Seattle Mariners takes for Week 7: M’s hit the skids, call up the kids
Bullpen
As previously hinted, the Seattle Mariners finally caught up to their unkind advanced metrics. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how some of the bullpen’s advanced metrics indicated their results were better than they should have been. At the time, only Drew Steckenrider, Kendall Graveman, Casey Sadler, and Anthony Misiewicz were pitching well enough to reflect their results.
Well, that hurricane has come ashore. The bullpen hasn’t been as dominant as it was earlier in the year. Possibly because they’re overworked. Remember, those bullpen days meant no starters pitched. So, instead of going with a five-man rotation, and continuing to limit the wear and tear on the pen, Servais added more to their workload. With that being said, the bullpen is the strongest part of Seattle’s pitching staff, so it makes sense to use them.
However, hindsight is saying that may have been a mistake. Another thing to consider is that Kikuchi and Chris Flexen are the only starters eating innings. The duo pitched more than 5.2 innings a game in 10 of 14 outings. The rest routinely went about five-ish innings before turning it over to the pen.
Early in the season, managers walk a fine line. They have to balance letting their starters go but not putting them at an increased risk of injury and providing enough work for the bullpen. Could Servais have been too cautious with some of the starter’s starts?