Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
Bullpen bitching in Boston
The Red Sox home opener was scheduled for 2:20 today, the odd start time a result of a lengthy pregame ceremony. Rain had been in the forecast, and there was some doubt as to whether or not scheduled starter Pedro Martinez would go if there was even the threat of a delay at some point during the game, which makes sense, no need to waste a Pedro start. It did rain, and as is usually the case in deference to the fans who show up, they waited around for about an hour before officially postponing the game (which will be played tomorrow as part of a day-night doubleheader). During that hour, I foolishly left the TV on and took in an hour's worth of banter from the Red Sox broadcast team and assorted media guests.

If you're not in Boston: first of all, you're lucky. Secondly, you have no idea how often the "closer-by-committee" garbage comes up in any discussion involving baseball, especially on Red Sox/NESN telecasts. They've got Dennis Eckersley working for them now, so they bounce questions off him constantly so he can rip into a bullpen (and, in effect, management) that doesn't have "traditionally" established roles. This subject has been covered ad naseum by people I respect and who do great work, so I'm not going to get into it extensively...but I'm faced with this crap constantly here, and I know there are at least a few people who read this blog who don't visit any of the others we recommend.

Without further ado...every one of the guys in the Red Sox bullpen (Brandon Lyon, Ramiro Mendoza, Steve Woodard, Chad Fox, Mike Timlin, Alan Embree and Bobby Howry) is a decent pitcher, they've been so over the course of their careers. However, none of them are great and as such, they're more interchangable than you'd like for this system. The "closer-by-committee" moniker is inaccurate, and it's a shame that local media (which is completely obsessed with this topic) continues to use it. The whole point is that you do away with the whole notion of a "closer" - you don't have a guy whose only job it is to come into games in the ninth inning with a one, two or three run lead and record three outs. Instead, you use your best guys in the most important spots...if you're in a dicey situation in the seventh, you use your best pitcher there as opposed to holding him out until the ninth simply because it's not a save situation. Makes a lot of sense, and if implemented with the right pitchers, would almost certainly help a team.

The problem in Boston right now is that none of the pitchers in the bullpen is pitching particularly well (I guess Lyon is doing a nice job), and since there's no standout among the seven guys in question, it's difficult to know who you should use in those high-leverage spots. If your guys pitch poorly, that's going to be a problem no matter what your substitution patterns are. On top of that, Grady Little is just getting accustomed to having added responsibility as a manager, as his job gets significantly harder under this system. What the system needs to work most effectively is a top-flight reliever or two who can be plugged in as needed...when you've got that, the other guys become significantly less important, and guys like Embree, Mendoza, Woodard and friends are fine for these slots, as they won't generally be used in dire situations. The issue, at least at this point, is one of performance by the individuals involved, not in the system, which hasn't yet had a chance to flourish. In short, Red Sox fans: hate the players, not the game.

A really quick look at Red Sox relievers numbers thus far as compared to their career numbers:
Brandon Lyon (1.29 ERA in 7 innings pitched) career 5.18 ERA
Steve Woodard (3.60 ERA in 5 innings pitched) career 4.92 ERA
Mike Timlin (4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched) career 3.58 ERA
Chad Fox (9.00 ERA in 3 innings pitched) career 3.43 ERA
Bobby Howry (10.80 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched) career 3.88 ERA
Ramiro "Traitor" Mendoza (12.00 ERA in 6 innings pitched) career 4.15 ERA
Alan Embree (12.27 ERA in 3.2 innings pitched) career 4.50 ERA

Care to comment on this? Do so.
posted by VZW Watcher at 6:09 PM -