Bring back Jack McKeon to Manage the Bullpen

[D-Man]

This may sound quaint and distant, but in 1999 the Reds had three relievers with IPs straight off of a 1973 baseball card:

Williamson: 62 games, 93 innings
Graves: 75 games, 111 innings
Sullivan: 79 games, 114 innings

With Simon’s successful 3-inning save today, my hope is that Dusty returns to more Jack McKeon-eque bullpen usage patterns in the coming days/weeks. That means more multiple-inning relief appearances, fewer relievers warming up each game, and fewer in-game pitching changes.

It’s a bit strange how it’s come to this point. The Reds' starters have been outstanding, consistently going 6-7 innings per game. The Reds have one of the best closers pitching the 9th inning of virtually every close game. That leaves 1-2 innings per game that need to be pitched, on average, by six other members of the bullpen. So why are the Reds experiencing so much fatigue and churn in the relief corps?

Obviously, injuries to Marshall and now Broxton have shifted the roles of others in the bullpen. That sucks. And several extra-inning games have compounded the problems.

But I suspect that a more optimal use of the bullpen could be employed. Most of the time when one of the middle relievers runs into trouble, the Reds order both a lefty and righty reliever to warm up in the bullpen. This strikes me as wasteful; the tactical advantage of using a lefty instead of a righty against a tough LH batter is more than cancelled out by the qualitative performances of, say, Manny Parra and Sam LeCure.

Here is one guy's proposed decision rules on how the bullpen should be used in the near future, assuming that Chapman will continue to pitch according to Dusty’s rules:

*Close games, where starter lasts 6/7 innings: LeCure or Simon pitches innings 7 & 8. Chapman pitches 9th.
*Close games, where starter lasts less than 6 innings: Hoover as a bridge to LeCure/Simon, Chapman pitches 9th.
*Laughers, where Reds’ starter lasts less than 6 innings: Have at it with back end of the bullpen (Parra, Partch, Villarreal, etc. )
*Blowouts, where Reds starter lasts 6+ innings: Hoover, Partch going 2 innings. Return to Chapman if game tightens up, otherwise back end of the bullpen closes.
*Extra-inning attrition games: LeCure or Simon pitches innings 7 & 8. Chapman pitches 9th. Hoover pitches 10 & 11, and then go to the freshest back-end arm from there.

The general decision rules would be: use your best relievers in tight games, use your best relievers for 1-2 inning durations, only 1 reliever warming up (except in rare circumstances), and avoid the back end of the bullpen except in blowouts or extra-inning games of attrition. Some of this will be context-driver, of course. Double-switching, recent usage, etc., should make these rules somewhat malleable.

[George Anderson]

McKeon is 83 years old.

There is a better chance Ted Kluzewski will come back to be hitting coach.

[RedEye]

Sounds good to me!

[Kc61]

The idea of using set up men for two innings is worth very serious consideration. DMan with very fine post.

The pattern of resting pitchers would have to change. After a two inning stint more rest would be required.

Still, the recent Partch and Simon outings show how these can be effective relief stints. Used to see more of this years ago. Not so much today.

[kaldaniels]

Best case scenario I hope today's game maybe was an eye-opener.

You get these games where the Win Probability is 95 percent or so going into the 7th inning. (For example - today after the bottom of the 6th was over with the Reds up 5-1, the WP was 94.9%) When that happens either way, winning or losing, I'd look to turn to a long reliever (not one of my elite guys) and try to let him finish it out. Not all the time, but some of the time. Save a starters arm for a few innings. If you are losing, sacrifice a bullpen arm to give you a better chance tomorrow.

I wouldn't be rigid in how I did this, but like I said, when a game is pretty much at hand, I'd sometimes shift managing strategies in a big way...so long as the personnel matched up.

[WVRedsFan]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but...the Reds are 14 games over .500 and are barely staying in 2nd place, but I can't see the result being any better no matter who manages. Yes, Dusty drive me crazy on his batting orders and how he uses pitchers in general, but in watching a lot of games, most do the things he does and maybe worse. The secret has been and always be talent. This year, those that performed last year are not or hurt or just not doing it. There are idiots like Jerry Narron or Bob Boone, but it's the talent most often.

And as I say that, Heisey will be back and a more usable player will go down and Baker will play him every other day. See why I'm torn?

[westofyou]

I'd love some 2 IP work from guys, especially if they can generate the results those guys did in 1999

Sully and Graves were machines that year, they both faced over 450 batters, Graves did better than 2 IP 24 times, 5 times achieving 3 IP, Sully also topped 2 IP 24 times, 7 of those 3 or better and 1 4 inning appearance. He had 5 straight years of 400 batters faced as a Red. The best a Reds pitcher Has done since Sully left is 365 BF by John Rielding in 2004. The high last year was Chapman with 276 BF. The all time high for a Reds reliever was Wayne Granger in 1969 (90 games)

The game does change just look at the BP distribution the past 12 years

1999

BATTERS FACED                   BFP      IP        G     SO/9 IP   BR/9 IP     GS     
1    Scott Sullivan              470    113.2       79     6.18    11.32        0   
2    Danny Graves                454    111         75     5.59    11.43        0   
3    Scott Williamson            366     93.1       62    10.32     9.45        0   
4    Dennys Reyes                277     61.2       65    10.51    13.86        1   
5    Gabe White                  261     61         50     9.00    12.39        0   
6    Stan Belinda                185     42.2       29     8.44    12.87        0   
7    Rick Greene                  25      5.2        1     4.76    12.71        0   
T8   John Hudek                    9      1          2     0.00    63.00        0   
T8   B.J. Ryan                     9      2          1     4.50    22.50        0   



2012


BATTERS FACED                   BFP      IP        G     SO/9 IP   BR/9 IP     GS     
1    Aroldis Chapman             276     71.2       68    15.32     7.79        0   
2    Alfredo Simon               269     61         36     7.67    13.72        0   
3    Jose Arredondo              263     61         66     9.15    12.54        0   
4    Sean Marshall               256     61         73    10.92    10.92        0   
5    Logan Ondrusek              243     54.2       63     6.42    13.99        0   
6    Sam LeCure                  237     57.1       48     9.58    10.99        0   
7    J.J. Hoover                 123     30.2       28     9.10     8.80        0   
8    Jonathan Broxton             87     22.1       25     8.06     9.67        0   
9    Bill Bray                    43      8.2       14     7.27    20.77        0   
T10  Tony Cingrani                22      5          3    16.20    10.80        0   
T10  Todd Redmond                 22      3.1        1     5.40    32.40        1   
12   Pedro Villarreal              3      1          1     9.00     0.00        0

[Vottomatic]

My oh my. Alot of people now changing their tune.

[dubc47834]

My oh my. Alot of people now changing their tune.

What people? What was their tune before?

[klw]

What people? What was their tune before?

Piano Man

McKeon is 83 years old.

There is a better chance Ted Kluzewski will come back to be hitting coach.

Can we bring back Lou Pinella for the managing of arguments with the umpires?

[George Anderson]

Piano Man



Can we bring back Lou Pinella for the managing of arguments with the umpires?

Looking back I think I jumped the gun in thinking the OP literally wanted McKeon back in the dugout when after I actually read the post I don't think he did, he just was kinda using his name in jest sort of.

I guess I should actually make it a point to read posts before I respond to them.

[klw]

Looking back I think I jumped the gun in thinking the OP literally wanted McKeon back in the dugout when after I actually read the post I don't think he did, he just was kinda using his name in jest sort of.

I guess I should actually make it a point to read posts before I respond to them.

The OP's post is actually well stated and interesting though the thread title is a little over the top.

[nate]

My oh my. Alot of people now changing their tune.

Who is changing their tune?

[edabbs44]

Williamson, Graves and Sullivan were all pretty much useless or out of baseball by their early 30s. Maybe that usage pattern isn't optimal?

[CySeymour]

Williamson, Graves and Sullivan were all pretty much useless or out of baseball by their early 30s. Maybe that usage pattern isn't optimal?

You can say the same thing about a high percentage of Major League relievers. I doubt this type of usage pattern had anymore to do with it then other factors.