The Psychology of Experience

by Fred Head on Apr 10, 2008 1:23 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

We often subscribe to the belief that experience is a positive trait in evaluating players. Not only does past performance give us a comfort level with predicting future results, but beyond that, we (and pro organizations) often view the “been there, done that” mentality as a positive trait.

But can experience ever be a bad thing?

This question was prompted by a comment from Cardinals4Ever about the reason for LaRussa bringing up Jimenez, instead of a (likely) more talented youngster like Motte:

"[Motte] is lights out right now and throwing in the high 90's ... hits 98 from time to time ... he would have to help us more than Jimenez ... but from Tony's perspective, it's experience vs. rookie"

Jimenez is 27, Motte is 25. K-J has about 6 times more innings pitched in the minors, with a 3.99 ERA. Nothing to sneeze at, but nothing to write home about.

But K-J’s major league experience consists of 43 IP, in which he has a 7.53 ERA.

Perhaps the overwhelming factor is that his numbers in the majors are just plain bad (despite the small sample size).

But it must also be noted that K-J’s “experience” is one of repeatedly getting shellacked my major-league hitters. What is the psychological impact of such an experience?

Some would argue that K-J’s “experience” is precisely why he should be in the minors and Motte should be given a chance to prove himself at a major league level. In K-J’s case the psychology of “experience” may be a negative rather than a positive trait.

Do you buy into this? Can players get anchored to providing lowered performance based on their past experiences? Or is experience always a good thing to have?

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It has to depend on the person

they have nothing riding on jimenez. He either steps up or he just fills a role in the minors. Sometimes its the experience you DONT want a player to get! Motte is someone the organization needs in the future, so why put a dent in his confidence if they think hes not ready?

HEEE HEHEHE BIG BOY- mike shannon

by plunkem on Apr 10, 2008 1:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I concur

A promising player should not be placed into a situation that could hurt his confidence in the long run. I recall a young lefty pitcher who wasn't quite ready for the pressure of postseason pitching and had to start his career over. Let's try to not let that happen again.

by Jumsy on Apr 10, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you took the time

to sit down and make a list of all the good pitchers you could remember..or had heard or read about for the last 40 years and then took the time to look up and study their ML career records, you would find that a majority had to take their licks and put up some pretty shabby ML stats in their earlier years.

Point being, you have to go through a learning experience at both levels and if you show patience and confidence and incouragement, I don't think it is harming to bring up a young pitcher and easing him through that process if you think he can help you , but it does require nurturing him through the process.

But also young pitchers can be damaged without the proper handling and I think Anthony Reyes has. In the case of Jason Motte, I think he might be close to ML ready and I would not hesitate to give him a shot. I dont think Mc Cellan will be hurt either unless they over use him, which is easy to do because a young pitcher will try do more than he is capable of to make an impression and can easily damage his arm. If you see him struggling, pull him and pat his back and say to him, " I'm doing this for your future, son." I sometimes think, Duncan and La Russa may lack a little compassion to do that, but I don't know.

I know Tommy La Sorda did and Walt Alston also before him and the Dodgers developed a lot of good young pitchers under their tenure.

by ridgesee on Apr 10, 2008 5:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Experience Only Matters Sometimes

I agree with all the above comments. My main point was that sometimes we may attribute experience as a positive factor in evaluating players, when in fact it perhaps should not be considered as a factor.

Kelvin has never really had any MLB success, so I would never cite "experience" as a factor in bringing him up. Hopefully the organization didn't either.

The above comments all bring up a good point - that the "handling" of young pitchers is an important, sometimes compliacted and nuanced process, and should be considered separately in any decisions to bring guys up or send them down.

In the case of Kelvin, he was most liekly brought up not for his experience but because it was too early to bring up others like Motte. That could change soon given Motte and Perez's start and the impending return of our "2nd" rotation of starters.

I really don't mean to hate on Kelvin, I am sure he is a good guy. I just don't see him as a fixture on an MLB roster.

by Fred Head on Apr 11, 2008 9:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs