by Nic Larson

Created on: December 10, 2008

With the decline of complete games and the emergence of middle relievers and closers, comes the new strategy of bullpen by committee. Today the majority of starters in baseball are groomed to pitch six innings, or until they reach their preset pitch count. This is used to protect the pitcher from overuse and injury. After this, the game is turned over to the bullpen. Having a bullpen by committee depends largely on matchups, whether it is lefty/lefty or righty/righty. Teams structure their bullpens to increase their statistical chances in these situations. While most teams have defined roles within their bullpen, there have been instances where managers choose to go with a bullpen by committee. This negates the norm of a setup man pitching the eighth inning and the closer pitching the ninth. With a bullpen by committee, there is no designated inning for pitchers, rather situations.

The Milwaukee Brewers took this approach at the end of the 2008 season with their bullpen. They made their pitching changes solely on matchups. If it was a save situation in the ninth inning, it was not necessarily the closers job to finish the game. There may be two lefties coming up in the order. Rather then starting fresh in the ninth inning they would first pitch their left-handed specialist to counter the left-handed batters that were due up that inning. When the lefthanders were retired, they would then go to a right-handed pitcher to finish the game. This was not necessarily the closer though. The decision was based on the available pitchers success against the current batter. One of the risks of having a bullpen by committee is blowing through your bullpen. It is not uncommon today to see relievers come into the game to pitch to just one batter. This can deplete and wear out your pitchers as they are many times pitching on a daily basis.

A bullpen by committee is typically used by teams that do not have that dominating closer such as Francisco Rodriguez or Mariano Rivera. They use more of a statistical approach, trying to put their relief pitchers in the best situation to succeed. Another aspect of a bullpen by committee is riding the hot hand. If a certain pitcher is having success in a particular role, managers tend to keep him there until he proves that he cannot get the job done. In many cases this is how teams ultimately find their future closer as everyone is essentially auditioning for the job. While it is becoming more popular in baseball, bullpens by committee are generally a temporary fix until a team can sign or promote a closer for their team.

Learn more about this author, Nic Larson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.