Posted by contrarian23 on 6/11/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by DoctorKz on 6/11/2020 11:16:00 AM (view original):
Rarely will Sparky fully utilize Specialist LH or RH relievers. Probably better to avoid using that role entirely, unless you simply have an abundance of arms.

So...I used to think that too. And I still believe that, IF you have LHS/RHS mixed with Setup A/B.

BUT - I have had really good success recently with setting all of my late inning relieves to LHS/RHS. They get used plenty, and you are more likely to have them used with the platoon advantage.

I've used exclusively LH/RH specialist bullpens for years now, and starting every appearance with the platoon advantage was the reason I started doing it. I've found it generally works well in spite of the occasional small-sample blow-up season that just doesn't work out. It took me a while to get used to managing it day-to-day and drafting/organizing a bullpen to fit this concept, but it's the only way for me now.

I'm admittedly slow. It never occurred to me to set all late inning pitchers in this fashion. Pardon me as I wipe away the drool.

Grandpa said it's a good day if you learn something. Carpe diem...

This really seals the deal for me to draft the max number of relievers whenever possible, to maximize on matchups. I pretty much draft as many as I can already...

I've read Skunk's bullpen strategy before, but I just can't take the leap. Is there enough quality Left-handed relievers out there?

Posted by tomhanrahan on 6/11/2020 3:20:00 PM (view original):
new guy here, so others may have said this before me....

I recently took the big pitcher spreadsheet to assess if the salary for a 100 IP arm was about double the salary of an equivalent 50 IP, and half that of a 200 IP arm.
I used ERC+(norm) as my measure of pitcher quality. I picked "bins" of pitchers of similar quality and groups of innings.

What I found was that a 55 IP arm is priced half of a 100 IP arm, which is half of a 190 IP arm. So basically the first 10 innings are "free"
(55-10) is half of (100-10) is half of (190-10)

I've never considered the concept of "free"innings but I've run similar analyses that had results like this. You might be on to something. I used to build a pen of 50-60 IP guys but now I've found the real sweet spot of 25-35 IP. You simply get more ERC# bang for your buck.

Posted by skinndogg on 6/11/2020 5:27:00 PM (view original):

I've read Skunk's bullpen strategy before, but I just can't take the leap. Is there enough quality Left-handed relievers out there?

Absolutely. At any cap.

tpistolas, the downside I guess would be fewer spots available for pinch hitters, def subs, etc

Posted by tomhanrahan on 6/12/2020 8:06:00 AM (view original):
tpistolas, the downside I guess would be fewer spots available for pinch hitters, def subs, etc

I always go with 13 pitchers, and 12 hitters anyways.

Lots of great information here. Thank you all.

Depends on the rest of your team. Draft spots have value and sometimes you don't want to give up that extra spot. But when you can spare it the 30 ip pitchers may be priced slightly better and they do offer an extra arm if you don't have a big bullpen.
For a 30ip pitcher I'm less concerned about ip/g. You can limit him to 10 pitches and still have no problem getting all of his innings.
I find 30ip pitchers can be a pain to manage, if you're a passive manager the 60ip might be simpler.

I believe the secret to my success in the 255, with max AAA (60/20) most importantly with pitchers, is I use at least 3 lefties and 5 nighties in the specialist role set at 15/15. Every game I swap out a tired pitcher for a fresh one in the AAA.

Posted by contrarian23 on 6/11/2020 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by DoctorKz on 6/11/2020 11:16:00 AM (view original):
Rarely will Sparky fully utilize Specialist LH or RH relievers. Probably better to avoid using that role entirely, unless you simply have an abundance of arms.

So...I used to think that too. And I still believe that, IF you have LHS/RHS mixed with Setup A/B.

BUT - I have had really good success recently with setting all of my late inning relieves to LHS/RHS. They get used plenty, and you are more likely to have them used with the platoon advantage.

Contrarian do you still use long relief settings with the specialists? I decided to try this and had a near disaster when Sparky left “Long A” in a tight game with six or seven RHS/LHS cooling their heels. Sparky may have been trying to reach the Long A’s target PC, but he usually will abandon that if the game gets close and guys designated “setup” are available.

For anyone interested in a different type of RP challenge, I have created a league to Maximize Mike Marshall, to see what performances we can get out of 1974 Marshall and his 208.1 innings (at under 2 IP/G). I'm donating the founder's credit for the best ERA with a minimum 150 IP, but I hope to get over 200 IP out of him.

See the post in the Classifieds forum.