Monday, August 24, 2009
By Jim Feist
With pennant races in full swing and the playoffs just around the corner, it's a great time to examine one of the most important aspects of championship baseball teams: The bullpen. In 1970, there were eight pitchers who topped 290 innings for the season. Four of them topped 300 innings, with Gaylord Perry leading the way with 329 innings pitched. In 1980, Steve Carlton threw 303 innings, and as recently as 1988, pitchers Dave Stewart and Orel Hershiser each topped 300 innings pitched in the regular and postseasons combined.
It's a much different ballgame today. Two years ago, only five pitchers in all of baseball topped 230 innings, and only one was in the American League. For most starting pitchers, logging 200 innings is considered a high watermark. Many pitchers are coddled and expansion has made pitching the rarest of commodities. Organizations would rather have a young arm go six-to-seven innings instead of nine to save wear and tear.
All of which makes the bullpen a vital asset in baseball. No longer do teams put their worst pitchers in the pen. The Reds and Athletics began this trend back in the 1970s, and the baseball world copied it in the 1980s with the success of Tony LaRussa's A's and Lou Piniella's Reds.
In 1990, the Reds had average starting pitching, but stormed through the playoffs and World Series with brilliant relief pitching from Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers. Dibble and Myers were co-MVPs of the NLCS and when the Reds swept the heavily favored Athletics in the World Series, managers and GMs recognized how valuable a deep pen can be. Sports handicappers under stand this value when analyzing daily picks, too.
Everyone knows it now. Look at the 2006 playoffs. The Tigers upset the Yankees in the playoffs because of better starting pitching and a dominant bullpen with Joel Zumaya (1.94 ERA), Jamie Walker (2.81), Wilfredo Ledezma and hard throwing Fernando Rodney. The old adage "Great pitching tops great hitting" was certainly on display in that series. In fact, in the Tigers final 12 playoffs games of 2006, the under was 7-5, while the champion Cardinals were 11-5 under the total in all their playoff games.
Since 2002, the champion Angels, Marlins, Red Sox, White Sox and Cardinals had deep, versatile bullpens. The 2006 Yankees were 12th in baseball in team ERA and then had a 5.56 ERA in losing to the Tigers in the ALDS.
Depth is just as important as having one dominant closer, too, especially in the playoffs. Postseason games pit the best against each other, so more close games are likely. This can create tight 3-3 games in the 7th inning, or extra inning games. Teams with lefty-righty flexibility in those spots and ones with a lot of quality arms to rely on have several advantages.
During the 2004 ALCS, Boston trailed the Yankees 3 games to none, yet won Games 4 and 5 in extra innings. One edge the Red Sox had was a deep bullpen, while the Yankees were built more with offense. After losing back-to-back extra inning tilts, the Yankees bullpen was shredded and this caught up with them, also losing Games 6 and 7 by 4-2 and 10-3 scores. Never underestimate a strong bullpen. The pen is mightier than the sword, and bullpen strength is a key component that can't be ignored, by baseball teams, baseball bettors, or sports handicappers searching for daily picks.
By Jim Feist
With pennant races in full swing and the playoffs just around the corner, it's a great time to examine one of the most important aspects of championship baseball teams: The bullpen. In 1970, there were eight pitchers who topped 290 innings for the season. Four of them topped 300 innings, with Gaylord Perry leading the way with 329 innings pitched. In 1980, Steve Carlton threw 303 innings, and as recently as 1988, pitchers Dave Stewart and Orel Hershiser each topped 300 innings pitched in the regular and postseasons combined.
It's a much different ballgame today. Two years ago, only five pitchers in all of baseball topped 230 innings, and only one was in the American League. For most starting pitchers, logging 200 innings is considered a high watermark. Many pitchers are coddled and expansion has made pitching the rarest of commodities. Organizations would rather have a young arm go six-to-seven innings instead of nine to save wear and tear.
All of which makes the bullpen a vital asset in baseball. No longer do teams put their worst pitchers in the pen. The Reds and Athletics began this trend back in the 1970s, and the baseball world copied it in the 1980s with the success of Tony LaRussa's A's and Lou Piniella's Reds.
In 1990, the Reds had average starting pitching, but stormed through the playoffs and World Series with brilliant relief pitching from Norm Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers. Dibble and Myers were co-MVPs of the NLCS and when the Reds swept the heavily favored Athletics in the World Series, managers and GMs recognized how valuable a deep pen can be. Sports handicappers under stand this value when analyzing daily picks, too.
Everyone knows it now. Look at the 2006 playoffs. The Tigers upset the Yankees in the playoffs because of better starting pitching and a dominant bullpen with Joel Zumaya (1.94 ERA), Jamie Walker (2.81), Wilfredo Ledezma and hard throwing Fernando Rodney. The old adage "Great pitching tops great hitting" was certainly on display in that series. In fact, in the Tigers final 12 playoffs games of 2006, the under was 7-5, while the champion Cardinals were 11-5 under the total in all their playoff games.
Since 2002, the champion Angels, Marlins, Red Sox, White Sox and Cardinals had deep, versatile bullpens. The 2006 Yankees were 12th in baseball in team ERA and then had a 5.56 ERA in losing to the Tigers in the ALDS.
Depth is just as important as having one dominant closer, too, especially in the playoffs. Postseason games pit the best against each other, so more close games are likely. This can create tight 3-3 games in the 7th inning, or extra inning games. Teams with lefty-righty flexibility in those spots and ones with a lot of quality arms to rely on have several advantages.
During the 2004 ALCS, Boston trailed the Yankees 3 games to none, yet won Games 4 and 5 in extra innings. One edge the Red Sox had was a deep bullpen, while the Yankees were built more with offense. After losing back-to-back extra inning tilts, the Yankees bullpen was shredded and this caught up with them, also losing Games 6 and 7 by 4-2 and 10-3 scores. Never underestimate a strong bullpen. The pen is mightier than the sword, and bullpen strength is a key component that can't be ignored, by baseball teams, baseball bettors, or sports handicappers searching for daily picks.
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