August 8, 200619 yr QUOTE(Felix @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 08:09 AM) After a week or two, your bullpen will be worn out completely. You're assuming every starting pitcher would need relief by the 5th or 6th inning for one or two weeks. That's not likely to occur. After a stretch like that, sure, the Sox bullpen would be worn out, but some starters would pitch deeper into the games. Hangar's point, I believe, is to remove the starting pitcher near the end of his effectiveness, before he surrenders multiple late inning runs, putting the game out of reach. If you're worried about wearing out the Sox's bullpen when they've thrown some of the fewest innings in baseball, why aren't you worried about the high innings pitched by the Sox's starting staff? If they were performing as they did in 2005, their current workload would be understandable, but they're not close to meeting that success. QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 08:30 AM) What about the argument that if you drag the SP earlier, it'll be harder for them to pitch better in the future, because it shows that you don't have the confidence in them to go more than say 5 innings? It's a fine balancing act though, and one that this team really needs to figure out, and in a hurry. I think saving the starting pitchers a few tough innings late in their outings would benefit them more in future starts by keeping them fresh. Some Sox fans excuse the poor pitching performances of the starting pitchers because of their extra workloads last season. I agree that it's a reasonable theory. So wouldn't it be a good idea to save the starters a handful of innings at times when they're most likely to fail? QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2006 -> 09:44 AM) Wait so you are telling me that the bullpen would have come in and given up no runs in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings? Come on. There is no one in the pen pitching that well, and I know everyone is in this place where the starters have to be yanked as soon as they throw a ball, because it is the fashionable bridge to be jumping off of now, but to say that the pen would have thrown 4 scoreless innings is a joke. Even at our pens season long eras, we have to expect at least one run, and with the way Riske, Jenks, Cotts, and Thornton have thrown the ball, there is no reason to be surprised if they give up more than two runs. No, the bullpen only has to surrender less runs than the starter would for it to be a good decision. For example, last night Buehrle gave up 3 runs in the 7th inning. Had Ozzie replaced Buehrle with the bullpen, even if they surrendered 2 runs it would have given the team a better chance to win.
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