Houston Astros: Team’s bullpen defies norms with ability to go long

The Houston Astros are doing a lot of great things offensively this year that makes it easy for other aspects of their game to fly under the radar. Their choice of bullpen roster is one of those aspects.

The Houston Astros bullpen right now has three guys who have been used as major league starters this season and four guys who came through the minor leagues as starters in Francisco Liriano, Francis Martes, Joe Musgrove and Chris Devenski. Not to mention that when Lance McCullers Jr. returns that means Brad Peacock (or potentially Mike Fiers) would be another starter added to the bullpen bringing the total to five guys who would be considered long relievers in most bullpens.

Last season the Astros had brief success with a trio of starters turned long relievers as Michael Feliz and Scott Feldman were doing a great job alongside Devenski out of the bullpen. Before Scott Feldman’s trade in July, here are the months of May-July numbers with Feldman, Devenski and Feliz pitching long innings out of the bullpen (All these numbers are out of the bullpen only. Starts during this span were not counted.)

Scott Feldman: 5-1 record in 34.1 innings pitched with a 2.62 ERA and 24 strikeouts to two walks.

Michael Feliz: 6-1 record in 40 innings pitched with a 2.93 ERA and 59 strikeouts to 11 walks.

Chris Devenski: 0-0 record in 35.2 innings pitched with a 1.51 ERA and 29 strikeouts to seven walks.

A combined 11-2 record over 110 relief innings with a combined 2.37 ERA and 112 strikeouts to 20 walks in two months. It’s no wonder A.J. Hinch has only added to that stable of quality long relievers.

But it’s not just the numbers they put up, but the fact that they pitched multiple quality innings. And the way A.J. Hinch balanced their use is evident as they each threw two or more innings of relief in a game nine times each during that three month span (27 total times from May to July before Feldman’s trade.)

The team seems to be embracing this strategy now that if you have multiple relievers who can throw multiple quality innings you have the advantage in every game as you won’t burn through your bullpen options nearly as fast.

…It’s not just the numbers they put up, but the fact that they pitched multiple quality innings

Normally a team carries 2-3 long relievers out of their bullpen with most other pitchers being of the one inning variety. And these long relievers are generally not quality and are more used for spot starts or for when games are out of hand.

The Astros however have their number of single inning relievers matched by long relievers and soon to be outnumbered when McCullers Jr. returns and sends Brad Peacock or Mike Fiers back out to the ‘pen.

I’m a huge fan of this strategy as it gives you the advantage in a single game, whether it’s because a game goes to extra innings and you can use one option for two or three innings or because the game is a blow out (on either end) and you need someone to go from the fifth to the ninth without using any other bullpen options so you only burn one reliever as opposed to three or four.

It’s also obviously a big advantage to be able to move someone like Brad Peacock, Joe Musgrove, Francis Martes, Chris Devenski or Francisco Liriano into the rotation knowing they can handle that role and can pick which starter is best equipped to handle the lineup you’ll face if they are making a spot start.

Converting starters to relievers is nothing new. Wade Davis, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman came up through the minors as starting pitchers and are now dominant relievers.

It has been a successful move for some pitchers (Brad Peacock has a 1.77 ERA as a reliever and Chris Devenski is an all-star with a 2.74 ERA) while others have struggled (Michael Feliz started strong but now sports a 5.04 ERA and is no longer on the active roster. Francis Martes has been worse as a reliever with a 6.10 ERA compared to a 4.08 ERA as a starter.)

The jury still has to be out on Joe Musgrove and Francisco Liriano in small sample sizes, but Musgrove in eight games and 13.1 innings pitched as a reliever has a 0.68 ERA with 14 strikeouts to one walk so he’s looking pretty well adjusted to it.

Converting starters to relievers is nothing new. Wade Davis, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman came up through the minors as starting pitchers and are now dominant relievers. What IS new though is using multiple starters in the bullpen in the mold of the Andrew Miller super reliever role.

The Astros obviously were using this strategy last summer before the Cleveland Indians made it famous in the American League Championship series with Miller, but now the Astros are taking it to another level. And it’s a nice insurance policy to have in a reliever.

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If a guy who’s used to being a starting pitcher can put his ego aside and realize he can help his team more and be more effective out of the bullpen, then why wouldn’t it be better to have a majority of your relievers be able to throw multiple innings and close out a game from the seventh inning to the ninth inning?

A.J. Hinch has been able to manage this Astros team through so much adversity this year. He has used over 100 different lineups this season and has had so many pitchers come up and down from the minors to the majors and then back down to the minors again and still has this Astros team atop the American League when other teams would have been sunk by such misfortune.

Hinch is on a collision course with his first manager of the year award and rightfully so due to so many factors. While it may not be noticed in the regular season, when the playoffs come this unique structure of the Astros bullpen will be another feather in the cap of A.J. Hinch’s managerial prowess.

Next: Assessing Brian McCann in the second half

The use of the bullpen has evolved so much, especially over the past 40 years. The use of relievers have become more specific roles, from closer to set-up man to left handed specialists who are brought on to face just one batter. Hinch is now reverting back to the old days and stretching his relievers out. Perhaps Hinch is on to the next step in the evolution of the bullpen.