Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeThierry
Couldn't one say that the bullpen was the reason for the dominance of the pitching staff? .
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I can't link the study (forgot where it was), but it analyzed World Series winners to try to find the common thread in them.
The highest correlators were: Strong defense and bullpen.
Kind of surprisingly, at the time of the studies, the 1990 were analyzed as one of the strongest teams built for the playoffs.
It makes sense. In the postseason, a strong bullpen is more important than the regular season.. Many examples of post season games where the starting pitcher limps though the early innings, leaves with a lead and the bullpen shuts the opposition down. As a counter point, the bullpen was a weakness of many of the 90's Braves teams.. when the opposition saw McMichael, Reardon, etc in a 7 game series, they became very hittable.
In constrast, I think starting pitching is more important than the bullpen for getting to the playoffs.