The Bullpen

Right now in baseball is the concern of less runs being scored on average per game. A lot of that has to do with the bullpen. Actually the bullpen has two meanings now the first is where the pitchers warm up before entering the game and the second is the collective group of relief pitchers.  Usually when the manager speaks of the bullpen he is talking about his relief pitchers. Most teams go with either seven or eight relief pitchers on their roster. Last year the Seattle Mariners who were the best relief pitching staff went most of the season with eight. This year they will start with seven. Depending how much the reliever’s pitch the Mariners will see if they stay with seven or go back to eight.

What makes relief pitching tougher now is that the bullpen is made up of specialized pitchers. Other words each has a special role to play. I now will break down what those roles are in the bullpen.

The first role reliever is the long reliever. He generally pitchers more than one inning in a game; most of the time he comes into the game in the first five or six innings if the starting pitcher is doing poorly and giving up a lot of runs. Depending on what the score is at the time will determine how many innings he will pitch. His job is important because the manager does not want any more runs scored or keep a limit to it. He may pitch several innings if the game is already out of hand and the chance of winning is not very good. Also, if the rest of the bullpen has been used a lot recently; the long reliever usually pitches only so often. The manager does not want to over use them, and the success of the starting pitchers determine how often they pitch as well. The long reliever can become a starter as well if one of the starters gets injured or performing poorly on a regular basis.

The next reliever is called the left handed specialist. This is a left handed pitcher who primary job is to come into the game and face a left handed hitter. In many cases they come into the game when there are runners on base, and it is a tough situation where the game is on the line. They usually get into the game in the sixth through the eighth inning and often face just one batter depending on how many left handed batters in the lineup when they enter the game. Most teams have two left handed specialists in the bullpen.

Each bullpen has at least one reliever they call the setup man. He generally is a right handed pitcher that enters the game to pitch in the seventh or eighth inning. Most teams now have one setup pitcher that pitches the seven and another that pitches the eight. This is why the bullpen has become so effective over the last several years.

Last but not least is what they call the closer. His job is primarily to come into the game in the ninth inning with his team ahead and make sure the other team does not score any more runs. This usually takes a special reliever to this job. Most closers start out as a setup man. Why the closer takes a special reliever is that the game is usually on the line. Most of the time they pitch when their team is ahead only by one run so it is the reason it takes some one very special to the job. Often most setup men can’t become closers. Also, a closer only last a few years sometimes; teams usually have a plan to have another reliever to become a closer at some time because the life of a closer is so short. You can see a closer be dominant one year and then the next year so bad that they lose the job. In some cases they totally lose the position of closer, and no longer pitching either.

The Seattle Mariners were the number one bullpen in baseball last year. This year they expected to be one of the best again. They have so much depth in the bullpen that someone who pitched last year may not make the opening roster, and be sent to the minor leagues. Of course, they will be ready if someone does a poor job, or is injured.

If your team has a poor bullpen it can drive a manager crazy. He could lose a few hairs. Though at team may have a good bullpen one season does not guarantee they will have one the next season. If you are a left handed specialist you can have a long career if you continue being good. The same can be said of the rest of the bullpen. It feels very comfortable to see that the Mariners likely will have another good season from the bullpen. What makes them somewhat unique is that they have a mixture of veterans and youth.  It helps that the manager has complete confidence in them as well. How much they pitch will depend how well the starting pitchers do. The manager does not want to over use the bullpen. It makes the bullpen less effective. So we will see how it goes this season.