Cut the bull

A call for fewer knee-jerk pitching changes

Sometimes you wish someone would lean over the railing, peer into the dugout and whisper into a manager's ear, "Enough is enough." That's how I felt at Wrigley Field last Friday. The Pirates were nursing a 2-1 lead when Chicago's Corey Patterson led off the bottom of the eighth with a single off lefty reliever Joe Beimel. With Sammy Sosa up next, Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon summoned right-hander Mike Fetters from the bullpen. Good move, in theory and in practice. We all know Sammy kills left-handed pitching, and Fetters ended up striking him out. It might have been the key at-bat of the game.

Then things got silly. With Fred McGriff up next, McClendon grabbed left-hander Scott Sauerbeck from the pen. To some, McClendon had played the inning masterfully to that point, getting a lefty-lefty matchup with the game on the line. But I say the move was a copout, and not just because McGriff ended up drawing a walk. One of the biggest problems with the modern game is knee-jerk pitching changes like this one. They deplete bullpens, bog down the game in over-specialization and -- are you listening, Bob Watson? -- turn brisklymoving games into three-hour epics.

By the end of the inning, pitcher No. 4, righty Brian Boehringer, was on the mound for Pittsburgh. (If you think this chapter-and-verse description is tedious, imagine what it was like to be there.) Anyone wonder why a game that featured all of three runs and 10 hits took three hours and five minutes to play?

I don't mean to single out McClendon. In his defense, the moves worked -- the Pirates won, 2-1. But it's bothersome that most managers run their bullpens with blind allegiance to The Book, burning pitchers and slowing games to a glacial pace just to minimize the chances of a righty reliever facing a left-handed hitter, and vice versa. Through Wednesday, a team had used four or more pitchers in a game an astonishing 144 times (out of 244 games played). A reliever's outing had lasted less than an inning 209 times. Certainly, there are times when managers need to operate their pens like puppet masters. It shouldn't, however, be a daily occurrence.

Take a look at the Fetters-McGriff matchup. Last year Fetters was actually more effective against left-handed hitters (.247 opponents batting average) than against righties (.269), though lefties did hit more homers off of him. In his career, McGriff is only 2 for 9 against Fetters -- not an extensive track record, but enough to show that Fetters can get him out. But forget the numbers. Fetters had just blown a fastball by one of the best hitters in the game and was obviously throwing well. He was warm and in the flow of the game, no small task on a raw, overcast, 44-degree day.

Why take him out? For one thing, managers like to cover themselves in case their players don't perform. If McGriff had taken Fetters deep, McClendon certainly would have been asked why he didn't summon a lefty. By bringing in Sauerbeck he made the "right" move. The walk was the result of the uncertain performance of the player, not a lack of managerial strategy. "Don't kid yourself that that's not why some of these moves are made," says one longtime pitching coach. "Managers know they have to answer questions."

Heavy-handed bullpen maneuvering is sometimes the mark of an inexperienced or insecure manager. It's easier to defend moves based on a computer printout than those grounded in a hunch or a feel for the way a game is going at a given moment. (A rookie manager, Toronto's Buck Martinez, led the AL in pitching changes last year.)

The average time of game in the first week of the season was 2:59, three minutes longer than the average for the same period last year. Watson, who's in charge of the commissioner's renewed effort to speed things up, said the first week was a grace period, that his office will now begin to crack the whip on slowpoke teams.

If baseball is serious about shortening games, maybe it should consider a new rule: Limit the number of pitching changes a team can make, say two per inning. Managers will argue that such a rule would limit their strategic options. I believe the opposite would happen. Skippers would have to skillfully ration their relievers rather than gorge on their bullpens like hotel breakfast buffets. Pitchers who are feeling strong or have good stuff on a given day won't be yanked because they throw with the wrong hand. And fewer pitchers in the game means fewer pitchers getting up in the pen. That might just translate into relievers who stay fresh, effective and healthy longer into the season. Now that's a surefire way for a manager to protect his job.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. Touching Base appears every week on CNNSI.com.

 

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