MLB Bullpen Red Flags
Bullpen Red Flags, SD'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.
Running on fumes
No pen has worked harder than SD: 13 reliever outings across three games, 4.3 a night. Tired arms give up runs, and they usually give them up in the innings that decide things.
Close behind, TOR have called down 11 times in 3 games.
Keep an eye on HOU too, at 11 relief appearances over 3 games.
The rested arms
At the other end, TEX have used just five 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.
COL (5 appearances in 2 games) have kept their powder nearly as dry.
From most-taxed to freshest, the difference is eight appearances over the same stretch of days, the kind of gap that quietly decides eighth innings.
The board
The full usage board from the window:
| Team | Relief outings | Games |
|---|---|---|
| SD | 13 | 3 |
| TOR | 11 | 3 |
| HOU | 11 | 3 |
| WSH | 10 | 3 |
| SF | 10 | 3 |
The fine print
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.
Usage is context, not destiny. But when the late innings arrive, yesterday's workload is very real, and it does not care about the matchup.
Next up on the slate: San Diego Padres against San Francisco Giants. Check back after that one goes final.