Since the start of the playoffs, like most other commentators, Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser has been doubting the Kansas City Royals and their chances in the playoffs. After winning six consecutive games in the playoffs to take a 2-0 series lead against the Baltimore Orioles, Kornheiser appeared to finally stop his doubting, and actually said this on yesterday's show:
"It seems like, in the playoffs, relief pitchers are more important than the starters. Most all of these teams have solid starting pitching, but these guys only go 6, 7, 8 innings and then have to be taken out. It's the teams with the best bullpens that have an advantage." (paraphrasing)
I'd say I agree with Mr. Kornheiser up to an extent, but not fully. While there are exceptions, typically teams with the best starting rotations make the playoffs. Over a 162-game season, most every hitter and group of hitters will go through a slump or two. These everyday players will be set back here and there due to injuries. Barring injuries, it's those starting pitchers that perform once every five games which are the constants throughout the course of the season, and more times than not, play the biggest role in whether or not a team makes the post-season.
Playoff games tend to be quite different than regular season games, however. During the course of the season, there are times when the best will play a 3-game series against the worst, so they may wind up outscoring this team by 15+ runs over the course of the series. However, in the playoffs, it's the best playing the best day in and day out, so it's quite rare to see those 12-2 contests. The games tend to be low-scoring and due to that, manufacturing runs becomes more important than ever. Regardless, while starting pitching may be what ultimately gets most teams into the post-season, teams can't win without scoring runs, so while some of the very best pitchers in all of baseball may wind up playing in the post-season, so too will some of the league's best hitters. So, it's not as if it's a guarantee that these great starting pitchers are going to automatically pitch 6 to 8 solid innings come playoff time. Jon Lester struggled against Kansas City in the AL Wild Card game. Clayton Kershaw got lit up in the 7th inning in both of his starts in the NLDS. So, I don't think we can ultimately say that starting pitching is of any less importance in the post-season as it is in the regular season. Without 6 to 8 solid innings from the starter in a playoff game, how the bullpen performs will likely be irrelevant to the final outcome of the game.
So, I'm not sure I could say that like Kornheiser claimed, relief pitching is of greater importance than starting pitching in the playoffs. I will say, however, that relief pitching is of greater importance in the post-season than in the regular season. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not as if the teams with the worst group of bats typically make the playoffs. So, while a starting pitcher may be able to provide 7 quality innings for his team, if there isn't a consistent 8th or 9th inning pitcher, chances are he won't have as smooth of a time against that very same line-up, and that could definitely spell trouble for a team in a 5- or 7-game series against one of the best clubs in the league.
Just look at the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers. led by Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, put up some of the best offensive numbers in all of baseball this season. Also, led by Cy Young award winners Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and David Price, many analysts agreed they had the best 3-man playoff rotation of any team that made it to the post-season. However, while their bats hit fairly well in the first two games of the series and the starters performed decently, the bullpen was awful and ultimately lost the series for them. Detroit was able to get away with this inconsistency in the bullpen during the course of the regular season, as they wound up winning the AL Central by a game over Kansas City. However, chances are the Tigers would have clinched the division long before they did if the bullpen had been better. In any case, in facing one of the best teams in the American League and some of the best hitters in all of baseball, they weren't able to get away with this in a short 5-game series.
Many sports commentators seem to only look at over-powering starting pitchers and power hitters as being the main reasons for a team's success in making the post-season and also of having success in the post-season. This often times isn't the case, though. Big bats and/or big arms may be able to get a team into the playoffs, but unless a team is able to manufacture runs on offense through solid contact hitting, unselfish hitting, and speed, and unless they have a good bullpen, chances are they're not going to have much success in the playoffs.
"It seems like, in the playoffs, relief pitchers are more important than the starters. Most all of these teams have solid starting pitching, but these guys only go 6, 7, 8 innings and then have to be taken out. It's the teams with the best bullpens that have an advantage." (paraphrasing)
I'd say I agree with Mr. Kornheiser up to an extent, but not fully. While there are exceptions, typically teams with the best starting rotations make the playoffs. Over a 162-game season, most every hitter and group of hitters will go through a slump or two. These everyday players will be set back here and there due to injuries. Barring injuries, it's those starting pitchers that perform once every five games which are the constants throughout the course of the season, and more times than not, play the biggest role in whether or not a team makes the post-season.
Playoff games tend to be quite different than regular season games, however. During the course of the season, there are times when the best will play a 3-game series against the worst, so they may wind up outscoring this team by 15+ runs over the course of the series. However, in the playoffs, it's the best playing the best day in and day out, so it's quite rare to see those 12-2 contests. The games tend to be low-scoring and due to that, manufacturing runs becomes more important than ever. Regardless, while starting pitching may be what ultimately gets most teams into the post-season, teams can't win without scoring runs, so while some of the very best pitchers in all of baseball may wind up playing in the post-season, so too will some of the league's best hitters. So, it's not as if it's a guarantee that these great starting pitchers are going to automatically pitch 6 to 8 solid innings come playoff time. Jon Lester struggled against Kansas City in the AL Wild Card game. Clayton Kershaw got lit up in the 7th inning in both of his starts in the NLDS. So, I don't think we can ultimately say that starting pitching is of any less importance in the post-season as it is in the regular season. Without 6 to 8 solid innings from the starter in a playoff game, how the bullpen performs will likely be irrelevant to the final outcome of the game.
So, I'm not sure I could say that like Kornheiser claimed, relief pitching is of greater importance than starting pitching in the playoffs. I will say, however, that relief pitching is of greater importance in the post-season than in the regular season. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not as if the teams with the worst group of bats typically make the playoffs. So, while a starting pitcher may be able to provide 7 quality innings for his team, if there isn't a consistent 8th or 9th inning pitcher, chances are he won't have as smooth of a time against that very same line-up, and that could definitely spell trouble for a team in a 5- or 7-game series against one of the best clubs in the league.
Just look at the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers. led by Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, put up some of the best offensive numbers in all of baseball this season. Also, led by Cy Young award winners Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and David Price, many analysts agreed they had the best 3-man playoff rotation of any team that made it to the post-season. However, while their bats hit fairly well in the first two games of the series and the starters performed decently, the bullpen was awful and ultimately lost the series for them. Detroit was able to get away with this inconsistency in the bullpen during the course of the regular season, as they wound up winning the AL Central by a game over Kansas City. However, chances are the Tigers would have clinched the division long before they did if the bullpen had been better. In any case, in facing one of the best teams in the American League and some of the best hitters in all of baseball, they weren't able to get away with this in a short 5-game series.
Many sports commentators seem to only look at over-powering starting pitchers and power hitters as being the main reasons for a team's success in making the post-season and also of having success in the post-season. This often times isn't the case, though. Big bats and/or big arms may be able to get a team into the playoffs, but unless a team is able to manufacture runs on offense through solid contact hitting, unselfish hitting, and speed, and unless they have a good bullpen, chances are they're not going to have much success in the playoffs.
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