Bullpen Red Flags: LAD Have Burned 12 Relief Arms in 3 Days

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, twelve relief appearances in just three games, a 4.0-per-game pace that leaves a manager short of fresh options exactly when he wants them most.

TEX are right there with them at 11 relief outings in 3 games.

STL (11 outings in 3 games) are not far off that pace either.

Fresh and waiting

At the other end, PIT have used just four relievers across two games. A rested pen usually means the manager gets the matchups he wants late, instead of the ones he is stuck with.

The same goes for ATL, who have needed only 4 relief calls in 2 games.

The spread between the busiest pen and the freshest one is eight appearances over the same window, that is the difference between a full late-inning menu and a manager crossing his fingers at the mound.

At a glance

Every pen in the sample, most-taxed first:

One more thing

The tally counts appearances, not innings: each reliever who entered a captured game adds one to his team's total. Crude on purpose, and applied identically everywhere.

A taxed pen shows up late, not early: fewer trusted arms, longer leashes, fatter late innings. Watch the eighth.

One to circle: Los Angeles Dodgers meet Washington Nationals in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.