MLB Bullpen Red Flags
Bullpen Red Flags: NYY 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.
Running on fumes
NYY top the board with 14 relief appearances in four games, about 3.5 arms out of the pen a night. A manager can live like that for a weekend; over a longer stretch, it is usually the late innings that pay the bill.
Close behind, PIT have called down 12 times in 4 games.
COL have leaned on the pen 10 times in 4 games themselves.
Fresh and waiting
SF have barely touched the phone: two reliever outings over one games, leaving the whole late-inning menu available.
WSH (3 appearances in 1 games) have kept their powder nearly as dry.
From most-taxed to freshest, the difference is twelve appearances over the same stretch of days, the kind of gap that quietly decides eighth innings.
By the numbers
The workload table, straight from the pitching lines:
| Team | Relief outings | Games |
|---|---|---|
| NYY | 14 | 4 |
| PIT | 12 | 4 |
| COL | 10 | 4 |
| HOU | 10 | 3 |
| PHI | 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.
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.
One to circle: New York Yankees meet New York Mets in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.