Can "Bullpenning" Work in The Amateur Baseball Setting?

Can "Bullpenning" Work in The Amateur Baseball Setting?

"I feel we're the perfect case to do it. We have a lot of young guys who've been in different roles throughout their minor league careers, who can rotate here and there. There are some teams that wouldn't do it because they have full-fledged starters. We're happy to be here, and happy to contribute." - Ryan Yarbrough (Rays Starting Pitcher)

It was the morning of May 19th, 2018 and the Tampa Bay Rays were at a crossroads. Their record was 22-22. Division rivals the Boston Red Sox (31-15) and New York Yankees (29-14) were gaining distance on the Rays. The Rays were muddling along, and needed something to propel them to catch up with the Red Sox and Yankees. The starter for May 19th's game was Ryan Yarbrough. A left handed pitcher, who would face three tough right-handed hitters. He would have faced Zack Cozart, All-World Hitter Mike Trout, and Justin Upton. The Rays weren't particularly excited with how Yarbrough's stats matched up against these three hitters, so instead the Rays did something very unconventional. The Rays were going to start a relief pitcher. 

The relief pitcher the Rays started was Sergio Romo. Most noteably known as the set up man, and closer of the World Series winning San Francisco Giants. Never in his MLB career had Sergio Romo EVER started a game. But his role was just the same, go out there and get just three outs. Romo would have the same routine as he always had, it was just in a different inning. Romo started the game for the Rays and got through the first inning striking out all three hitters that he faced. After the first, regular starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough took over, pitching 6 and 1/3rd innings and taking on the brunt of the workload for the Tampa Bay pitchers on the night of May 19th. Oh and by the way, the Rays would go on to win the game 5-3. Also, the Rays didn't look back, they would continue using this strategy and surprising all of baseball by winning 68 more games and finishing with a record of 90-72. 

The theory behind "bullpenning" is to not have any of your pitchers face a lineup a third time through .for example, a reliever will go out there and pitch 1-2 innings, depending on how his role typically goes. Studies have shown that the more opportunities hitters get at seeing the pitch mix that a pitcher has, the better they will do at making solid and hard contact to do damage. Therefore the Rays did the "bullpenning" strategy so opposing lineups never had that advantage. 

The question is now, how can you apply this to the amateur baseball level? Well let's look at the similarities of the Rays and your possible team. The Rays had a young staff, that had pitched in different roles, either in the bullpen or as a starter throughout their Minor League careers. The strength the Rays had was their duplicity. Their ability of their pitchers having the experience of being both starters and relievers made "bullpening" a logical strategy. In other words "bullpenning" is the same workload for these pitchers, it was just statistically BETTER to do it this way for the Rays. 

Now, let's go to your team. Your pitchers are struggling. It isn't so much skill as it is their role during the game. Your team doesn't have a particular starter who has been doing well in the first inning. On the other hand you have a group of pitchers who have had different roles in their career. Some have to be starters due to the needs of the team, but don't feel so comfortable in the first inning. On the other hand, you have relief pitchers who don't care when they pitch, as long as their workload is the same. One thing to keep in mind is to look at the stats of your pitchers and talk to your pitchers about this strategy if you're planning on doing this. Odds are if you are thinking about doing this, then you already know that your pitchers could do this. You just have to convince them that this would work. 

On the amateur level your games will either be 7 or 9 inning games. If your starter doesn't do well in the first, then let your starter start in the second. There is no rule against this. The deal breaker is, is that you want your pitchers to be as comfortable going into the game setting as possible. You want your guys to go out there and let it rip. If there is any doubt, then the results won't be great. Of course there will always be nervousness for every athlete, but once that pitcher toes the mound, his focus is to dominate.

Remember, the goal of "bullpenning" is to not have your starters face the opposing lineup a third time around. This strategy is to help the starter get over either a mental roadblock of the first inning, or to help him not face those hitters who he struggles with as often. It is using your team's strengths, instead of letting traditional thought cause you to lose. If you have the players to match up with this strategy, and have the guts to do this, then this is worth a shot.. Simply put, it is finding the correct roles for your players, and using the correct strategy, however conventional or unconventional that it is for the best case scenario for success to happen.