Bullpens struggle to find relief
When the Seattle Mariners brought in right-hander Austin Adams to pitch the eighth inning Monday against the Oakland A’s, they reached a grim milestone: Adams was the 20th pitcher to appear in relief for the Mariners, a season that was barely a quarter of the way to the finish line. The Baltimore Orioles had used 23 relievers, though both teams’ totals include position players pressed into relief duty.
Not so long ago, such a thing would have been unheard of — especially for a quasicontender such as Seattle (2224 through Thursday). In 2010, the 95-loss Kansas City Royals were the only team to use 20 pitchers in relief.
In the heart of the Era of Bullpen Supremacy, teams are cycling through relievers at an unprecedented pace. By asking more of their bullpens, teams are getting less.
It isn’t only the Washington Nationals who are struggling to piece together a bullpen. It’s nearly everybody. (Well, it’s mostly the Nationals, as their major-league-worst 6.20 bullpen ERA through Thursday — despite having pitched the fewest innings, 127⅔, of any bullpen — would attest.)
The average length of a start has been decreasing, and is down to a record low of about 5⅓ innings.
But as bullpens have been asked to cover more innings, the collective relief ERA across baseball has also risen, to a 20-year high of 4.31 this season through Thursday.
“The fewer innings you get from your starters, the more you have to rely on the bullpen, and the greater the chance some of those [relievers] are not going to pan out, or are not going to pitch well,” Boston Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said. “And then sometimes, the more you rely on guys, and the more they get used, the bigger the chance they won’t bounce back and pitch as well the next year.”
The starters’ ERA has been a half-run to a quarter-run higher than the relievers’ ERA. But this year, with relievers handling a larger share of innings than ever before, they are converging: Starters have
posted an ERA of 4.32, just a tick above that of relievers.
“As managers are more willing to take starters out in the fifth or sixth innings, you’re asking a lot of those relievers,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle said. “But there’s an inherent volatility of relievers. It takes a different kind of toll on your body when night in, night out, you’re asked to [get ready to pitch] at the drop of a hat. Over the course of a season, if your workload isn’t managed properly, you may be able to get away with it for a few months, but at some point those innings are going to jump on your back and it can lead to ineffectiveness or injury risk that can derail your season, or even your career.”
One of the reasons often cited when teams routinely pull their starters in the middle innings is that starters’ effectiveness, across the board, drops precipitously when facing an opposing lineup for a third time. But the same familiarity that makes starting pitchers less effective as a game wears on, it stands to reason, would also come into play as relievers are asked to pitch more frequently and for longer stints.
“With relievers, they tend to have fewer pitches than starters, so the more [frequently] they’re coming in, the easier it is for hitters to hone in,” Red Sox closer Ryan Brasier said. “Starters may try not to use all their weapons early in the game, whereas relievers come in and everyone knows what’s coming.”
It’s not as if teams aren’t trying to build elite bullpens. Proven free agent relievers cash in.
Five of the 16 largest contracts signed this offseason, and 10 of the 33 multiyear deals, went to relievers. But the list of high-priced relievers who are either injured or ineffective this year includes names such as Kenley Jansen ($18 million salary), Andrew Miller ($11 million), David Robertson ($10 million), Brandon Morrow ($9 million) and Tommy Hunter ($9 million).
Increasingly, contending teams are rebuilding their bullpens in midseason, once the grind of the season has identified which relievers are pitching well enough to help down the stretch.