Recreating the Bullpen (1 Viewer)

[Yankee23Fan]

Watching the Yankees last night got me thinking about the following:

Joe used Pettite on his "throw day" as a reliever. He did pretty well. And it's not the first time Joe has done it to Pettite.

I'm wondering why more managers don't do this to more of their starters throughout the entire season as a way to protect the bullpen?

Think about it. You have a starter who is, most likely, head and shoulders above any of the guys in the pen you are going to throw in that 5th or 6th or 7th inning. You have your ace who is scheduled to throw 30-40 pitches at full speed in the pen that day. Why not use him for those pitches?

Granted, some starters don't like to be used as relievers because of the change in mentality, but still, I see it as a win for win, especially for teams that have decent starters but below average bullpen guys - in other words, almost every team.

I'm thinking this is a great way to protect the bullpen over the course of a year without doing anything to your starters you wouldn't already do to them. And by doing this you save your pen at least an inning or two almost every game. That builds up for the playoff run.

Thoughts?

 

[shadyridr]

Probably cuz it will lead to managers getting second guessed so they go the "safe" route.

 

[Nigel]

That day is typically used to work on things like mechanics or maybe a particular pitch that wasn't sharp in their previous outing. Maybe if a guy was pitching great and didn't need the side session to work stuff out it would be okay, but these guys are such pampered creatures of habit that very few would risk meddling with that routine.

 

[PatsWillWin]

That day is typically used to work on things like mechanics or maybe a particular pitch that wasn't sharp in their previous outing. Maybe if a guy was pitching great and didn't need the side session to work stuff out it would be okay, but these guys are such pampered creatures of habit that very few would risk meddling with that routine.

This was going to be my general response. Those side-sessions are probably used to work on stuff, fine tune stuff - they're not necessarily concerned with the count, the score, or who is on deck, etc.. So they're very different kinds of work, IMO.I don't think that this is a reason why it COULDN'T happen, but probably one of the reasons why it doesn't.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Fair enough.

If we take that as a pretty solid reason why it doesn't happen with regularity, then I would submit the following:

It should at least be done, then, in blow outs. Let your starter work on stuff and eat as many innings as he can without destroying your pen in a game like that which has lasting effects.

 

[[icon]]

Fair enough.If we take that as a pretty solid reason why it doesn't happen with regularity, then I would submit the following:It should at least be done, then, in blow outs. Let your starter work on stuff and eat as many innings as he can without destroying your pen in a game like that which has lasting effects.

These guys get paid based on stats. Sad but true. They don't want to have their ERA drop from 3.40 to 4.20 because of a few garbage time innings where they didn't go 100%. Could cost them millions in the long run.

 

[PatsWillWin]

Fair enough.If we take that as a pretty solid reason why it doesn't happen with regularity, then I would submit the following:It should at least be done, then, in blow outs. Let your starter work on stuff and eat as many innings as he can without destroying your pen in a game like that which has lasting effects.

Might be tough to schedule workouts around games that may or may not end up being a blowout.

 

[Bobcat10]

' date='Apr 23 2007, 12:13 PM' post='6652652']

Fair enough.If we take that as a pretty solid reason why it doesn't happen with regularity, then I would submit the following:It should at least be done, then, in blow outs. Let your starter work on stuff and eat as many innings as he can without destroying your pen in a game like that which has lasting effects.

These guys get paid based on stats. Sad but true. They don't want to have their ERA drop from 3.40 to 4.20 because of a few garbage time innings where they didn't go 100%. Could cost them millions in the long run.

Plus, it just gives scouts and opponents more info on the pitcher (what he's working on, tendencies, etc).