San Antonio — Mark Leiter Jr., Luke Weaver and Alex Vesia in a World Series that was supposed to feature an epic showdown between sluggers Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. , players like Anthony Banda have certainly seen plenty of minutes.
This year’s Fall Classic further proved that a good bullpen is essential in baseball, especially in the postseason. It has also sparked concerns from people from super agent Scott Boras to players’ association president Tony Clark that the sport is abusing its arms.
Nonetheless, building a quality bullpen remains difficult.
“We need so many pitches throughout the season, and that number expands even further in the postseason,” said Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minassian. “Quality weapons, quality strikes. But quantity is also a big issue. “Where can I get it?”
The bullpen is usually an afterthought to the average baseball fan, especially middle-of-the-road relievers who don’t get the spotlight in the ninth inning. They maintain relative anonymity while going through tough times in difficult situations, much like offensive linemen in the NFL. In other words, you only notice when something is terribly wrong.
The Dodgers used Bethea, Banda, and Michael Kopech in four of the five World Series games, while Blake Treinen and Brusda Graterol appeared in three games. They pitched a combined 15 1/3 innings (often in heavy setbacks) and gave up five runs.
The ERA is 2.93.
That’s not too shabby for many men who only serious seamers know.
“I have a lot of good players and they understand the importance of getting 27 outs a day,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You can be anyone, anytime.”
Building a big league bullpen is exciting because cost isn’t really a prohibitive factor, and it could be the most equal position in sports without a salary cap. Banda ($740,000), Vesia ($1 million), Treinen ($1 million), Kopech ($3 million) and Graterol ($2.7 million) signed record $700 million, 10-year contracts last offseason. He earned pocket money compared to his teammate Otani. .
Instead, it comes down to scouting, development, and sometimes dumb luck. Sometimes it’s closer to art than science.
“I wish we had known,” said Erik Neander, Tampa Bay’s president of baseball operations. “We probably would have won more last year.”
Boras is one of those people who isn’t happy with the way relievers are being used. Clay Holmes pitched for the Yankees in all five games of the World Series, and there is little doubt that pitchers, especially relievers, are getting tired in October.
“We have to stop burning our beautiful young arms by pitching in a way we never would during a (regular) season,” Boras said Wednesday.
Over the past decade, average fastball velocity has increased from 93.3 mph to 95.5 mph during the 2024 regular season. Injury rates have also soared, with 484 pitchers on the injured list this year, almost double the number in 2014.
Regardless of how GMs feel about bullpen usage, the injury explosion is another reason why finding consistent relievers is a difficult task.
Using a valuable young pitcher in the bullpen is risky, but signing a veteran reliever in free agency is also futile. Consider the case of Treinen, a 36-year-old whose career represents the ups and downs of a reliever.
He was an All-Star with the Oakland Athletics in 2018, posting a microscopic 0.78 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings. The following year, his ERA dropped sharply to 4.91.
The Dodgers thought he could bounce back in 2020, and they were right. He had a solid season and helped lead Los Angeles to a World Series title. It went so well that the Dodgers signed him to a two-year contract after the season. He was great again in 2021, but suffered a serious shoulder injury that forced him to miss nearly the entire 2022 season.
He signed a contract extension, but missed the 2023 season with the same shoulder injury and did not return until 2024, when he bounced back with a 1.93 ERA and another win.
Now Treinen is back on the market.
“You can look at it in a number of ways,” said Minasian, speaking generally and not about Treinen. “You can say: ‘Wow, he made a hell of a catch. He’s been used dramatically over the last three or four years, so I’m not sure what the future holds.’ Or, ‘Hey, that guy put up with it. He pitches. He was consistent and caught the ball.’”
The Houston Astros have had a great bullpen over the past few years with pitchers like Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly. General manager Dana Brown said there is always volatility in the bullpen, but not all due to injuries.
“Today is just a game,” Brown said. “You have all this information and sometimes others study you. Movies – they watch them. “They find your weaknesses and try to exploit them.”
Brown said one of the qualities he likes in relievers is humility, an understanding that they may need to change their strategy on the mound as their bodies go through long careers.
“People who don’t have the spirit or aptitude to teach sometimes get lost in the source,” Brown said.
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
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