If you’ve been watching MLB for a long time, you’ve noticed a ton of changes in how the games is played now compared to how it was in your youth. One that leaps out to me is the number of players used in a season. In 1972, the Mets used 34 players the entire season. In 2023, the Mets used 30 relief pitchers. We all know the how and the why behind that number. Additionally, we hope that number is reduced significantly next season.
Hopefully, the 2024 pen will be stocked with players who can perform reliably all season. If that’s the case, they’ll end up with more than one reliever with 60 IP. Adam Ottavino lead the way with 61.2 IP. It’s likely he would have been joined by David Robertson if he hadn’t been dealt near the trade deadline. Still, it would be nice to see more than two pitchers reach this level.
In 2022, the Mets had three relievers with at least 60 IP, the same number that they had in 2021. Originally, my thought was that this number was being heavily influenced by Billy Eppler’s bullpen strategy and Buck Showalter‘s commitment to rest for his relievers. But 2021 was before either of those two were working for the Mets.
Maybe my idea for relief pitchers is out of whack. According to FanGraphs,there were only 83 relievers to pitch at least 60 innings in 2023. The Guardians had six reach this marker while the Giants and Reds had five. So, it’s not completely out of whack but it’s not mainstream, either. My preference would be to have at least four relievers reach this 60-IP threshold.
But, in a potential piece of good news, the Brewers seem to think the same way here in recent years. In three of the past four full seasons, Milwaukee had four relievers reach 60 innings. Could be a coincidence. Or it could be the way that David Stearns believes a bullpen should be utilized.
My hope is that the 2024 Mets have a bullpen run with the twin ideas of rest and leverage in the forefront. Those two principles may make it tough to have six relievers reach 60 IP. But it shouldn’t make it impossible to have four reach that threshold. Next will be having four relievers on the team from Opening Day that are worth pitching that much. May that turn out to be as easily done as said.
Is it better to stash starters 6,7,8,9 in The minors to have them available to start or is it better to have them in the BP. Seems to me those guys are much preferable to a rotating cast of Triple A guys with options. If Luchessi,Butto,Peterson wand Megill are good in ST put them in the BP not in Syracuse.
We’re entering new territory with Stearns running the show and it’s far from clear how he’s going to handle this issue. In the past, at least one of those pitchers would begin in the minors because the Mets preferred guys to be stretched out as starters. And we saw Showalter stub his toe with this issue, not having Peterson adequately stretched out as a reliever in order to be ready to throw 70 pitches when he moved from the bullpen to the rotation.
After his start on 7/8, Peterson moved to the pen, making six relief appearances and never going more than two innings in any of them. Then, we he moved back to the rotation on 8/4, he was only able to go 3 IP and 52 pitches.
Hopefully, Stearns and the new manager decide to carry a long man in the pen, one who would be ready to move in the rotation if needed and be able to go more than 3 IP. I would carry multiple long men but that’s never going to happen.
My guess is that one of those four guys you mentioned is in the Opening Day rotation.
If the Met new brass considers the crop of Binghamton starters not only AAA – worthy but legit MLB starter candidates, they could have decent enough prospect depth to slit in a couple of last year’s depth guys as pen pieces.
While you philosophy my by on the margin, I suspect that it boils down to the quality of arms a manager has at his disposal. I’d bet there are many managers that would love to have 5-6 pen guys with 60+ innings if those guys put up decent numbers.
The Astros had six relievers with more than 60 innings each this year. That’s what a high quality bullpen can give you. I can’t blame Eppler anymore for setting up the team for failure this past season. It is what it is. With starters only going five or six innings these days, a strong bullpen is a must have.
A strong bullpen covers multiple sins. There are eight pitchers in a bullpen; one closer, five short relievers and two long relievers. The MLB starters averaged 6 inning per start. Therefore, 486 innings left to cover for the remaining innings. Having two long men (and using them) should benefit the bullpen with rest and decrease the shuttle to minors. There are four candidates for the 5th starter for the rotation. One will win and two should be long relievers.
I think whoever they switch to the pen must understand how important it is to throw strikes and be good from the first pitch, versus a starter who might really hit his stride an inning or two later and is used to giving up runs. So I’m looking for help from the outside. I would imagine the teams of old did not have as many 60 innings plus relievers because the starters went deeper into games. And the Guardians, Giants and Reds may have led the league in that category, but none of them made the post season. And I echo your plea for a good bullpen I 2024.
The Mets are now have a decent minor league system. Many comments refer to future minor leaguers, (Acuna, Gilbert, Williams, Parada) that will be starters and maybe stars in the near. I think it is Wiponion thinking to lower the payroll with minor league stars. Just look at the 2023 season where four top prospects were promoted and all or below average according to OPS+. All four of them have potential but relying on them to compete for the playoffs would be a risky proposition. Prospects shouldn’t be given a starting position. The should earn it like Alvarez is. The other three can contribute on the bench and maybe they can forced their way into a starting position.
What the Cohen Mets have is money. They can afford a Soto or Ohtani, a young Superstar that will blow the budget even if it means the draft pick penalty. The chances of that draft pick being better than them is a remote. Spending money on young superstars is more beneficial than spending money on aging superstars. Spending money on younger free agents is beneficial than spending money for older free agents. Cohen’s money needs to be spent more wisely.