Relievers are so valuable, starters are being moved to the bullpen
By just about any measure, Archie Bradley has been the Arizona Diamondbacks’ best pitcher in 2017. He has an ERA of 1.13, a WHIP of 0.75, a strikeoutto-walk ratio of 6.33 and, if you’re into advanced stats, an xFIP (expected fieldingindependent pitching) of 2.64, which is better those of Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Keuchel or Stephen Strasburg. Opposing batters have hit just .167 with a .520 OPS off him this year.
But after pitching as a starter his entire life, Bradley has worked out of the Diamondbacks’ bullpen all season, and that’s where he will be staying. When Arizona - a surprise contender in the NL West, currently a half-game behind firstplace Colorado - needed a starter to face the Washington Nationals on Thursday, as a result of Shelby Miller’s season-ending elbow injury, they bypassed Bradley in favor of Class AAA call-up Braden Shipley.
“Let him continue t o have success and blossom as a reliever,” Diamondbacks Manager Torey Lovullo explained Tuesday in regards to Bradley. “Long term, as we’ve talked about, we still want him to be a starter. When and if that happens, we can’t put a date on it. But for right now, with what we need, [Bradley] coming out of the bullpen, with the dominance that he’s had, it just made a lot of sense to leave him there.”
The usage of Bradley underscores both the progressive philosophy of the Diamondbacks’ new regime - led by General Manager Mike Hazen in the front office and Lovullo, a first- year manager, in the dugout - and the rising value of relief pitching in relation to starting pitching across the industry. Everything about both Bradley’s pedigree and Arizona’s need screamed out for Bradley to be moved to the rotation. But in the final analysi s, the team decided he simply has more value in relief.
“The value of a great bullpen guy is so much higher now,” said Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, a 1999 graduate of the University of Maryland who worked under Hazen with the Boston Red Sox. “These guys are signing for 14, 15 million dollars [per year]. And you see what teams are giving up [in trades] for an elite one.”
Viewed from a distance, on late-night TV on the east coast or through box scores or the MLB At-Bat app, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen usage makes little sense. Outside of Fernando Rodney, who has been deployed as a fairly conventional clos- er, Lovullo is all over the place with his moves, in the way a manager might act when he doesn’t trust anybody down there. But that is far from the case.
Take Bradley, L ovullo’s top weapon. Over his eight appearances, he has entered anywhere from the fifth to the ninth inning, with his stints lasting anywhere from two to 10 outs. He has entered with the Diamondbacks trailing, with them leading, and with the game tied. He has also entered with runners on base, something he said he had never done in his entire life before this year. Six of the eight appearances were for multiple innings.
He gives Lovullo credit for communicating with him about how he might be used in any given game, but he has had to learn to live without the certainty of knowing, days in advance, exactly when and where he will pitch.
“I still think my future is as a starter,” Bradley said, “but I also think my history as a starter has helped in this transition, since I’m used to [pitching] multiple innings and going through a lineup multiple times.”
And it isn’t just Bradley who is operating this way. Veteran lefty Jorge De La Rosa has entered anywhere from the sixth to the ninth, for stints lasting anywhere from one to five outs. Righthander J.J. Hoover has also entered anywhere from the sixth to the ninth, going anywhere from one to six outs. The same goes, more or less, for right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen. When the phone rings in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, it could be anyone who is summoned to get warmed up.
“I don’t want to define exactly what’s going on down there,” Lovullo said when asked about the apparent lack of defined roles. “In defining roles, I think it puts guys in situations that they may or may not be ready for. So I like the way it’s going.”