LOS ANGELES, CA — This postseason will have a noticeable difference from games we have seen in the past. It is the emergence of the bullpen opening games. With so many top-tier starting pitchers out with various injuries this year from teams that will be in the playoffs, clubs will be turning to starting games with pitchers out of the bullpen with the thought of going through four to six arms to get through nine innings.
Today, we will see the Dodgers start middle reliever Caleb Ferguson against the Giants, followed by a conga line of others out of the pen. It is about counting outs and is something Dodger manager Dave Roberts believes in. In 2018, he said: “It’s certainly more matchup-based, and outside the starter, teams are counting outs more.”
Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly, who LA acquired at the August 1 Trade Deadline in hopes of strengthening their postseason bullpen – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
The only possible problem with using all those arms from the bullpen is that you will absolutely need them every game to finish what you will not allow your starters to do because of that darn pitch count. You know, the thing that will keep pitchers off the Injured-List. By the way, how’s that working out for you baseball geniuses?
We kind of went full circle with this solution to getting outs and saving arms. So when teams are pulling starters because of pitch counts in the 80-90’s, they usually go through four to six guys out of the pen. Depending on what inning, the starter reached the magic number of pitches.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts makes the call to the bullpen – Image Credit: USA Today
The Dodgers last year had an excellent starting rotation and a shaky bullpen. This year, they have the opposite. Their relievers have been highly reliable, so it becomes an easy choice for Roberts to opt to a bullpen game. The danger here is if your bullpen arms begin to wear down or become damaged from overuse — who ya gonna call to finish games? Ghostbusters?
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