Opener (baseball)
In baseball, an opening pitcher, more frequently referred to as a opener, is a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the first outs in a game, before the team turns to a long reliever or pitcher who would typically be a starting pitcher. The strategy was first employed in Major League Baseball by the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2018 season and has been adopted by other teams.
History
By the 1980s, teams in Major League Baseball had adopted starting rotations consisting of five starting pitchers, with all other pitchers on the active roster serving as relief pitchers.[1] In the 1990 National League Championship Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to use right handed relief pitcher Ted Power as an opener before giving way to the announced starting pitcher, left-handed Zane Smith, in an attempt to get the Cincinnati Reds to change their batting lineup.[2] The Oakland Athletics under Tony La Russa pioneered the use of a closing pitcher with Dennis Eckersley, who won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award in 1992. In 1993, the Athletics had a poor starting rotation, and La Russa and Dave Duncan, the Athletics' pitching coach, split their pitchers into platoons, with a core of dedicated relief pitchers. Though the experiment lasted for only six games before the Athletics returned to a traditional starting rotation, Ron Darling, a member of the 1993 Athletics, called it "a precursor to all the things that you see today".[1]
Based on the idea that starting pitchers are less effective against the opposing team's hitters the more times in a game they face them, Dave Fleming, a writer for Bill James Online, wrote in 2009 about a proposed "3-3-3 rotation" where pitchers would be limited to throwing three innings in a game.[1] Bryan Grosnick, writing for SB Nation's Beyond the Box Score, suggested using an opening pitcher for an inning or two before giving way to a more traditional starting pitcher in a 2013 article.[3][4] In his 2016 book, Ahead of the Curve, Brian Kenny suggested the possible use of an opening pitcher, noting that the highest scoring inning is typically the first inning, so a team should use a relief pitcher to shut down the top of the opposing team's batting order.[5][6]
The Tampa Bay Rays began experimenting with an opener during the 2018 season, first utilizing the strategy on May 19. The first pitcher they chose to deploy as the opener was Sergio Romo, a veteran who has served as a closer. Romo pitched in the role again on May 22 and 23.[7] The Rays returned Romo to their closer role in June, and they continued to use an opener, primarily turning to Ryne Stanek and Hunter Wood for the role.[8] The Rays saw their team earned run average (ERA) decrease after beginning to use the strategy.[9][10] The Rays' openers recorded a 3.97 ERA in a combined 93 innings pitched, which bested the league average ERA of 4.15.[11]
In June, the Los Angeles Dodgers used Scott Alexander as an opener due to injuries in their starting rotation.[12] The Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers also employed openers in the last month of the 2018 season.[13][14][lower-alpha 1] In the nine games in which the Athletics used the opener strategy in September (with Liam Hendriks serving as opener in eight of those games), they posted a win-loss record of 4–5 and a 1.86 ERA.[16] The Athletics also chose to use Hendriks as the opener in the 2018 American League Wild Card Game.[17]
Advantages
One advantage of this approach is that the opener, who is often a hard-throwing specialist, can be called in to face the most dangerous hitters, who are usually near the top of the batting order, the first time they come to bat.[15] If the opener is successful, the job of the next pitcher is easier since they will start with less dangerous hitters.[18][19] The strategy also throws off the timing of the top-of-the-order hitters, who are not used to seeing different pitchers each time they come to bat, and allows the starting pitcher to face the top of the lineup two times rather than three.[15]
From a financial perspective, the strategy allows teams to make more use of relievers who are still under low-paying contracts, potentially reducing the salaries paid to starting pitchers because the latter are used less.[11]
Notes
- ↑ The Milwaukee Brewers used the strategy just for the lead-off batter in a September 24 game, bringing in reliever Dan Jennings to pitch to Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals.[15]
References
- 1 2 3 Lindbergh, Ben (August 20, 2018). "How the 1993 A's Predicted Baseball's Opener Trend". The Ringer. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ↑ "Ted Power: A reliever who started a really 'big' game". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ↑ Bradburn, Michael. "Let's (not) get weird: The case for and against the Rays' controversial 'opener'". theScore. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
Former Beyond the Box Score managing editor Bryan Grosnick discussed the alternative approach at length in 2013.
- ↑ Grosnick, Bryan (November 26, 2013). "Replacing setup men with "openers"". Beyond the Box Score. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Don't Count On The 'Opener' Being Baseball's Next Big Thing". Forbes.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Sergio Romo's very early entrance may signal start of big pitching change | MLB". Sporting News. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ Rubin, Mallory (May 22, 2018). "Tampa Bay's 'Opener' Experiment Could Spark a Baseball Revolution". The Ringer. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "'This could change the game:' Rays' 'openers' and 'bulk guys' on their new pitching strategy | For The Win". Ftw.usatoday.com. August 23, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Tampa Bay Rays have best ERA in baseball since starting 'openers'". Espn.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Rays Disrupt Baseball's Tanking Industry by — Get This — Trying to Win - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- 1 2 Tayler, Jon (August 23, 2018). "How the Tampa Bay Rays Reinvented the Concept of Starting Pitching". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ R.J. Anderson (June 1, 2018). "Dodgers may employ 'opener' strategy as Clayton Kershaw returns to the DL". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ↑ Bollinger, Rhett (September 1, 2018). "Twins to test out opener strategy Sunday". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ↑ "Texas Rangers: Although it didn't result in a win, here's why the Rangers' first time using an 'opener' was significant | SportsDay". Sportsday.dallasnews.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- 1 2 3 Justice, Richard (September 27, 2018). "Could the 'opener' be utilized in postseason?". MLB.com. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ↑ "Yankees' Severino faces A's 'opener' in wild-card game". ESPN. October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
- ↑ Kristie Ackert. "Yankees Luis Severino to face off against A's 'opener' Liam Hendriks in wild card game". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Tampa Bay has best ERA in baseball since starting 'openers'". ESPN. June 28, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Cash explains the 'opener'". MLB.com. August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
Further reading
- Miller, Sam (October 4, 2018). "A brief history of bullpenning". ESPN. Retrieved October 4, 2018.