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"Bullpen Games"

Edgy MD May 16 2023 09:48 AM

Keith made it clear that these things didn't happen when he was playing. A team had a rotation, they had the last guy in the bullpen used only every three-to-six days to save him so's'n' he'd be ready for the second game of a doubleheader or an emergency start. But the latter-day practice of being cuter with extra rest, along with bullpens being 60% larger, has made the "bullpen game" a practice that even the best teams (Tampa Bay today, for instance) deploy a few times a season. Back a-ways, even if you had to go with a middle reliever for a start, you wouldn't yield to the "we haven't stretched him out" logic and pull him after one or two whether he was pitching well or not, but actually try to get at least some length from the guy. Maybe he'd go five and bail a couple of other guys out. Back then, more than a few relievers had been starters a few years before anyhow. The first bullpen game I remember, where the manager announced beforehand that he was stitching together relievers and had no intention of getting five from the starter was the Red Sox in 1980. Regular sixth starter Bob Stanley had gone two innings the day before, and when the Sox found themselves in a pinch, they committed to letting three relievers each get three innings. Skip Lockwood took the first three innings, Soupy Campbell took over in the middle innings, and Stanley himself gobbled up the last three innings as the Sox pulled off a gerry-rigged 4-1 win. Whether that ultimately served as the bad precedent I suspect it did, I dunno. But bullpen games are just part of the pattern I lament of seeing pitchers throwing ever-fewer innings and seemingly getting hurt as much as ever, if not more. On the other hand, Lockwood only made three more career appearances after that, so what do I know?

MFS62 May 16 2023 10:31 AM Re: "Bullpen Games"

I'm not sure if the length of appearance is a function of they have more pitchers to use, or whether since they have so many, they don't throw so many innings. A chicken-egg discussion. I remember when you had starters, long men, now called middle relievers, and relievers (with maybe one designated closer). If you didn't have one closer you had a righty/lefty combo - Mossi and Narleski, Brosnan and Henry. Of course, they had 10 man or fewer staffs. I liked the old way better. Later OE: they had fewer roster moves available to them back then. I'm not sure how that impacts this discussion but might be a factor, especially guys brought up and then sent right back down after pitching one game.

whippoorwill May 16 2023 11:05 AM Re: "Bullpen Games"

I agree with Keith

batmagadanleadoff May 16 2023 12:34 PM Re: "Bullpen Games"

Edgy MD wrote: But bullpen games are just part of the pattern I lament of seeing pitchers throwing ever-fewer innings and seemingly getting hurt as much as ever, if not more. If pitchers are getting hurt more, it's because they're throwing harder. And they're being groomed to throw harder. 50 years ago, Nolan Ryan was an outlier and a unicorn -- a one of a kind with his 100 MPH fast ball that he threw all game long. Today there are more than two dozen pitchers who could hit triple digits on the gun. And it's not just the 100 MPH fastball. More pitchers today throw regular 97 and 98 MPH fastballs then in the past.

ashie62 May 16 2023 01:55 PM Re: "Bullpen Games"

I don't have evidence to post here but Theo Epstein was suggesting that starting pitcher outings are trending even shorter to 80 pitches or so There is or will be a minor league rule that addresses this. I don't know what trigger is the penalty is loss of DH