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606 sats \ 16 comments \ @grayruby 12 Oct Stacker_Sports

It’s Saturday, thus it is poll day!

I personally dislike this trend in MLB (especially in the playoffs) where most starting pitchers only go 4 or 5 innings before handing the game over to a myriad of relievers. Sometimes it works, like it did for the Dodgers last night and sometimes it doesn’t, see the Phillies bullpen stats vs the Mets.

I get analytics and wanting to get the best possible matchups. I get not wanting to let great hitters see the same pitcher 3 or 4 times but I am old school. If a guy is dealing let him deal.

Has the pendulum swung too far in terms of bullpen usage in the playoffs?

Yes66.7%

No8.3%

What’s a bullpen? 25.0%

12 votes \ poll ended

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50 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinsreporter 12 Oct

What's a bullpen?

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

A bullpen is the area where the relief pitchers sit and warm up. The term is also used to describe the group of relief pitchers on a team.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 12 Oct

Mets are bucking the trend. I remember the days when pitch count wasn't even a thing, so I'm a dinosaur.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

I get if a guy is struggling but when a guy is dominating you gotta let him dominate.

50 sats \ 3 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 12 Oct

I get it from a strategy pov, but I love a good complete game (or a pitcher going deep and only handing it off to a setup man in the 8th or a closer in the 9th).

Mind you, I also remember pitchers like Kerry Wood blowing their careers because of chasing complete games and strikeout records, so I do understand why this is a thing.

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

I definitely get why it's a thing. I just think it has gone a bit too far. They are taking some guys out after 4 innings now.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 12 Oct

Yeah. I'm actually surprised that it hasn't become a Player's Union issue, since it deprives starters of even a chance at a win (given the five-inning minimum), and wins, while less meaningful than they once were, still come into play when awards and new contracts come around.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

I do think MLB is going to look at ways to mitigate bullpen use. Wouldn't do much for the playoffs since the off days allow for using a short pen but maybe they will limit how many guys you can have in the pen. Most teams carry and 8 man bullpen now. Maybe it should be 6.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 12 Oct

Arms get tired plus it makes the manager and GM honest about strategy and player selection

40 sats \ 2 replies \ @BTC_Bellzer 12 Oct

It's not just the playoffs, I read somewhere there was only 20something complete games this season

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

True but really gets amplified in the playoffs with all the extra off days between games where they can use their 3 or 4 best relievers every game. Can't do that during the season when you play 6 or 7 games in a week.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @BTC_Bellzer 13 Oct

Definitely agree

40 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Oct

This could be an entire post, but teams across sports make many mistakes because they don’t actually understand the methodology underlying advanced analytics.

I haven’t followed baseball in the analytics era, but I’d be surprised if you weren’t right about this. More precisely, going to the bullpen early may generally be the right move, but it won’t universally be the right decision.

33 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

It might statistically be the right move and I get it if the starter is struggling or putting guys on base but if he is dominating why take him out? This cost the blue jays a game in the playoffs last year. It might have cost the Rays the world series in 2020 when Blake Snell was absolutely dominating and they took him out early for a better "matchup" and then you see the guys on the Dodgers bench eyes light up because they know they have a chance. The Rays lost that game and the next one to lose the WS. Might have been different if they left Snell in a couple more innings.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 12 Oct

I like the rule of thumb that you shouldn't do what the other team is hoping you'll do.

38 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby OP 12 Oct

Absolutely.