Bullpen Days are Pointless

Photo of Kevin Quackenbush by Daniel Millhouse

Baseball is a game of traditions, but everything changes with time. Of course, there should be adaptations as the game progresses on. New changes to the baseball glove, new types of wood used for the bats, no smoking in the dugout - Keith Hernandez is still probably angry about this one.

But as the game progresses, there have been some changes that make no complete sense. I've wanted previously about the shift and still hate the damn thing.

Today, I rant about bullpen days. This is the turn in the rotation in when a team starts a relief pitcher instead of a starter. Depending on the tram, they follow up by pitching a starter in the second and subsequent innings or use more relief pitchers to get through the game.

Sabermetrics advocates argue that since relievers tend to have better stats on average than starters (e.g. ERA), that facing an opposing team's top three hitters with a reliever will lower a the odds of a team scoring throughout the game. These stats posted by the relievers incorporate all their experiences in facing hitters of all spots in the batting order. Put a reliever with a 2.50 overall ERA against a team's top three hitters every time and their ERA would not continue to be 2.50 ERA.

Secondly, it hurts a team's bullpen. Using relievers too much tires them out, especially when they're being asked to pitch multiple games in a row. Teams that use multiple relievers in a game, intentionally, can find themselves hurting in the games that follow, especially if the starters in the following games falter and the team needs to turn to their bullpen to get through those games.

To make up for the increased usage in relievers, over the years, teams have placed more relievers on their rosters and reduced the number of position players. Being a former pitcher myself, you would think I would be for this, but I'm not. It reduces the strategy it tight situations when it comes to bringing in a pinch-runner or hitter. It also can weaken some teams as they have to develop a player to be a super-utility player, hurting a team on defense when their player is forced to play a position they have no business playing.

If bullpen days actually worked, as well as the shift supposedly does, there would be a decrease in the MLB'S offensive numbers. Instead more homers are being hit, teams are scoring more runs, and baseball in general just starts getting too micromanaged. The fun of the game is taken away and it slows down each time a new reliever gets brought in. The MLB wants to try to speed up games...this is one of the reasons it's slowing down.