[oldtimey]

You will greatly reduce the number of innings that your middle and setup relievers pitch if you always keep a "6th starter" in the long relief slot in your roster. Your middle and setup guys innings increase when they have to pitch earlier in the game than the 6th and when they pitch multiple innings when a game goes into extras. To keep a long guy in the LRP slot in a 12-man staff, you should only have 1 one SU pitcher. Though there are 2 slots, a LH/RH combo in these slots is not necessary. Just one guy, with stuff that will suffice to occasionally close games, should be in the one slot. You will need all 4 of the MRP slots filled. If you go to a 13-man staff or when rosters expand, fill the LRP slots before the SU slots to further take pressure of your MRP guys. You will find that the CPU now will only use your MRP in the 6th inning or later, keeping their appearances at 1 IP or less. Your relief staff's numbers will then be realistic at the end of the season. You might get relievers with 85 appearances, but you will not get any reliever with close to 100 IP.