Bullpen Red Flags, SF's Pen Is Running on Fumes

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

SF have been playing bullpen roulette, 14 relief appearances in just four games, a 3.5-per-game pace that leaves a manager short of fresh options exactly when he wants them most.

CLE have been nearly as busy: 12 appearances across 3 games.

MIA have leaned on the pen 12 times in 2 games themselves.

The rested arms

KC have barely touched the phone: two reliever outings over one games, leaving the whole late-inning menu available.

PHI (2 appearances in 1 games) have kept their powder nearly as dry.

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

By the numbers

The workload table, straight from the pitching lines:

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.

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