Looking at the team, they observed a few things. First, they had a ridiculously strong and deep bullpen, and this was even after trading away one of their best relievers, Josh Dougherty, earlier in the off-season. In contrast to this, however, was their relatively weak rotation, and the lack of a true “ace” among their starting corps. The Spuds needed to find a way to leverage their bullpen strength to give them an edge in more games.
The answer was clear: Openers. By definition, the “Opener” strategy means starting the game with a pitcher whose job is to get through about an inning, then handing the ball over to a “Follower,” who pitches the bulk of the game, often throwing five innings or more. This is distinctly different from a “bullpen game,” because the Follower role still allows a starter-type to pitch the length of a standard outing.
In the BBA, the strategy had fallen out of favor, mainly because of the limited upside of burning a quality reliever in the first inning of a game whose outcome is yet to be determined. The Spuds, however, had a surplus of quality relievers, and had no problem using a closer-type in the first inning, since they had plenty of other options to finish the game.
The strategy would also allow the Spuds to “protect” their weaker starting pitchers by limiting the amount of times they faced the heart of opponents’ batting orders, and by giving them a handedness advantage in the cases of opponents who might set their lineups based on the Opener’s pitching side instead of the Follower’s.
After a brief trial in Spring Training with good results, the Spuds officially rolled out the Openers strategy for the 2054 season. With most of the season now in the books, we can break down some of the key metrics to see if it really gave the Spuds an advantage.
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The numbers
The first and most important number to look at is bullpen innings. The Spuds wanted their relievers to pitch more, and the numbers show they succeeded, though the numbers are a bit misleading. The Spuds lead the BBA in “reliever innings” by a lot, but that’s because Followers technically count towards reliever innings.
2054 Relief Innings
Team | Innings |
---|---|
Boise Spuds | 654.1 |
(next closest team) Brooklyn | 571.1 |
2054 RP Innings
Team | Innings |
---|---|
Brooklyn Robins | 571.1 |
Hawaii Tropics | 569 |
Phoenix Talons | 557.1 |
Jacksonville Hurricanes | 542.1 |
Madison Wolves | 540.1 |
Yellow Springs Nine | 527 |
Des Moines Kernels | 522.1 |
Boise Spuds | 520.1 |
There are a couple more metrics we can look at, specifically comparing Opener games to non-Opener games, to see if the strategy actually gave the Spuds an advantage:
Boise W-L Record
- | |
---|---|
In “Opener” games | 19-18 (.514) |
In non-“Opener” games | 58-54 (.518) |
- | |
---|---|
In “Opener” games | 5.4/game |
In non-“Opener” games | 4.6/game |
So did the Openers help? It’s hard to say. But I like to think the Opener strategy gave us a better chance in those games than we otherwise would have had.
That’s also backed up by this number:
"Opener" Games
- | |
---|---|
Where the Opener pitched a scoreless outing | 24/37 (65%) |
Where the Opener allowed > 1 run | 13/37 (35%) |
But of course, there are going to be times when the whole strategy backfires.
Number of times the Follower pitched the GAME OF HIS FUCKING LIFE and lost, thanks to a sloppy first inning by an Opener
- | |
---|---|
1 |
People will knock the Opener strategy when seeing a game like this, and get caught up in the emotional aspect of Hill having a potential win taken away from him in the game of his life. But who’s to say what would’ve happened without the Opener? Maybe Hill gets knocked around by the top of the Blazers lineup in the first, and never has a chance to go 8+ innings.
Anyway, the point is, Openers are in Boise to stay. And as the Spuds gear up for a potential postseason run, they’ll look forward to seeing how opponents will adjust to the strategy. Will they start stacking their batting orders differently when they face us? Guess we’ll see in October.