to just remove your ace from the rotation after an admittedly small sample of four games. Yost does make a great point about pitchers sometimes shaking off several bad outings and coming through quite well.
I'm not in Ned Yost's shoes and if I were, I'm not sure what action I'd take. I can say with confidence, however, that I'd at least discuss alternatives to Shields with my coaching staff. We can't yet know where things will stand heading into Game 5, or if there will even be a Game 5, but if the season is hanging in the balance, I don't think I'd be very confident in sending Shields out there -- especially against Madison Bumgarner.
