OC Register: Angels relievers getting used to the Salt Lake shuttle

[AngelsWin.com]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Luke Bard worked two innings in Friday night’s game, he had an idea what that could mean.

When he saw Brad Ausmus after the game, he joked: “I’m hiding from you for the rest of the night.”

Bard didn’t need to be worried that his manager might have bad news for him. This time, he avoided the post-game trip to the minors that has followed so often this month after a reliever had an extended workload.

Twice, Bard has already gone down to Triple-A and back, each time being the victim of bullpen management, circa 2019.

“You get used to it,”Bard said. “It’s part of it. We as players get it. It’s not fun. It’s not something we want to do, but we understand it.”

Now that teams are keeping a shorter and shorter leash on all their pitchers, a 12- or 13-man pitching staff often isn’t sufficient to be prepared for all the possibilities in a game. Starters rarely throw 100 pitches, and relievers rarely work three days in a row.

So teams now essentially keep a taxi squad of pitchers with options who go back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. It’s not uncommon to send down a pitcher who has just thrown two or three innings and replace him with someone who is fresh enough to pitch the next day.

The difficulty is the pitcher then needs to stay down for at least 10 days, unless he comes back to replace someone who is injured.

“Most of the time they get it,” Ausmus said. “They understand that it’s necessary to win games. That is a relatively new phenomenon in baseball. Probably in the last five years. Pitchers with options, I think have become accustomed to the fact that it can happen. Unfortunately for the pitchers, sometimes it’s not even reflective of performance. It’s just necessity. That’s part of the new environment of baseball. Most of them are very understanding. They’re not happy about it, but at least they understand it.”

Bard pitched two innings in the Angels’ 14-inning loss to the New York Yankees on Monday night. The Angels used so much pitching in that game that they needed fresh arms for the next night, so Bard and Taylor Cole, who pitched three innings in that game, were sent down.

Bard wasn’t in Salt Lake for long. He returned Friday, replacing injured Cody Allen on the roster.

Justin Anderson, Jake Jewell, John Curtiss, Dillon Peters, Cole and Bard have all been shuffled between Triple-A and the majors already this season.

There is no limit to the number of times a player can go up and down. Generally, players can be optioned in three different seasons, regardless of how many times he moves.

“I just stopped unpacking,” Bard said. “We just laugh about it. It’s part of the game.”

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ALSO

Shohei Ohtani was scheduled for another session of simulated game at-bats Saturday afternoon at Angel Stadium. Ohtani had nine plate appearances in his first two days, and Ausmus said he’d like him to get around 40. Ausmus reiterated that Ohtani won’t be ready to play when the Angels return home Tuesday. “I would bet my house he doesn’t,” Ausmus said. …

Luís Madero was promoted from Class-A Inland Empire to Double-A Mobile, and he will make his first start Sunday. Madero, 22, was added to the Angels’ 40-man roster over the winter, despite unspectacular stats, because the Angels saw positives in his increased velocity. In his first 16 innings this year at Inland Empire, he gave up two runs and struck out 23.

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[ScottT]

This is one of the things I most dislike about baseball right now.  For me, it ranks below the lack of DH in the NL, but far ahead of mound visits, pitch clocks, and the  number of pitching changes.  I'm sure the players affected hate it, but they wouldn't dare complain about it. 

I get it from the club perspective.  Use the rules to your advantage.  I hope the rules change, though.

[Blarg]

You want see it stop? After the third demotion in the same season the player is paid at MLB salary scale for the duration of the season. You want 13 rotating relief pitchers for the season, then pay for them. 

[T.G.]

They say pitchers are throwing harder than ever... but they're pitching fewer innings...  It sucks.

[eligrba]

7 minutes ago, True Grich said:

They say pitchers are throwing harder than ever... but they're pitching fewer innings...  It sucks.

Sounds like marriage.

[itsKnoppUitsme]

1 hour ago, eligrba said:

Sounds like marriage.

 I can’t seem to find any bullpen  help in my marriage!

[floplag]

Between how we are doing this and the dartboard lineups, i hate to say it but this club right now looks like its guessing and has no plan.   They are just throwing shit out there and seeing what works. 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, floplag said:

Between how we are doing this and the dartboard lineups, i hate to say it but this club right now looks like its guessing and has no plan.   They are just throwing shit out there and seeing what works. 

No it isn’t that.  The players just either aren’t good enough or they aren’t performing.  Would you say the same about the Dodgers?  They do this at a very similar rate as the Angels, they just have better players.  

[floplag]

17 minutes ago, Stradling said:

No it isn’t that.  The players just either aren’t good enough or they aren’t performing.  Would you say the same about the Dodgers?  They do this at a very similar rate as the Angels, they just have better players.  

Well, clearly you are right on the under performing part, but my comment is based on the sum total of many things, not just that one.  Minor league shuttle, every day lineup changes, openers etc... not just one thing.