Moose Stuff
Active Member
Agreed.
But the interesting thing about using starting pitchers out of the pen is it's kind of an "analytics" gray area.
It's an extremely small sample size, even for guys who've done it before...so it can't be based solely on "data".
There needs to be some feel for it....and Kershaw pitching in the 8th seemed to lack any feel.
Using starters as relievers is a growing trend in the playoffs, though.
Kershaw and Scherzer have probably done it more than most...and the results for both have been mixed.
And Kershaw isn't the pitcher he used to be.
But it has worked out great some times...Bumgarner in '14 for the Giants, Charlie Morton for the Astros in '17, the Red Sox use of Eovald, Price and Porcello last year.
Randy Johnson in the 1995 ALDS vs the Yankees. Coming out of the pen to Welcome To The Jungle. Place was electric. What a game!