2023 Bullpen

Coachster

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Jake Faria was called into the manager's office after the game, so another roster move coming tomorrow. It wasn't pretty, but his two innings were important with back-to-back bullpen days coming up.
View: https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1680698188624277504?s=20
For what it’s worth, this take is crap. Faria didn’t save the bullpen. Joely, Wink (8th) and Martin (9th) all had to warm up because he was shitting the bed so bad. He didn’t do us any favors.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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For what it’s worth, this take is crap. Faria didn’t save the bullpen. Joely, Wink (8th) and Martin (9th) all had to warm up because he was shitting the bed so bad. He didn’t do us any favors.
Were they getting loose? Or throwing with purpose?

Martin pitched last night so i don’t think he got used up on Sunday.
 

richgedman'sghost

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For what it’s worth, this take is crap. Faria didn’t save the bullpen. Joely, Wink (8th) and Martin (9th) all had to warm up because he was shitting the bed so bad. He didn’t do us any favors.
Your take is crap and worthless. There's a difference between warming up and actually coming into the game. How many pitches did Martin throw warming up? Those guys should be well rested. It never go to the point luckily where those guys had to seriously get ready to enter Sunday's game.
 
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joe dokes

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For what it’s worth, this take is crap. Faria didn’t save the bullpen. Joely, Wink (8th) and Martin (9th) all had to warm up because he was shitting the bed so bad. He didn’t do us any favors.
While warming up is worse than just sitting there (in varying degrees, depending on "how warm," I suppose), it's better than coming into the game. Faria accomplished that. It's not nothing. No one is really suggesting that it was any more than "not nothing." Accomplishing anything useful while pitching that badly is a bonus.
 
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BaseballJones

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I don't really understand how/why this is the case, but Pivetta as long reliever is a revelation this year. (he's been good in short relief too)

As a starter this year: 8 g, 40.0 ip, 6.30 era, 1.55 whip, 9.5 k/9

In relief coming in the 7th inning or later: 7 g, 6.0 ip, 1.50 era, 0.50 whip, 15.0 k/9

In relief coming in before the 7th: 6 g, 24.0 ip, 1.88 era, 0.58 whip, 14.3 k/9
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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I don't really understand how/why this is the case, but Pivetta as long reliever is a revelation this year. (he's been good in short relief too)

As a starter this year: 8 g, 40.0 ip, 6.30 era, 1.55 whip, 9.5 k/9

In relief coming in the 7th inning or later: 7 g, 6.0 ip, 1.50 era, 0.50 whip, 15.0 k/9

In relief coming in before the 7th: 6 g, 24.0 ip, 1.88 era, 0.58 whip, 14.3 k/9
All are Sss?
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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That's definitely true. But is this nothing but statistical noise then?
Part of last night might be that the Sox' opener was a LHP, and they switched to a RHP in Pivetta afterwards. The A's only used one pinch hitter last night so the Sox may have given Pivetta the platoon advantage over the hitters by bringing him in after the LHP opener.

Plus, the A's really stink.
 

BaseballJones

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Part of last night might be that the Sox' opener was a LHP, and they switched to a RHP in Pivetta afterwards. The A's only used one pinch hitter last night so the Sox may have given Pivetta the platoon advantage over the hitters by bringing him in after the LHP opener.

Plus, the A's really stink.
The As really stink, but Pivetta has been doing this to everyone he's faced.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Part of last night might be that the Sox' opener was a LHP, and they switched to a RHP in Pivetta afterwards. The A's only used one pinch hitter last night so the Sox may have given Pivetta the platoon advantage over the hitters by bringing him in after the LHP opener.

Plus, the A's really stink.
Mostly the latter. Their starting lineup had four lefties in it, Noda is the only one who is above average.
 

Rovin Romine

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Part of last night might be that the Sox' opener was a LHP, and they switched to a RHP in Pivetta afterwards. The A's only used one pinch hitter last night so the Sox may have given Pivetta the platoon advantage over the hitters by bringing him in after the LHP opener.

Plus, the A's really stink.
More the latter. The lineup didn't change batting-handedness even after the PH: R,R,L,R,L,R,L,R,L.

It was a really impressive outing, even against the A's. 6 innings no-hit ball, with only two batters over the minimum (2 BBs) and 13 Ks (out of 20 batters.)
 

Max Power

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I don't really understand how/why this is the case, but Pivetta as long reliever is a revelation this year. (he's been good in short relief too)

As a starter this year: 8 g, 40.0 ip, 6.30 era, 1.55 whip, 9.5 k/9

In relief coming in the 7th inning or later: 7 g, 6.0 ip, 1.50 era, 0.50 whip, 15.0 k/9

In relief coming in before the 7th: 6 g, 24.0 ip, 1.88 era, 0.58 whip, 14.3 k/9
Or maybe he would have taken off like this if he stayed in the rotation. Pivetta was great for 10 straight starts last year, but crummy before and after. He's streaky, and like all ballplayers you never know when the streaks will start or end.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Just wondering how Murphy looked. I realize it was against a AAAA team, but the overall line looks good. If the Sox don't make any moves, the rotation and bullpen actually looks good (always assuming that all injured players return and no further injuries)

Bello
Paxton
Crawford
Bernardino/Pivetta
? and Murphy

can hold on until then? Sale replaces ? and Murphy and then you've got great mix and match options for the final spot and bullpen with Pivetta, Murphy, Sale and Houck with Bernardino going back to the late innings.
 

JM3

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I think if we're using Murphy as the bulk guy on bullpen day it's going to be important to find a righty reliever they're comfortable using as the opener.

I actually think Winck makes a good amount of sense in that role once Schreiber is back.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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I think if we're using Murphy as the bulk guy on bullpen day it's going to be important to find a righty reliever they're comfortable using as the opener.

I actually think Winck makes a good amount of sense in that role once Schreiber is back.
Agreed.... would like to see him there instead of that shitshow last night
 

Benj4ever

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Just wondering how Murphy looked. I realize it was against a AAAA team, but the overall line looks good. If the Sox don't make any moves, the rotation and bullpen actually looks good (always assuming that all injured players return and no further injuries)

Bello
Paxton'
Crawford
Bernardino/Pivetta
? and Murphy

can hold on until then? Sale replaces ? and Murphy and then you've got great mix and match options for the final spot and bullpen with Pivetta, Murphy, Sale and Houck with Bernardino going back to the late innings.
Murphy looked good last night. He spotted his fastball well and his breaking stuff was sharp (for the most part. There was one stretch where he was having trouble with - I think it was his slider). The two hits the A's had against him were on mistakes. He got a few strikeouts on chases by the A's.
 

Yo La Tengo

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Brasier has had a good first 15 innings with the Dodgers, with a 0.73 WHIP and .128 opponents BA.
68020
 

chawson

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Maybe Bernardino sometimes too
Bernardino has been so useful.

He's 31, so it's a little different than Schreiber, but I wonder when it starts making sense to think of him less like a random scrap heap guy having a nice year and more like a valuable cost-controlled bullpen piece.
 

joe dokes

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Bernardino has been so useful.

He's 31, so it's a little different than Schreiber, but I wonder when it starts making sense to think of him less like a random scrap heap guy having a nice year and more like a valuable cost-controlled bullpen piece.
If a GM could solve the volatility riddle of the non-elite reliever.......
 

BaseballJones

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Pivetta continues to pile up impressive performances. This time against the best offensive team in baseball.

As a reliever this year, his numbers are now: 41.0 ip, 18 h, 12 r, 9 er, 15 bb, 58 k, 1.98 era, 0.80 whip, 12.7 k/9

Whatever the heck he's doing to be this effective in this role, do not change a thing!
 

joe dokes

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Not sure which thread it was, but there were several posts bouncing around the theory behind openers. Affecting the batting order or giving the bulk guy a break from the top of the order were 2 of them.
But several trips through the rotation suggests another 1 or 2. It's a chance to use a reliever, like Bleier, Schreiber or Rodriguez, who may be rusty, but without either waiting for low leverage or risking high leverage out of the chute.
It's also a way to get some use out of less effective relievers (let's define them as guys you can't count on to be scoreless; so everyone other than Martin, Jansen and Winck right now), in a way that allows both for their likelihood to give something up, but also gives the team 7-8 innings to recover.
And it accomplishes "getting the (not really a) starter to the 7th," where the high leverage relievers await.
Of course, it's a way to paper over a starter shortage, and it really puts pressure on the real starters to not burn the pen on their days, but when it works, it's pretty interesting.
 

Van Everyman

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I love this quote from Cora today:

“A lot of people made a big deal early on that he was going to be upset and he wasn’t going to accept his role. What’s he gonna do, just quit? He’s getting paid to pitch for the Red Sox?” said manager Alex Cora. “We had a conversation early on. He was very honest: ‘I don’t like it, but I’m gonna give you my best.’ That’s what he’s doing right now. That’s a tough lineup and what he did today was great.”
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Pivetta has been key to the team’s success the past month+, shows how awesome baseball is- opportunities exist for everyone on a roster. Players answering the challenge- Duran, Winckowski, Verdugo, Yoshida, now Pivetta, Paxton- seems like a theme to this season.
 

Fishy1

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Pivetta has been key to the team’s success the past month+, shows how awesome baseball is- opportunities exist for everyone on a roster. Players answering the challenge- Duran, Winckowski, Verdugo, Yoshida, now Pivetta, Paxton- seems like a theme to this season.
Yup. You can add Murphy to that list. The opener strategy has also been paying off, as far as I can tell.
 

BaseballJones

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Agreed. Think of how much worse off the Sox would be without these three guys:

Pivetta - 1.98 era as a reliever
Murphy - 1.80 era
Walter - 3.07 era

Those three guys have been huge for the Sox.

And of course, the back end of the bullpen has been awesome too:

Martin - 1.44 era
Winckowski - 2.93 era
Jansen - 3.06 era
 

Fishy1

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Agreed. Think of how much worse off the Sox would be without these three guys:

Pivetta - 1.98 era as a reliever
Murphy - 1.80 era
Walter - 3.07 era

Those three guys have been huge for the Sox.

And of course, the back end of the bullpen has been awesome too:

Martin - 1.44 era
Winckowski - 2.93 era
Jansen - 3.06 era
And Bernardino! The guy has been absolutely nails. Terrific scrap-heap pick-up by the organization.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Agreed. Think of how much worse off the Sox would be without these three guys:

Pivetta - 1.98 era as a reliever
Murphy - 1.80 era
Walter - 3.07 era

Those three guys have been huge for the Sox.

And of course, the back end of the bullpen has been awesome too:

Martin - 1.44 era
Winckowski - 2.93 era
Jansen - 3.06 era
For a while I have lamented the fact that our recent lack of pitching talent in the pipeline meant not only did we lack cheap potential starters but also lacked the high floor of those types of guys to become impact relievers or multi-inning guys.

Lots of guys who develop into very good bullpen arms are just “failed” starters who are decent enough through the minors but whose stuff plays up out of the pen.

The timing couldn’t have been better for some of these guys to break through given the need for so many middle relief innings, and they are now set up pretty nicely moving forward with two new pieces in Worcester and more solid talent hitting the upper minors.
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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Props to Bloom for recognizing that a lot of the problem last year was not having the bullpen to lock down leads, and going out and getting relievers (Jansen and Martin, primarily) who could do that.
Exactly. I recall a lot of kvetching last year about how many blown saves the team had? (29 in total) This year they have 8 blown saves. 41-2 is this team's record when leading after 6 innings. What was often a weak point last year has been largely a strength this year, even with the bubble gum and duct tape approach to the bottom end of the bullpen depth chart.
 

edoug

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Props to Bloom for recognizing that a lot of the problem last year was not having the bullpen to lock down leads, and going out and getting relievers (Jansen and Martin, primarily) who could do that.
I'm not sure anyone thought the bullpen was a strength going into the season. I think most just wanted it to be better than last year.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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We're highlighting eight-game sample sizes now?
It is a silly sample size. However, it does include four opener/bullpen games so it's a more significant chunk of the innings than you might otherwise expect a bullpen to cover over an eight game stretch.

Still relatively meaningless though.
 

JM3

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We're highlighting eight-game sample sizes now?
Despite the smaller sample size, I thought it was somewhat interesting due to both the # of innings pitched (5.5 per game) & the extremely low ERA (1.02).

For obvious reasons, usually bullpens have better ERAs when they are forced to pitch less innings.

But go off.
 

azsoxpatsfan

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Despite the smaller sample size, I thought it was somewhat interesting due to both the # of innings pitched (5.5 per game) & the extremely low ERA (1.02).

For obvious reasons, usually bullpens have better ERAs when they are forced to pitch less innings.

But go off.
Fewer. I appreciate the stat tho, the bullpen has been phenomenal