The handedness of a relief pitcher is critical. As a general rule, left-handed batters fare worse against left-handed pitchers, and right-handed batters will sometimes struggle against right-handed pitchers moreso than lefty hurlers.
Inversely, a right-handed batter will often excel against left-handed pitchers, and left-handed batters typically perform best against right-handed pitchers. Left-handed relievers, in particular, are often used in short stints due to their mastery over left-handed batters.
Prior to the advent of a three-batter-minimum rule in , it was common for left-handed relievers to enter a game to face just one left-handed opponent before being lifted for a right-handed reliever. Relief pitchers have become more commonly used in recent years and are extremely important to a baseball team. A relief pitcher in baseball comes in when the coach calls them in.
Their job is to get people out and help their team win. There are a few types of relief pitchers. Long relievers throw for a lot of innings. Middle relievers will pitch one or two innings.
Set up pitchers usually pitch the eight inning and closers usually finish the game. Lefty specialists are pitchers who only throw to one batter, a left-handed batter, but starting in this will no longer be allowed. Previous Next. Table of Contents. Role and Responsibilities The role of a relief pitcher is the same as any other pitcher; to stop the other team from scoring runs.
Types of Relief Pitchers Rarely just one reliever is used in a game. Left-Handed Specialists Left-handed specialists, also called lefty specialists, are another type of relief pitcher.
Setup Pitchers The setup pitcher is the relief pitcher who sets up, or pitches directly before, the closer so he can successfully end the game. Closers A closer is a special type of reliever; he is often the team's best relief pitcher. Relief Pitcher Equipment Pitching is the position on the baseball field with the least amount of equipment needed. Relief Pitcher History Relief pitchers are a relatively new phenomenon in baseball ; they began picking up prominence and significance in Major League Baseball around the s and s.
Relief Pitcher Statistics Relief pitching statistics are similar to any pitcher statistics. Relief Pitcher Skills and Techniques Relief pitching isn't all that different than any other kind of pitching. Hall of Fame Relief Pitchers The following lists some of the most famous relief pitchers of all time in baseball that have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
FAQ What is a relief pitcher in baseball? The difference in usage patterns goes beyond when the pitchers are brought into the game. Unlike starters , who are given several days off after each appearance, relievers are expected to be able to pitch in several consecutive games. A relatively recent development in relief pitching is the use of relievers in highly specific roles.
Rather than using all relievers in essentially the same way, as teams do with their starters, managers now try to use each reliever in one of a small number of stereotypical roles that depend on the game situation and opposing batter. The most common roles include:. The latter three categories are collectively known as short relievers , i. Over the years a number of awards have been created to distinguish the most effective relief pitchers in the major leagues.
It was discontinued after the season, and after a one-year hiatus, was replaced in by the Mariano Rivera Award in the American League and the Trevor Hoffman Award in the National League. The role of relief pitchers has evolved over the years. Originally, it was not a glamorous one, as it was reserved for younger pitchers getting their feet wet in the majors, or older ones on the way out.
The understanding was that all the better pitchers were used as starters. Managers would often use one of their starters to close out important games. There were some exceptions, pitchers who would spend most of their careers as relievers and be effective in the role - Firpo Marberry and Ace Adams are early examples - but the recognition of a "relief ace" did not come until the late s and early s, when the New York Yankees were very successful with Johnny Murphy and Joe Page in the role, and Jim Konstanty led the Philadelphia Phillies to a pennant by pitching out of the bullpen.
The role of the relief pitcher became more defined after that, but it was still rare for teams to train young pitchers to become relievers. All the best pitching prospects in the minor leagues were used as starters until the s , and it was standard for scouts to proclaim that teams should steer clear of anyone who was used primarily as a reliever or designated hitter in college, as these roles were for "incomplete" players and not real prospects.
The stigma associated with relief pitchers has largely disappeared at the major league level, as it has become understood that certain pitchers are more suited to pitching in relief and can provide extremely valuable contributions in the role. For example, middle relievers were until the 21st century largely excluded from consideration for the All-Star Game , but this has now changed. In parallel relievers have begun to represent an ever-larger segment of a major league roster, with most teams now having seven or eight relievers on their roster in permanence.
However, some of the negative perception associated with the role still persists in the minor leagues, where closers are valued, but other members of the bullpen not as much. They tend to be considered as non-prospects or "organization soldiers", whose ceiling is limited to making a few short appearances on a major league roster to help out an otherwise tired bullpen.
The endless parade of relief pitchers in major league games the s has been the subject of much criticism. In , addressing this problem was the focus of one of the rule changes which Major League Baseball asked the Atlantic League to test out: relief pitchers would now be required to face a minimum of three batters or to complete the half-inning before being eligible to be relieved themselves.
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