MLB Bullpen Red Flags
Bullpen Red Flags, LAD's Pen Is Running on Fumes
Published
Relief pitching is a budget, and some teams have been spending like the bill never comes. From the last three days of captured box scores, here is the relief workload around the league, starters excluded.
Heavy lifting
No pen has worked harder than LAD: 15 reliever outings across four games, 3.8 a night. Tired arms give up runs, and they usually give them up in the innings that decide things.
TOR are right there with them at 13 relief outings in 3 games.
STL (12 outings in 3 games) are not far off that pace either.
The rested arms
SEA have barely touched the phone: two reliever outings over one games, leaving the whole late-inning menu available.
CLE (2 appearances in 1 games) have kept their powder nearly as dry.
Put the two ends side by side and the gap is 13 relief appearances in an identical window, which is enormous in bullpen terms.
The board
Every pen in the sample, most-taxed first:
| Team | Relief outings | Games |
|---|---|---|
| LAD | 15 | 4 |
| TOR | 13 | 3 |
| STL | 12 | 3 |
| NYY | 11 | 4 |
| BAL | 11 | 3 |
The fine print
A quick note on the counting: every pitcher after the starter in each captured box score registers as one appearance, so a one-out specialist and a two-inning bulk arm weigh the same. Imperfect, but honest, and consistent across every team.
A taxed pen shows up late, not early: fewer trusted arms, longer leashes, fatter late innings. Watch the eighth.
One to circle: Philadelphia Phillies meet Los Angeles Angels in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.