Just before the All-Star Break, Bauxite 92-93 was grumbling about John Farrell's tendency to cycle through relief pitchers, one inning at a time. I think I suggested that this was simply standard practise in the modern day (which by no means makes it a good idea), to which 92-93 responded that "Plenty of managers ask for 2 innings from their relievers, even in today's game."
I figured that was probably true - I didn't think there would be plenty, but I thought there would be a few. And I wondered - who might that be? (I already knew it wouldn't be Joe Maddon, the La Russa of the American League.)
So I gathered all these numbers just before the Break, and then I didn't get around to doing the work. My bad, sue me. Dock my pay. Anyway, all figures are through the games of July 7.
First the raw numbers for each AL team:
As you can see, Farrell has used quite a few more relief pitchers (277) than any other AL manager, and they've come about as close as possible to averaging exactly one inning per appearance.
It is also pretty clear that limiting relievers to one inning is universal, in today's American League. Let's try to break this down into bite-sized pieces. We could look at this by grouping the relief appearances, and collecting those totals
Farrell's Blue Jays lead the league in relief appearances, and in relief appearances of 1 inning (or less.) Your eyes did not deceive you, 92-93! But he's also used quite a few relievers for longer stints - only Guillen in Chicago and Yost in Kansas City have used more relievers in the 1+ column. Which begins to tell us something else. Part of the issue here, as it is in both Baltimore and Kansas City, has been the sub-par performance of the Toronto starters in 2011. Toronto's starters have the 12th best ERA in the league, and there are only fourteen teams. They've been better than Baltimore and Kansas City. That will drive a manager to the bullpen.
Let's look at the percentages of those totals while we're at it...
I think this indicates that Farrell has been pretty much a middle-of-the-pack guy. He's not Joe Maddon or the Bob Geren, cycling relievers in and out of the game like a LaRussa. And while his starters have been bad, they haven't been as awful as Kansas City's which has forced Ned Yost to go the bullpen often and to leave them in the game for quite a while. The most original and distinctive manager in the league might be Ozzie Guillen. No one is more willing to let his relievers stay in the game.
But by far the most interesting thing of all - to me, anyway - were the Seattle Mariners. They've only used 173 relievers? In 2011? And when you look at the numbers for their individual pitchers, you think - holy crap! Are they actually using a five-man bullpen? Is it 1985 all over again?
Not quite. The Mariners opened the year with a seven man pen - League, Wright, Pauley, Laffey, Ray, Wilhelmsen and Lueke. On April 25 they optioned out Lueke and replaced him with Cortes. On May 14, they picked up Gray on waivers and optioned out Cortes. Then on May 18, they optioned out Wilhelmsen and replaced him with a position player. They've been carrying six relievers ever since, and the sixth man - Jeff Gray - made just three appearances in his first six weeks on the active roster. (He's made two more appearances in the week since I gathered this information.)
Well, seeing as how I assembled this by gathering the data for each reliever in the league - might as well share. Maybe you'll see something interesting! (Space problems will only allow me to include guys who've made at least 10 appearances...)
I figured that was probably true - I didn't think there would be plenty, but I thought there would be a few. And I wondered - who might that be? (I already knew it wouldn't be Joe Maddon, the La Russa of the American League.)
So I gathered all these numbers just before the Break, and then I didn't get around to doing the work. My bad, sue me. Dock my pay. Anyway, all figures are through the games of July 7.
First the raw numbers for each AL team:
App 0 0.1 0.2 1 1.1 1.2 2 2.1 2.2 3 3.1 3.2 4 4.1 4.2 5 5.1 5.2 6 OUTS IPThe teams are listed in order of number of relievers used, and the other columns tell you how many outs a reliever managed to get while he was in the game.
TORONTO 277 9 42 43 126 19 12 16 1 3 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 834 278.0
OAKLAND 248 5 29 27 150 12 7 11 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 744 248.0
CLEVELAND 242 6 27 36 125 17 8 15 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 740 246.7
TAMPA BAY 242 12 44 37 111 18 12 4 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 648 216.0
BALTIMORE 242 6 23 16 121 17 13 30 3 2 5 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 882 294.0
KANSAS CITY 241 7 20 18 116 17 18 28 5 4 5 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 878 292.7
BOSTON 230 6 26 21 122 17 11 17 0 3 2 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 759 253.0
MINNESOTA 229 11 42 30 103 13 13 11 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 669 223.0
NEW YORK 227 9 22 30 121 14 10 11 1 0 3 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 730 243.3
DETROIT 226 6 29 33 108 17 6 15 3 3 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 719 239.7
LOS ANGELES 220 5 32 20 113 9 14 22 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 696 232.0
TEXAS 218 4 31 26 106 16 7 14 3 2 3 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 726 242.0
CHICAGO 214 5 33 30 81 23 10 20 3 3 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 707 235.7
SEATTLE 173 1 14 19 99 7 5 20 3 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 594 198.0
As you can see, Farrell has used quite a few more relief pitchers (277) than any other AL manager, and they've come about as close as possible to averaging exactly one inning per appearance.
It is also pretty clear that limiting relievers to one inning is universal, in today's American League. Let's try to break this down into bite-sized pieces. We could look at this by grouping the relief appearances, and collecting those totals
App 0-1 IP * 1.1-2 IP * 2.1-3 IP * 3.1-4 IP * 4.1-5 IP * 5.1-6 IP
TORONTO 277 220 47 6 3 1 0
OAKLAND 248 211 30 4 3 0 0
CLEVELAND 242 194 40 8 0 0 0
TAMPA BAY 242 204 34 3 0 0 1
BALTIMORE 242 166 60 10 4 2 0
KANSAS CITY 241 161 63 14 1 2 0
BOSTON 230 175 45 5 4 1 0
MINNESOTA 229 186 37 2 1 1 2
NEW YORK 227 182 35 4 3 2 1
DETROIT 226 176 38 8 3 1 0
LOS ANGELES 220 170 45 2 3 0 0
TEXAS 218 167 37 8 2 4 0
CHICAGO 214 149 53 9 2 1 0
SEATTLE 173 133 32 6 2 0 0
Farrell's Blue Jays lead the league in relief appearances, and in relief appearances of 1 inning (or less.) Your eyes did not deceive you, 92-93! But he's also used quite a few relievers for longer stints - only Guillen in Chicago and Yost in Kansas City have used more relievers in the 1+ column. Which begins to tell us something else. Part of the issue here, as it is in both Baltimore and Kansas City, has been the sub-par performance of the Toronto starters in 2011. Toronto's starters have the 12th best ERA in the league, and there are only fourteen teams. They've been better than Baltimore and Kansas City. That will drive a manager to the bullpen.
Let's look at the percentages of those totals while we're at it...
App 0-1 IP * 1.1-2 IP * 2.1-3 IP * 3.1-4 IP * 4.1-5 IP * 5.1-6 IP
OAKLAND 248 .85 .12 .02 .01 .00 .00
TAMPA BAY 242 .84 .14 .01 .00 .00 .00
MINNESOTA 229 .81 .16 .01 .00 .00 .01
NEW YORK 227 .80 .15 .02 .01 .01 .00
CLEVELAND 242 .80 .17 .03 .00 .00 .00
TORONTO 277 .79 .17 .02 .01 .00 .00
DETROIT 226 .78 .17 .04 .01 .00 .00
LOS ANGELES 220 .77 .20 .01 .01 .00 .00
SEATTLE 173 .77 .18 .03 .01 .00 .00
TEXAS 218 .77 .17 .04 .01 .02 .00
BOSTON 230 .76 .20 .02 .02 .00 .00
CHICAGO 214 .70 .25 .04 .01 .00 .00
BALTIMORE 242 .69 .25 .04 .02 .01 .00
KANSAS CITY 241 .67 .26 .06 .00 .01 .00
I think this indicates that Farrell has been pretty much a middle-of-the-pack guy. He's not Joe Maddon or the Bob Geren, cycling relievers in and out of the game like a LaRussa. And while his starters have been bad, they haven't been as awful as Kansas City's which has forced Ned Yost to go the bullpen often and to leave them in the game for quite a while. The most original and distinctive manager in the league might be Ozzie Guillen. No one is more willing to let his relievers stay in the game.
But by far the most interesting thing of all - to me, anyway - were the Seattle Mariners. They've only used 173 relievers? In 2011? And when you look at the numbers for their individual pitchers, you think - holy crap! Are they actually using a five-man bullpen? Is it 1985 all over again?
Not quite. The Mariners opened the year with a seven man pen - League, Wright, Pauley, Laffey, Ray, Wilhelmsen and Lueke. On April 25 they optioned out Lueke and replaced him with Cortes. On May 14, they picked up Gray on waivers and optioned out Cortes. Then on May 18, they optioned out Wilhelmsen and replaced him with a position player. They've been carrying six relievers ever since, and the sixth man - Jeff Gray - made just three appearances in his first six weeks on the active roster. (He's made two more appearances in the week since I gathered this information.)
Well, seeing as how I assembled this by gathering the data for each reliever in the league - might as well share. Maybe you'll see something interesting! (Space problems will only allow me to include guys who've made at least 10 appearances...)
App IP 0 0.1 0.2 1 1.1 1.2 2 2.1 2.2 3 3.1 3.2 4 4.1 4.2 5 5.1 5.2 6
Bard BOS 40 41.7 - 3 2 27 4 3 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Papelbon BOS 35 34.7 - 1 1 31 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Albers BOS 28 33.3 1 2 3 12 1 2 7 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wheeler BOS 27 27.3 - 3 3 15 5 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Aceves BOS 19 34.0 - 2 3 5 - 1 2 - 2 1 - 1 1 - 1 - - - -
Jenks BOS 19 15.7 1 4 1 12 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BOSTON 230 253.0 6 26 21 122 17 11 17 - 3 2 1 2 1 - 1 - - - -
Robertson NYY 37 34.3 - 4 8 19 4 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rivera NYY 35 33.0 - 4 2 27 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Logan NYY 32 21.3 5 8 6 10 1 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chamberlain NYY 27 28.7 - - 2 21 1 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ayala NYY 26 27.0 2 3 2 10 5 - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Soriano NYY 16 15.0 - - 3 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Noesi NYY 11 25.3 1 1 - 1 - 2 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 - - - - - 1
Pendleton NYY 11 14.0 1 1 - 5 - 1 2 - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
NEW YORK 227 243.3 9 22 30 121 14 10 11 1 - 3 1 - 2 1 1 - - - 1
Peralta TBR 42 39.7 1 5 5 24 4 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ramos TBR 40 26.7 3 14 9 9 4 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Farnsworth TBR 39 35.7 - 7 3 24 3 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cruz TBR 35 32.3 3 2 7 19 1 1 1 - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Russell TBR 34 31.0 2 5 5 14 4 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Howell TBR 18 13.7 2 2 4 9 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
McGee TBR 11 7.0 - 6 2 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sonnanstine TBR 10 16.3 - 1 - 6 - 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - 1 - -
Gomes TBR 10 11.7 - 2 2 2 1 - 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
TAMPA BAY 242 216.0 12 44 37 111 18 12 4 1 - 2 - - - - - - 1 - -
Rzepczynski TOR 40 36.0 3 8 7 14 2 1 4 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Frasor TOR 38 35.0 - 4 7 23 2 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Camp TOR 37 37.7 - 8 5 15 1 4 3 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Rauch TOR 36 35.3 2 5 3 17 5 - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Francisco TOR 29 24.3 1 4 4 19 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dotel TOR 29 24.3 1 6 6 11 3 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Janssen TOR 28 27.7 - 1 6 17 2 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Perez TOR 20 29.7 1 3 3 2 3 2 2 - 1 1 - 1 1 - - - - - -
Villanueva TOR 13 24.3 - - 1 6 - - 2 - 1 1 1 - - - 1 - - - -
TORONTO 277 278.0 9 42 43 126 19 12 16 1 3 2 1 1 1 - 1 - - - -
Johnson BAL 38 50.3 - 1 1 20 2 4 10 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Uehara BAL 35 38.0 - 1 1 28 1 1 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gregg BAL 34 33.3 - 1 - 33 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gonzalez BAL 30 29.7 1 5 4 12 3 2 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Accardo BAL 25 32.3 - 2 2 10 2 2 6 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Berken BAL 23 27.0 - 2 4 8 4 - 4 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Rapada BAL 22 12.3 4 8 4 3 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BALTIMORE 242 294.0 6 23 16 121 17 13 30 3 2 5 2 2 - 1 1 - - - -
Sipp CLE 39 35.3 - 6 9 18 3 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
R.Perez CLE 38 35.7 2 3 14 10 3 2 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
C.Perez CLE 35 32.3 - 4 1 29 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pestano CLE 35 31.3 1 2 7 22 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Durbin CLE 33 35.7 1 4 4 15 3 - 5 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Smith CLE 32 29.7 1 6 - 19 4 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Herrmann CLE 17 27.0 - 2 1 5 - 2 3 1 - 3 - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 242 246.7 6 27 36 125 17 8 15 1 2 5 - - - - - - - - -
Valverde DET 40 38.0 - 2 2 36 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Benoit DET 38 33.7 - 5 5 27 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Schlereth DET 29 25.7 3 4 3 11 7 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Albuquerque DET 26 29.0 1 3 5 8 4 - 3 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Perry DET 18 19.7 - 2 5 7 1 - - 2 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Villarreal DET 16 16.0 - 5 4 2 1 1 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Purcey DET 13 15.3 - - 3 6 1 - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Furbush DET 12 21.7 1 1 2 2 - 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 - - - 1 - - -
Thomas DET 12 11.0 1 2 3 3 1 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
DETROIT 226 239.7 6 29 33 108 17 6 15 3 3 2 - 2 1 - - 1 - - -
Crain CWS 37 39.0 - 5 6 13 7 3 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Santos CWS 35 41.0 - 1 2 21 5 1 5 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thornton CWS 33 31.3 1 6 8 10 2 2 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sale CWS 32 35.0 1 6 4 8 7 1 3 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Ohman CWS 30 25.0 1 8 4 13 2 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pena CWS 17 20.3 1 2 2 7 - 1 1 1 2 - - - - - - - - - -
Bruney CWS 15 13.3 - 4 3 6 - 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
CHICAGO 214 235.7 5 33 30 81 23 10 20 3 3 3 - - 2 1 - - - - -
Capps MIN 35 36.7 - 2 3 24 1 4 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Perkins MIN 33 31.3 1 6 6 13 2 3 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Burnett MIN 32 25.3 2 7 6 12 4 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mijares MIN 30 19.0 4 10 4 11 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nathan MIN 22 20.3 - 2 2 17 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dumatrait MIN 18 16.3 - 5 2 7 2 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hoey MIN 17 14.0 2 5 2 5 1 - 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Hughes MIN 15 12.7 2 2 1 8 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 229 223.0 11 42 30 103 13 13 11 - 2 - 1 - - 1 - - - - 2
Collins KCR 39 41.3 1 10 - 17 4 1 3 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - -
Soria KCR 36 37.3 - - 2 32 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Crow KCR 35 42.3 - 3 2 17 4 4 4 - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Wood KCR 28 36.3 1 1 2 11 3 4 4 1 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Coleman KCR 26 30.3 2 1 4 9 2 2 5 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Holland KCR 17 22.7 - 1 2 6 1 3 3 - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
Jeffress KCR 14 15.3 - 2 3 5 - 1 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Teaford KCR 14 12.7 2 - 2 7 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Adcock KCR 12 29.0 - - - 2 - 2 1 1 1 3 1 - - 1 - - - - -
KANSAS CITY 241 292.7 7 20 18 116 17 18 28 5 4 5 1 - - 2 - - - - -
Oliver TEX 35 31.3 2 5 5 18 2 1 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Feliz TEX 32 32.0 - 2 5 20 3 - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Lowe TEX 29 26.3 - 7 3 13 3 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rhodes TEX 28 20.7 - 9 5 13 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tateyama TEX 18 19.0 - 2 3 9 2 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Bush TEX 14 26.3 - - - 8 - - 2 1 - 1 - - - 1 1 - - - -
Kirkman TEX 11 23.3 - - 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 - - - - - -
O'Day TEX 11 10.7 - - 2 8 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Strop TEX 11 9.7 - 3 - 6 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Eppley TEX 10 9.0 1 2 2 3 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
TEXAS 218 242.0 4 31 26 106 16 7 14 3 2 3 1 - 1 1 2 1 - - -
Walden LAA 37 36.7 - 1 1 34 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Takahash LAA 35 36.3 - 11 3 10 1 2 8 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Downs LAA 33 28.7 - 6 6 18 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Thompson LAA 27 33.3 1 2 5 7 2 5 4 - - - 1 - - - - - - - -
Rodney LAA 26 22.0 1 5 - 19 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jepsen LAA 16 13.0 1 4 2 6 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bell LAA 14 22.3 1 - - 7 - - 4 - - - 1 - 1 - - - - - -
Kohn LAA 11 9.3 1 1 2 6 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rodriguez LAA 10 13.7 - 1 - 4 - 2 3 - - - - - - - - - - - -
LOS ANGELES 220 232.0 5 32 20 113 9 14 22 1 1 - 2 - 1 - - - - - -
League SEA 39 36.7 - 1 6 31 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wright SEA 34 35.0 - 6 3 17 2 2 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pauley SEA 32 45.7 1 1 1 17 1 - 7 1 - 2 - - 1 - - - - - -
Laffey SEA 26 33.7 - 2 3 11 2 1 4 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - -
Ray SEA 22 24.3 - 2 4 10 1 1 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 173 198.0 1 14 19 99 7 5 20 3 - 3 - - 2 - - - - - -
Fuentes OAK 40 37.0 - 6 4 26 2 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Breslow OAK 37 32.0 2 7 3 21 2 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Ziegler OAK 34 30.3 - 7 6 17 1 1 2 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Balfour OAK 33 32.7 1 1 2 25 2 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wuertz OAK 27 26.3 1 2 1 20 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
Devine OAK 21 20.0 - - 4 16 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Blevins OAK 15 14.3 1 3 3 5 - - 2 1 - - - - - - - - - - -
Bailey OAK 14 14.3 - - - 13 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OAKLAND 248 248.0 5 29 27 150 12 7 11 3 - 1 1 2 - - - - - - -
