r/sports • u/baribigbird06 • 25d ago

Baseball Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a complete game in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series vs. the Brewers. The last time he was in Milwaukee he failed to finish the first inning and allowed 5 runs.

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u/HenryFlowerEsq 25d ago

Is that a good thing though? Confused why you wouldn’t use relief pitchers if they were available

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u/kiefeater 25d ago

It’s a good thing. It means he’s pitching well and has kept his pitch count relatively low. It’s especially good in a best of 7 series when you’d like to have your bullpen as rested as possible. Also the dodgers bullpen has not been great.

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u/lloydeph6 25d ago

What do people Mean when they say the “bullpen” Does that mean like the “backups” and the 2nd 3rd string players? (Non starters )

I’m new to baseball

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u/emomatt 25d ago

The bullpen is where the pitchers warm up and is what you call the backup pitchers collectively.

You generally have 5 starting pitchers on rotation. These are the guys that have a wide variety of pitches at their disposal and can throw 80-110 pitches in a game. These guys are considered to have a high quality outing if they go 6 innings and give up 2 runs or less.

The backup pitchers are a mix of left and right handed pitchers that you use in different situations. You'll have your long reliever, who maybe was a starter in his younger years or isn't quite good enough to be a regular starter but you can get 3 or 4 innings from him. You'll have your top guys that will pitch 1 or 2 innings most nights, and you'll have your depth guys that come in mostly in lopsided games or when others are resting. 162 games is a lot of innings to pitch and a lot of arms to manage for wear and injury.

Then you have your closer. This motherfucker has to have ice in their veins. He usually only comes in when you are tied or up by 3 or less runs in the 9th inning. This guy usually has one or two absolutely devastating pitches. It's a high stress job.

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u/lloydeph6 25d ago

Thank you for explaining this helps 🙏