Friday, May 03, 2002
Bullpen jump-starts starting pitchers
Relievers keep innings pitched, ERA at low levels
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOS ANGELES — Going into this season, the baseball experts saw the Reds bullpen as a strength and the starting pitching as a weakness.
But through the first month of the season, the relief pitchers have helped make the starters better.
How, you say?
Consider: Entering Thursday's late game, the starters had gone 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA over the Reds' last 10 games. But only twice in that span did a starter pitch into the eighth inning. The starters during the streak have averaged just fewer than six innings.
The Reds are fifth in the National League in ERA (3.55) and 14th in innings pitched. Usually teams with the best ERAs pitch the most innings.
The starters have been so effective because, with the good bullpen, they haven't had to pitch into the late innings.
Joey Hamilton was pitching a shutout Wednesday night when Reds manager Bob Boone pulled him after Hamilton allowed a one-out single in the eighth. Hamilton was OK with the decision. Not that it mattered.
“I don't care,” Boone said. “I've taken them out when they haven't been happy. It's easy when you have a bullpen like ours. If you see (the starter) struggling a little bit — that slider's a little loose — and you know the bullpen is fresh, you're going to bring someone in to try to close it out.
“You know the starter's not fresh.”
The seventh and eighth innings can be difficult for starters because they are tiring and hitters are seeing them for third or fourth time.
“Obviously, it's easier to go five or six (innings) because you're not exposed to that extra inning or two,” pitching coach Don Gullett said. “When the bullpen's fresh, you're going to bring them in. But it's a question of whether the bullpen can keep it up all year.”
That's a good question. Gabe White and Scott Sullivan both are on pace to pitch in 106 games.
The Reds' hope is their starters will build on their early success and as the year wears on, they'll pitch seven or eight innings, instead of five or six.
“That's the goal,” Gullett said. “We want them to go deeper into the game.”
Chris Reitsma, one of the starters, thinks that will come.
“We take the ball every fifth day planning to go seven or eight,” Reitsma said.
The call is Boone's. Because of the bullpen's success, he'll probably continue to err on the side of an early hook.
The other benefit of the way Boone has used the bullpen is the starters have had a lot of early success. That builds confidence.
Four of the five starters have excellent ERAs: Elmer Dessens 1.80 (entering Thursday), Jose Rijo 1.89, Hamilton 2.65 and Reitsma 3.22. Only Jimmy Haynes at 5.54 is sub par.
But ERAs aren't the measure of a starter's success. Wins are. Winning nine games out of 10 — the Reds' streak entering Thursday — is more than any team can ask for.
“The credit for our success has to go to the starters,” Barry Larkin. “Those guys have been great. They've kept us in games.”
Reds Stories
Stage set as Kitna, Frerotte face off
Bengals notes: Leyva makes way to White House
NFL notes: Houston Texans claim Travis Prentice
Keeping up with tradition means a lot to Panthers
Services for Harris set for Saturday morning
Sycamore lacrosse ranked 2nd in Ohio
Tragedy shadows CovCath victory
Vickers to coach East boys basketball
Milford topples Colerain
Record-setting Uebel enjoys team success
Prep sports schedule
Preps softball notebook
Preps tennis notebook
Preps track notebook
BOYS TRACK - Coaches Poll
SULLIVAN: Journeyman trainer stops, smells the roses
Foal illnesses have horse industry on edge again
Kentucky Derby notebook
Like flying to the moon
Oaks suits D'Amico fine
Resurgent Pincay seeks win at 55
Queen City Bowl?
Runner in race for long life
New Jersey holds off Indiana in overtime
Stack stinks, Detroit wins anyway
Forsman takes first-round lead
Kroger Classic gets a boost as Palmer commits
Leafs shut out at home
The Dominator is back
Coming up this week
• Return to Reds front page...
Bullpen jump-starts starting pitchers
