Angels' Rasmus wants to pitch deeper into games, but he's not greedy
Cory Rasmus was cruising through four innings. 43 pitches. 32 strikes. He also had four strikeouts and had given up just one hit.
So why didn't Angels skipper Mike Scioscia send him out for the fifth?
"In these bullpen days when we've gotten to a certain point of the game with a lead, we've held it and done a good job," Scioscia said. "We had our bullpen lined up. We definitely felt good with getting our guys in and just not having to stretch Cory and unfortunately it didn't work out."
Sure, Rasmus left the game with the Angels leading 2-0 before the bullpen fell apart giving up 13 earned runs on 13 hits in the Mariners 13-2 win, but can you really blame Scioscia for electing to not stretch Rasmus out?
In these "bullpen days" AKA Rasmus starts, the Angels are now 3-1 following Tuesday night's loss. Excluding his second start in which he gave up two earned runs and walked three in 1.2 innings, Rasmus has gone a little longer in each one. In the first start it was three innings, two starts later 3.1 innings and four innings on Tuesday.
He's yet to exceed 50 pitches, twice stopping after 49 and 50 was the number the Angels staff was eyeing on Tuesday as well.
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Having already tossed 43 pitches, Rasmus would have been on a "very, very short leash," according to Scioscia, had he been allowed to take the mound in the fifth inning.
"There's an end point for him right now and he was there," Scioscia said.
Other factors contributed as well. It was 96 degrees at first pitch and still hadn't dipped below 90 degrees by the time the final out was recorded Tuesday night. Additionally, the injury to Mariners starter Roenis Elias --he left the game with elbow stiffness --extended the bottom half of the fourth inning causing Rasmus to sit longer.
"I guess that long inning right there they, kind of, were like 'OK we'll go ahead and call it a day,'" Rasmus said.
If Rasmus is going to be a fourth starter for the Angels in the postseason one would think passing the 50-pitch mark would have to be a goal before October. With just two more starts before the postseason begins there's not much of a window for Rasmus to get stretched out.
The Angels pitcher said if given the opportunity he would have liked to take the mound in the fifth inning Tuesday night but acknowledges the decision belongs to Scioscia. Furthermore, he realizes the transition from reliever to starter is a process.
"I'd like that," Rasmus said when asked if he'd like to go further in games, "but at the same time, I've only been starting (four) times so you can't really get greedy with it. You got to make sure you work it outing by outing and build up."
