[David Watts]

Originally Posted by oldtimey

As best as I can determine, if a reliever pitches 1 IP or less, he can pitch the next day. If he goes 2 or more, the cpu manager will not use him the next game. And I have seen setup men with 4-5 saves on certain teams who were used to close games when the closer was used longer because of extra innings or if he is "cold" over his last 10 appearances.
Now, I remember a situation where the setup man came into the game in the ninth with his team leading by 4 runs in a game I was watching. The series of events led to the bases loaded and two out. The manager brings in the closer, who gets the final out and records the save. Now, I admit this is the cheapest of saves (getting only one out, with the tieing run in the on-deck circle), and this might be how so many saves were amassed if the AI handles this situation everytime it occurs. If this is the case, the AI is only doing what it was programmed to do. If there is a save situation, deploy the player in the closer role. And because it is to get one out, a manager will bring him in despite him being fatigued. In this case, the closer threw one pitch and got a popup. Game over, closer records a save despite his team winning by 4 runs. Managers do go to a tired reliever and ask can you get one out if we need it. So, if this is the case, I will except this logic because the Ai is trying win the ballgame, not necessarily trying to amass saves. The save came because of the save rule stating that if a pitcher faces the tieing or winning run or if the same is on deck and he finishes the game without giving up the lead, he gets a save. That is just the AI doing what it is programmed to do.

So how many games in a row can the closer pitch with no fatigue if he only goes 1 inning?