Arizona Diamondbacks: Bullpen in flux in the midst of playoff chase
The Arizona Diamondbacks have taken an unusual approach as the playoffs draw near – they’ve completely thrown a wrench into their bullpen makeup.
The Arizona Diamondbacks removed closer Brad Boxberger from the role after a rough series with the Atlanta Braves, but in an unusual step, they completely have gone away from bullpen roles altogether.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently in a 3-way race in the National League West. Their competitors, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies, have had their own bullpen woes this season, but the lack of definition of roles in the Diamondbacks this late in the season is very unique.
However, that doesn’t mean that the Diamondbacks will necessarily struggle in their new setup, and they have the type of bullpen that could actually be a tremendous example for redesign of the current mold of what a bullpen looks like. We will take a look at why the Diamondbacks may be uniquely positioned to use a new bullpen model.
The old model
Many teams have begun to chip away at the “old” bullpen model in recent years. The use of Andrew Miller for multiple innings by the Cleveland Indians in 2016 was a great example. The AL Wild Card game pitched nearly entirely by dominant relievers going 1-3 innings for the New York Yankees in 2017 was another chip.
This season has seen a major upheaval in the regular season with the Tampa Bay Rays using their “opener” strategy. Just this week, on September 11th, the Los Angeles Angels took a no-hitter into the 8th inning using a “reliever” game, finish off the game with 8 pitchers combining to toss a shutout, no one even completing 2 innings on the day!
What could the Diamondbacks do to be different? Let’s take a look…
Pitching multiple innings
This aspect of the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen could get even more effective with the addition of one of their season’s starters into the postseason bullpen. Currently, the bullpen consists of just a couple of guys who have tossed more innings than total appearances, but there are multiple arms who have that past history and that ability.
This season, the work that T.J. McFarland has gone sadly unnoticed around the league. The 29-year-old lefty has made 47 appearances, going 72 innings, and seemingly because he’s not a big strikeout guy, he’s not getting respect for the 2.00 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with a 22/42 BB/K ratio.
A change in the grip on his sinker has allowed McFarland to keep balls on the ground, even though he’s not going to likely be tally many strikeouts. It’s also allowed him to have a very easy, repeatable delivery that focuses on fastballs, easing stress on his arm, and allowing him to stretch out appearances multiple innings, a rarity among lefty relievers.
At the trade deadline, the Arizona Diamondbacks brought in Matt Andriese. The majority of his work coming into 2018 was as a starter, and that was just okay, and his move to the bullpen hasn’t been a dominating move by any means, but Andriese has the ability to work multiple innings.
On the year, he’s combined between the Rays and Dbacks to toss 75 2/3 innings in 39 appearances. Since coming to the Diamondbacks, he’s only tossed 16 innings in 12 appearances, which has really been hurt by a very high hit rate, leading to a 7.31 ERA. He’s eschewed his cutter in the bullpen, but it’s a fairly effective pitch, so if he were to focus on his fastball, cutter, and curve, he could have plenty of success eating up multiple innings.
Before 2018, Archie Bradley has been a guy who would definitely be counted on for multiple innings, working as a starter for all of 2016 before moving to the bullpen in 2017, where he pitched 73 innings in 63 appearances. While he’s only tossed 64 2/3 innings in 69 appearances this year, he has thrown more than one inning in 9 of them, so he certainly could be utilized for a pair of innings in the postseason if need be.
The final piece of this puzzle is that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be putting one of their two live-armed young starters into the postseason bullpen. Robbie Ray and Zack Godley will be competing for the 4th spot in the playoff rotation, which likely will be Ray’s, but either way, they’d have someone who can work into the mid-90s with the fastball in short bursts and offer multiple pitches to cover multiple innings come playoff time.
Specialists
The other angle that the Arizona Diamondbacks can do better than the typical bullpen is to specialize – from both sides. Most every bullpen in baseball has a LOOGY, their guy to stifle lefty hitters. The Diamondbacks have guys who can shut down from both sides.
The Diamondbacks have two guys who can dominate from the left side. Andrew Chafin has put up excellent numbers all season, with a 2.51 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 72 games and 46 2/3 innings pitched. He’s been dominant against both sides of the plate in 2018, but over his career, Chafin has allowed an OPS 100 points lower to lefties, and, most importantly, he puts up a notably lower walk rate against lefty hitters.
Arizona acquired Jake Diekman at the trade deadline from the Texas Rangers, and he’s had a solid season overall, but he’s been a player that has seen reverse splits on the season. Similar to Chafin, while the split is reverse this year, his career numbers indicate that he’s tougher on lefties.
The Arizona Diamondbacks will also be able to deploy two guys who are especially tough on particular hitters due to their unique arm angle. Yoshihisa Hirano was assumed as the guy who would likely get closing chances due to his history closing in Japan, but the 34-year-old rookie is incredibly difficult for lefties to pick up, in spite of being right-handed, due to the way he slings the ball from seemingly behind his shoulder.
The other arm angle guy is side-armer Brad Ziegler, who at 38 has had a long career suppressing right-handed bats, and while he may never win a velocity contest in the bullpen, his ability to dominate righties exists today. He’s held righties to an OPS 120 points lower than lefties in 2018, and over his career the split is in the range of 160 OPS points.
Next. NL MVP race as September begins. dark
The Arizona Diamondbacks may not have roles for the rest of this season, but with guys who can mold into a number of needs within the bullpen, perhaps they don’t really need roles – they simply need pitchers that can get an out. That would be a very different way to look at a bullpen – getting outs with the best pitcher to get that out rather than holding onto a pitcher for a certain role that may never come.