Long Relievers

[cquinsland]

I've played every year since 2015. I play out my seasons, and opponents will have an average two star long reliever with 30 or 35 stamina consistently pitch 3 innings well (even if they're an average pitcher). No matter who I send out for longer than 2 innings, whether it's a starter, or a reliever with 35+ stamina, they can't make it through 3 innings, they either get shelled, or they run out of stamina.

My bullpens generally get hammered regardless, even though they are my highest rated players. I look into gb/fb and ballpark settings, and i'm not sure they have a big effect. Just wanted to hear other peoples feedback on bullpens, maybe I should get a new strategy?

[md40022]

Getting 2-3 innings out of a long reliever is really all you should expect. Regardless of a guy's stamina rating, if you have him in a bullpen role he's not going to be stretched out enough and he's not going to be in enough of a normal weekly routine where you can get a starter's inning load from him.

Look at long relievers IRL, even the ones who were full time starters recently, it's not like they are giving 6 innings of relief in a given game.

Modern day starting pitching is all about being on a routine. With everything from pitch counts to times through the lineup to when you throw on the side on your off days. When moved to relief that routine gets broken and you're now a 2-3 inning guy, even if you were doing 6-7 innings just a few weeks ago.

[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.

[LaserShow]

"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."

Is this calculated in the game?

[Syd Thrift]

Yes, all of that is very much part of the game.

[Pelican]

I probably read too much into this, but I am sensitive to the pitch count creeping up too high (too many balls thrown, too many baserunners) and also use the pitch location widget as a warning when pitches suddenly are out over the plate and not well located. Those long relievers tend to fall apart in a hurry.

[monkeyman576]

I usually pay attention to things like if the pitcher is getting creamed by the batters or is throwing a lot of walks.

[Pelican]

Of course, but I swear the game throws hints with line drives and deep balls that are barely caught. In other words, the pitcher can start "getting creamed", even if the hard-hit balls stay in the park and are somehow caught. This is only going one way, and it is not good for the long reliever, even if outs are somehow being recorded.