Sports Nut

Brenly Blows It Again

Rany:

Unlike you, I don’t understand the argument against using Johnson. As you note, Johnson has pitched as a reliever in the postseason before. Six years ago, he pitched three shutout innings against the Yankees in Game 5 of the Division Series, just two days after he’d pitched seven solid innings to beat the Yankees in Game 3. Can anybody reasonably argue that Johnson shouldn’t have been used this year in Game 4 or Game 5?

These days it’s rare to see a starter pitch in relief, for a couple of related reasons. 1) The practice has simply fallen out of fashion. As baseball as a “system” has evolved, the roles within the system have become more specialized, and of course that’s what has happened with baseball pitchers. And 2) most good teams don’t need to use starters in relief, because they’ve got a well-stocked bullpen.

Look at the Yankees. They’ve got four relievers on the postseason roster who finished the regular season with earned-run averages below 3.50. Look at the other LCS teams: The Mariners had five relievers on the postseason roster who finished the regular season with ERAs below 3.50, and the Braves had something like seven relievers on the postseason roster with ERAs below 3.50. Hell, Jose Cabrera posted a 2.88 ERA in 59 innings for Atlanta, and he didn’t even make the postseason roster.

And the Diamondbacks? One. Byung-Hyun Kim. If there was ever a time and place for a manager to get creative with his pitching staff, this was the time and place. But Brenly was anything but creative. Baseball’s not always fair, though, so it’s Kim rather than Brenly who will be remembered for losing the 2001 World Series.