In Game 5 of the National League Division Series, Max Scherzer was on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning and he struck out Wilmer Flores to help the Dodgers advance to the NLCS.
Normally, a team doesn’t need a 5th starter in the playoffs and some starters will be moved to the bullpen. These years, we had seen top pitchers such as Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale come out of the bullpen to close out a game in the playoffs. This postseason, we had seen starters be used as relief pitchers several times. Did they pitch well as a reliever?Besides Max Scherzer, there are still more than 10 starters who made at least 20 starts during the regular season and came out of the bullpen this postseason. Scherzer threw two strikeouts in NLDS Game 5 and recorded his first career save. Additionally, Julio Urias made 4 relief appearances in the 2020 postseason. The Dodgers fans will not forget that he threw a strikeout to end Game 6 of the 2020 World Series and the Dodgers won the first World Series title since 1988. This postseason, Urias made 2 relief appearances and tossed 5 innings. But, he wasn’t as sharp as he was in 2020. As a reliever, Urias gave up 3 runs this postseason. In the 2020 postseason, Urias threw 13.1 innings without allowing an earned run when he came out of the bullpen. In addition, Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy each came out of the bullpen once and tossed one inning without giving up a run. However, Jake Odorizzi came out of the bullpen for the Astros in ALCS Game 2 and gave up 4 runs over 4 innings. Nonetheless, Odorizzi made 1 relief appearance in the World Series and didn’t allow a run in 2.1 innings. Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman had a great 2021 season, posting a 2.81 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 33 starts. He made 1 start and 1 relief appearance in the NLDS. Gausman gave up 4 runs over 5.1 innings in NLDS Game 2, but he tossed 0.2 innings in NLDS Game 5 without giving up a hit. Now, let’s look at the Rays. Michael Wacha made 23 starts and 6 relief appearances for the Rays during the regular season. As a starter, Wacha had a 4.53 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP over 107.1 innings. As a reliever, Wacha owned an 8.31 ERA and his WHIP was 1.62. In the postseason, Wacha made one relief appearance and gave up 6 runs in 2.2 innings. In the meantime, Shane McClanahan made 25 starts for the Rays and tossed 123.1 innings with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He was dominant in ALDS Game 1, tossing 5 innings without allowing a run. However, when McClanahan came out of the bullpen in ALDS Game 4, he gave up 5 runs in 0.2 innings. Furthermore, 4 starters, who made at least 20 starts for the Red Sox, used to come out of the bullpen this postseason. Nathan Eovaldi gave up 4 runs in 0.2 innings in ALCS Game 4 and took a loss. Martin Perez made 4 relief appearances and gave up 4 earned runs in 3 innings. Nick Pivetta made 2 relief appearances and allowed 3 runs in 8.2 innings. Garrett Richards only tossed 0.1 innings this postseason. Brandon Woodruff made one relief appearance for the Brewers in the NLDS and Adrian Houser made 2 relief appearances. Woodruff didn’t allow a run, but Houser gave up 4 runs. Finally, Drew Smyly made 3 relief appearances and ate 7.1 innings for the Braves this postseason. He threw 8 strikeouts, but he also gave up 5 runs. Moving a starter to the bullpen is not new in the postseason and we have seen that starters came out of the bullpen several times these years. However, the result might not be ideal for each team. It doesn’t guarantee that a starter would be sharp when he came out of the bullpen. Additionally, coming out of the bullpen might impact a starter’s next start. For example, Julio Urias gave up 5 runs in NLCS Game 4 after giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning in NLCS Game 2.
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