MLB Bullpen Red Flags
Bullpen Red Flags: LAD Have Burned 14 Relief Arms in 3 Days
Published
Bullpens do not announce when they are tired; the box scores announce it for them. Counted straight from the last three days of pitching lines, every arm after the starter, this is who has been leaning hardest on the pen.
The most-taxed arms
LAD have been playing bullpen roulette, 14 relief appearances in just three games, a 4.7-per-game pace that leaves a manager short of fresh options exactly when he wants them most.
Close behind, SF have called down 12 times in 3 games.
TB have leaned on the pen 11 times in 3 games themselves.
The rested arms
The freshest arms belong to NYY, only two relief appearances in one games, which is the quiet kind of advantage that shows up in the eighth inning.
CHC are in similar shape, with just 3 relief outings across 2 games.
Put the two ends side by side and the gap is twelve relief appearances in an identical window, which is enormous in bullpen terms.
At a glance
The workload table, straight from the pitching lines:
| Team | Relief outings | Games |
|---|---|---|
| LAD | 14 | 3 |
| SF | 12 | 3 |
| TB | 11 | 3 |
| MIN | 10 | 3 |
| BAL | 10 | 3 |
One more thing
For method, we simply count arms after the starter in each game's pitching lines. It flattens out inning lengths, but it is the same yardstick for every club in the sample, which is what makes the comparison fair.
Heavy recent usage does not doom a team tonight, but it narrows a manager's good options in innings seven through nine, and narrow options are where leads go to wobble.
The schedule cooperates, too, Philadelphia Phillies face St. Louis Cardinals next, so this story gets its next chapter almost immediately.