Bullpens and Fatigue - A General Question

[beervendor]

There's much discussion about the O's SP struggling to get past the 5th, overuse of specific pitchers, and generalized bullpen burnout over the season. I wonder about the relative effects of appearances, starts, IP, times warmed up, etc. on pitchers' stamina/fatigue over a season. I would guess Brian Matusz's 50IP over 60 games is far less taxing physically than Tillman's 180IP over 30 games. Is Brach more gassed in Oct after 80IP vs 50 for Matusz in the same number of appearances? Or if Britton warms 85 times vs 75, but gets into the same number of games?

I'd guess the sources and relative effects of fatigue vary wildly from player to player, but are somewhat predictable over an entire staff. I'd also guess relievers might be more susceptible to injury with more frequent and unpredictable use despite many fewer pitches thrown than SP, while starters would be more prone to fatigue/burnout. I'd only be guessing, though. Thoughts?

[Redskins Rick]

Tony LaRusso was criticized more than once for the way he handled the pen, warming guy up repeatedly in the same game, and never thought about how many innings, or days in a row they had thrown.

I think Buck and his Pitching coaches, has shown in his years of managing year, that he tries to do the best he can, keeping everything in mind, when he makes decisions.

[Frobby]

I'd guess the sources and relative effects of fatigue vary wildly from player to player, but are somewhat predictable over an entire staff. I'd also guess relievers might be more susceptible to injury with more frequent and unpredictable use despite many fewer pitches thrown than SP, while starters would be more prone to fatigue/burnout. I'd only be guessing, though. Thoughts?

Take these numbers with a grain of salt, but here are my AL East totals for days missed by starters and relievers due to injury (taken from the "injuries happen" thread):

2010: 454/819

2011: 679/872

2012: 741/1333

2013: 705/1033

2014: 970/197

2015: 1004/874

Total: 4,553 games missed by starters, 4,128 missed by relievers. Note that "games" means games played by the team (so if the team played 100 games while a starter was injured, that's 100 games missed, even though the starter only would have pitched in 20 or so of those games). Also, these figures only include players who missed part of the year due to injury. Anyone who missed the entire season isn't included.

My takeaway from these numbers is that the balance between who gets hurt more fluctuates a lot and there is no real pattern. However, injuries to starters have been increasing pretty steadily.

That 2014 figure for bullpen injuries (197) seems like quite an outlier. But it's just one of those things.

[Redskins Rick]

Take these numbers with a grain of salt, but here are my AL East totals for days missed by starters and relievers due to injury (taken from the "injuries happen" thread):

2010: 454/819

2011: 679/872

2012: 741/1333

2013: 705/1033

2014: 970/197

2015: 1004/874

Total: 4,553 games missed by starters, 4,128 missed by relievers. Note that "games" means games played by the team (so if the team played 100 games while a starter was injured, that's 100 games missed, even though the starter only would have pitched in 20 or so of those games). Also, these figures only include players who missed part of the year due to injury. Anyone who missed the entire season isn't included.

My takeaway from these numbers is that the balance between who gets hurt more fluctuates a lot and there is no real pattern. However, injuries to starters have been increasing pretty steadily.

That 2014 figure for bullpen injuries (197) seems like quite an outlier. But it's just one of those things.

Great work there Frobby.

I suspect the growing number of TJS has to imprace the more injuries to starters and cause this to rise, just on its own.

[Larry18]

I don't think there is anybody better than Buck at managing a bullpen's workload.

[Frobby]

I don't think there is anybody better than Buck at managing a bullpen's workload.

I don't, either. By the way, we've had very few serious arm injuries in our bullpen on Buck's watch. By year:

2010: 358 (note: Buck became the manager in early August)

2011: 47

2012: 161

2013: 41

2014: 18

2015: 181

Looking behind the numbers in 2012 and 2015: In 2012, 105 of the 161 missed games were by Stu Pomeranz, who pitched all of 3 games for us. You can't really pin that on Buck. In 2015, 75 of the 181 missed games were by Jason Garcia and 84 were by Wesley Wright. Again, it doesn't seem usage was a factor.

Bottom line, Buck's bullpens have been very effective and very healthy. Maybe that's just good talent and good luck, but I don't think so. Buck is masterful at getting the most out of his bullpen and watching out for the health of his relievers.

[scOtt]

I don't think there is anybody better than Buck at managing a bullpen's workload.

Jim or Fred on the radidio said part of the reason DOD came in two nights ago was mostly because he was warm. No dry humping relievers. Buck is great about that. Usually if a reliever gets up, he gets in the game.

[Larry18]

Jim or Fred on the radidio said part of the reason DOD came in two nights ago was mostly because he was warm. No dry humping relievers. Buck is great about that. Usually if a reliever gets up, he gets in the game.

Last year Matt Thornton was got up 5 times without entering the game. Matt Williams pitched him the next day with the expected results.

[Aristotelian]

I wonder if we will see a move tomorrow. Bundy went 2+ the other night, Wilson went 3 last night, just used TJ, Brach, and Givens. I feel like Buck may have left Tillman in a couple batters too many tonight in part because there has been so much pressure on the bullpen lately.

[bpilktree]

I wonder if we will see a move tomorrow. Bundy went 2+ the other night, Wilson went 3 last night, just used TJ, Brach, and Givens. I feel like Buck may have left Tillman in a couple batters too many tonight in part because there has been so much pressure on the bullpen lately.

I doubt it there is no one on the 40 man that is really available at this time. The only guy is Drake. TJ would still be fine to pitch 2 or 3 innings and my guess is that Wright is a possible long man if you need one. They could pitch Wright in the pen and then move Wilson to rotation if need be for a start until Gausman is ready next turn around.