There's no outright type of usage that's "Better" or "Worse." You have to look
at your BULLPEN PERSONELL.
Let's look at three VASTLY different situations.
Case 1: 2004 Anaheim Angels
Ironically, Scoscia's "Mikeyball" had some pretty sabre-like bullpen usage.
Personally, I thought it was BRILLIANT that they had K-Rod out there pitching
some serious high leverage innings and putting out fires, and
had Percival (a lesser pitcher) "closing". They also had 2 other very good
relievers in Sheilds and Donnelly (He got injured last year), and Gregg
was decent also. It's important to note that Shields and Donnelly relievers
that can go 2 innings or more.
Btw, I think Percival's departure really hurts the Angels. NOT BECAUSE he
was that important or that good. (I mean, you lose 50 IP out of the bullpen
, not a big deal.) It's because now K-Rod will be moved to the closer's spot
(a terrible option IMO), and Shields and Donnelly will play K-Rod's role of
fireman. Again, Shields and Donnelly are very good, but they are not K-Rod.
The high leverage innings that used to go to their best pitcher will now go
to lesser pitchers. And that's a TERRIBLE move.
An interesting note: They had exactly ONE lefty in the bullpen last year.
And he pitched a fat 2 innings.
Case 2: 2004 St. Louis Cardinals.
They employed the "TLR" bullpen usage of frequent bullpen changes, one-out
pitchers, and the one inning closer because shockingly, TLR was their manager.
Here's a look at their bullpen:
Calero
King
Kline
Tavarez
Isringhuasen
(They also had Haren and Elderd for stretches of the season, and Ankiel for
10IP late down the stretch.)
And you know what? He doesn't need to use Izzy as a relief ace. He SHOULDN'T
be using Izzy as a relief ace. He's got all these capable one inning pitchers
and 2 very good LOOGYs (with extreme platoon splits if I recall.) I think
I read on hardball times that TLR was 54 for 54 in one out pitching situations.
That's GOOD. If you the starter leaves after 6 1/3 and has a runner on 1st,
and you have lots of good relievers with extreme platoon splits, utilize
them. Use your plethora of pitchers to cobble together 5 outs, and then
bring in Izzy to "close it out" if you will.
If you have good loogy's, use them appropriately. (The key word being "good",
Thank you Run Fairy) Appropriate use means avoiding righty batters at
all costs, and maximizing platoon advantage. It also means not trying to make
a lefty pitcher that outright sucks into a LOOGY in high lev situations.
Also, one out pitching means that these guys can come out and pitch the next
day if they have to. Which is nice.
3. 2004 Houston Astros Post-Dotel Trade
Bullpen: Brad Lidge, Dan Miceli, and rotating pieces of junk.
I thought they did pretty well, considering they only had 2 pitchers that
were actually usable. Lidge was godly, and Miceli was pretty good. Other than
that, everybody sucked. So what do they do? Send Lidge out in the 8th inning
to put out fires. Because there wasn't anybody else that could pitch
high leverage innings and not suck. (Miceli was pretty overworked too. How
they managed to let him to go JAPAN is a wonder).
To summarize:
1) Only use good relievers in high leverage situations.
2) Maximize platoon advantage with pitchers with extreme platoon splits
3) The more good pitchers you have, the less likely the manager will screw
up.
--
Tony Chiu, NTU Med 91
Giving you an opinion, whether you like it or not.
--
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◆ From: 140.112.212.196
※ 編輯: IronChef 來自: 140.112.212.196 (04/17 21:29)