Comments on: Most career starts with no relief appearances.

By: Chris J.

Chris J. — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:17:02 +0000

Mike Mussina has only had one game in relief -- it came in 2007. September 3, to be exact. (shakes fist in mock anger) Damn you, Joe Torre! Brad Radke made his MLB debut as a relief pitcher - and then never pitched in relief again. (Total tangent: Greg Maddux's MLB debut came as a pinch runner, a role I don't think he ever played ever again). Livian Hernandez also made his MLB as a relief pitcher & hasn't done it since then. He could still do it though - he ain't done yet.

By: Raphy

Raphy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:55:11 +0000

Vonhayes, because OPS+ is only measurable since 1957, when you talk about 300 game winners, you're only talking about 9 pitchers. Glavine is third in terms of the worst career OPS+
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/WhUq

You are right about Osteen. However, there are a bunch of pitchers with a lot more wins that are between 97 and 99.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/NTBY

By: Johnny Twisto

Johnny Twisto — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:47:23 +0000

Raphy, I think you are correct for the main reasons Glavine has never relieved. The Braves stank when he came up, so they were willing to let him work out his struggles in the rotation. Since finding himself, he's never been hurt or lost his effectiveness. But I think David has a point why, on those rare occasions these days when a starter might be needed for emergency relief work, Glavine would not be one of the first choices.

But really, regardless of their particular skills, starters almost never relieve these days. The way teams use their staffs now is 98% of the reason why Glavine has never relieved. If he was born 50 years earlier, he definitely would have been used out of the pen on occasion.

By: vonhayes

vonhayes — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:53:05 +0000

Looks like this guy has the most wins for a pitcher with a careeer OPS+ against of 100 or more:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/osteecl01.shtml

Someone verify this, I don't have full PI access.

By: vonhayes

vonhayes — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:47:39 +0000

The PI says Glavine had an OPS+ against of 87, which isn't the highest for 300-game winners. Steve Carlton is at 89.

By: Raphy

Raphy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:55:57 +0000

Regarding #11.

I think its because Glavine was
(1) an elite pitcher
(2) who started off on a putrid team - which had no reason not to start him.
(3) who had a healthy career - and didn't need to rehab.
(4) Glavine also pitched on a very high quality staff. This probably meant that the Braves' bullpen was rarely desperate for a relief inning from a starter.

My guess is that starters of Glavine's ability are not usually used as relievers for strategic reasons, at least not during the regular season. If thats true then the pitcher's skill set shouldn't really matter.

By: Jgeller

Jgeller — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:26:40 +0000

Looking at Glavine's career splits, it looks like it doesn't take more time for him to recover. In fact, it looks like a pamphlet for Leo Mazzone's Rubber Arm theory. On normal 4 days rest: 3.39 ERA with 98 OPS+ for batters faced. On 3 days rest: 3.53 ERA with 100 OPS+, But give him 1 day extra rest, 5 days rest: 3.85 ERA with 106 OPS+. On that note, he has a career OPS+ against of 100 and yet he has 300 wins. Surprising.

By: David in Toledo

David in Toledo — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:32:12 +0000

Why is Tom Glavine especially unlikely to be used in relief?

Well, he isn't more effective against LHB. He isn't a fastballer you can send in to strike out one batter. His constant nibbling means he's poorly suited to a situation where there are already runners on base.

Does he also take a long time to warm up? And need more time to recover for his next start?

By: Raphy

Raphy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:45:29 +0000

Andy, I was wondering the same thing. However, I think that it is just that since there were few dedicated relievers way back when, every pitcher was a candidate to come in on occasion.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:26:23 +0000

I looked at that same list, Raphy, but wasn't convinced that it was correct for some reason. I figured there had to be more guys that were higher, and that maybe GR was a stat a while back. But after all the conversation above, I guess I was wrong.