Bullpen strategy

[jkra0512]

I play as the Yankees, and I started using the Andrew Miller approach with Dellin Betances. Aroldis Chapman is my de facto closer, but I use Betances in high leverage situations, wherever that might land in the later innings. Meanwhile, Tyler Clippard is my bridge to Chapman if need be.

[Hardworker33]

I pretty much always do


Over 3 points by the 6th inning (winning or losing)


LRP pitches as much as possible (hopefully if losing, SP gave me at least 4-5 innnings, if winning and he's untouchable I keep him there as long as possible)


3 points & under by the 6th inning (winning or losing)


Pretty much standard approach :


7th : MRP (left handed or right depending of needs)
8th : SU
9th : Closer

[Bard]

If I need my best RP in the game he is coming in. Kimbrel at times has thrown the 6th and 7th innings for me in a one run game in the playoff push. Helped having Smith, Kelly, and Barnes for the 8th and 9th to allow that to happen.

My bullpen is usually pretty well set in case of any emergency.

Robbie Ross Jr. - lefty that faces R/L (usually throws in extra innings, or large differential games)

Fernando Abad - left specialist (only in a pinch against a strong lefty)

Heath Hembree - right handed specialist (see Abad, usually throws more than one hitter)

Joe Kelly - hard throwing strikeout machine (used at any time)

Matt Barnes - groundball guarantee (8th or 9th inning)

Carson Smith - strikeout machine (used at any time)

Craig Kimbrel - Ace reliever (used in the highest possible situations)

I will likely be changing it up this year with some names, but we will see!

[My993C2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hardworker33

SP gave me at least 4-5 innnings, if winning and he's untouchable I keep him there as long as possible)

Not trying to disagree too much here as I always hope my starters can give me 5 to 7 innings and anything beyond that is just icing on the cake. But this "untouchable" strategy is more for American League DH games. My National League starters need to be absolutely dialed in with a no-hitter, or have an extremely low hit high level of confidence level for me not to be looking for pinch hit and double switch opportunities from the 6th inning on to the end of the game whenever the starter is poised to have another plate appearance.

[TheWarmWind]

I do a hybrid between those strats. I have a dedicated 9th inning guy, and a guy to get me out of jams. My bullpen is pretty flush though.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd stick with the traditional closer. Being able to end a close game with confidence has more value to me then getting out of a jam sandwich. Runs can always be made back, except when it's the end of the game.

[WarEagle1212]

This is a fun question. I have done it several different ways over the years but i have kinda landed on the following:

If I have a top tier closer (Kimbrel can be the example here) then I will try and maximize the "critical situations" he's involved in. And to be honest if I'm up 3 runs heading to the 9th, that just doesn't qualify in my book as critical, even tho it technically counts as a "save." Obviously if you care about stats for your closer then you'll put him in there but 95+% of the time any bullpen guy can get 3 outs before giving up 3 runs. So I'm much more likely to pitch Kimbrel if I'm tied in the 9th or even down by a run late to keep them from adding even 1 insurance run. As far as trying to get 4-5 outs with my closer, I very rarely do that during the regular season, unless maybe I haven't used him in a week or whatever. With the setup guys I've started playing more and more matchups than I use to.

If my closer isn't dominant then I'm more straightforward with how I use him. And sometimes have a closer by committee again based on matchups.

I guess I'm less concerned with my closer having 50+ saves and hope to get more wins by using them in this way. But I certainly don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong way to do it

[Hardworker33]

Quote: Originally Posted by My993C2

Not trying to disagree too much here as I always hope my starters can give me 5 to 7 innings and anything beyond that is just icing on the cake. But this "untouchable" strategy is more for American League DH games. My National League starters need to be absolutely dialed in with a no-hitter, or have an extremely low hit high level of confidence level for me not to be looking for pinch hit and double switch opportunities from the 6th inning on to the end of the game whenever the starter is poised to have another plate appearance.

You're totally right... die hard Yankees fan here. So used to play them, AL and NL are two different animals!

[qwikphaze01]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoxSoxSox

How do you guys handle your pen? How do you set it up? Do you take your best guy and have him go in asap in a pinch, like Cleveland did with Andrew Miller? Do you have straight up 7th, 8th, and 9th inning guys, like the Royals have used in recent seasons? I think for '17 I will have Kimbrel solely in the ninth, and coming off a poor season (the team, not him) on '16, I'll have him come in any game we are up 5 runs or less, and I might even rely on him for 4-5 outs at times. I really hope he can be a workhorse in this way, and if we are trailing, I won't use him. I won't use him in a tie game either unless it's the 9th inning and I can walk off at home. Other than that, I will use someone (maybe Carson Smith) as my emergency role, similar to how Francona (how I wish he was still in Boston) used Miller. Other than these two, the rest of the pen won't have any inning or scenario attached to them, but I'd like to pitch handedness when I can, so I'll likely carry two lefties. I've used (in the American League anyways) 14 position guys and 11 pitchers, but I may switch that to 13 and 12 pitchers, just to have guys fresh in as many situations as I can. It may hurt the lineup, stamina wise, but if a game is 5-6 runs for or against me, I usually pull guys like Pedroia, Betts, and Bradley Jr. when I can, usually it leaves them enough energy I don't worry about starting them in the next game. Looking forward to opinions/discussion.

I run 5 starters and 7 in bullpen. Usually my long relief is a young up and coming starter to fill in for injuries and get some middle relief in.

3 middle relievers 2 su ( 1 left, 1 right) 1 closer

Try to put my closer in every closing situation.
When ahead in a game I put my worst era reliever in to help get some better numbers.

Tight games I tend to go with best era middle relief or best su (usually 6,7,8 inning range) before closing situation.


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