[Syd Thrift]

The real cutoff is times through the order and you really can’t count on a reliever being effective past the first time through. I believe some guy can do that but you’re looking for someone with starting quality stuff, i.e. 3+ quality pitches. If that’s your long man, chances are they’re also going to be at best the 6th best starter in your system so even then you can’t expect much. A 2 pitch guy is just not going to do as well their 2nd time through.

This is less of an issue in lower K and lower HR leagues but it can absolutely still pop up. In my early 70s era dynasty I find myself just being like “okay, rookie, you’re just gonna have to get hammered tonight because the game’s out of reach and you’re the last guy in the bullpen”, and even then sometimes a guy just can’t get out of an inning and I have to pull them anyway. FWIW, ime BABIP doesn’t go up for these guys, just everything else, so your chances of slipping through are greater if the batters you’re facing are low walk, low power guys.