Butch Kelly II -
Modern Draft League Manager
Is an AIM (Advanced Injury Management)
micromanager designed to handle modern (circa 1990) draft league-type teams/replays. The
cutoff point for using Kelly II is the same for Kelly I: roughly 1985 or so, plus or minus
2-3 years. While Kelly II is nearly identical to I, this version ranks closers by their
grade and not save totals (see note 7 below). So he will use a reliever who has a higher
grade over another reliever who garnered a number of saves. Additionally, as with Kelly I,
Kelly II is a little more aggressive than most replay managers, but is not a "APBA
ball"-type micromanager. He tries to be more historically-grounded. Among the
strategies and approaches of Kelly II's to note are:
1) Starting Pitchers: Kelly II does not set aside a rotation and will, if the occasion
calls for it, use starters (defined roughly as having more starts than relief appearances)
in relief. However, this practice is quite limited and will usually only occur if the
team's bullpen is somewhat ragged or shaky. Even in those circumstances, however, this
will likely only occur late (7th or later) and in close games. Exceptions to this will be
with those starters who had a relatively high number of relief appearances. Kelly II will,
though, save one potential starting pitcher from being used in relief, emergencies
excepted. So, if you wish to use a particular starter for a key upcoming game or wish to
absolutely prevent a starter from being used, you should bench him (note: if the starter
had zero relief appearances, he will not be used except, again, in emergencies (i.e.,
injury or ejection of a pitcher and no other rested reliever available).
2) Base Stealing: Kelly II does NOT consider, except for steals of third and home, the
steal chance rating of a potential stealer. He pretty much permits runners to go on their
own. However, the runners SALF rating (SB attempts divided by singles+walks+HBP), score,
inning, outs, and a number of other factors determines whether the runner is given the
green light.
3) Kelly II will PH, PR and sub defensively for star players in routs, He will also try to
keep star players on the bench as long as possible, using them only if the game is on the
line late (8th inning onward, e.g., tying run on base or at home). He prefers using
"itchy" players in lopsided games and will only use non-regulars (i.e., plate
appearances under 350).
4) Kelly II takes heavy advantage of the platoon advantages. He will use the "one
batter" relief specialists, chiefly lefthanders, extensively.
5) He makes extensive use of the double switch and is loathe to let relief pitchers hit.
6) Kelly II has a quick hook with relievers, often using 3-5 of them, particularly in
one-sided games. This "rotating relievers" strategy is dependent on a healthy
bullpen. Otherwise, he will likely try to permit relievers to go 2-3 innings.
7) As was mentioned above, Kelly II ranks closers by grade. Closers are broadly defined as
having a grade of 14 or higher while "superclosers" must have a grade of 18 or
higher. In almost all save opportunities, the relief pitcher must have a higher grade than
the current pitcher. |