masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe dominant bullpen arms have been dominant in this postseason for several teams. They are pitching more innings. Some feel a trend is beginning, one where closers will begin to pitch earlier in games and perhaps throw more innings.
The Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen threw 51 pitches and 2 1/3 innings in Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Nationals. The Indians’ Andrew Miller has been completely dominant with 11 2/3 scoreless postseason innings. He’s allowed five hits and two…

The dominant bullpen arms have been dominant in this postseason for several teams. They are pitching more innings. Some feel a trend is beginning, one where closers will begin to pitch earlier in games and perhaps throw more innings.

The Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen threw 51 pitches and 2 1/3 innings in Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Nationals. The Indians’ Andrew Miller has been completely dominant with 11 2/3 scoreless postseason innings. He’s allowed five hits and two walks and has fanned 21. That is 21 strikeouts among the 35 outs he has recorded. Yep, dominant. He has thrown several multi-inning outings.

So we’ll see more of pitchers used this way next season, right? Nope, I don’t think so.

Britton-Throws-Gray-Sidebar.jpgIn the playoffs, the combination of the importance of the games and the fact that relievers get rest through off-days puts managers in a position to be able to use them differently than during the 162-game regular season. There you need the closers to be available to save games almost as often as you need them. Using a closer for 2 1/3 innings on a Friday night could mean he is not available Saturday and/or Sunday. Zach Britton pitching the ninth two days in a row to help the Orioles go 2-0 sure beats him being unavailable for the second game and a blown lead producing a 1-1 record.

In the postseason, Miller has thrown two innings or more in four of six games. In the regular season, he did that in four of 70 games for the Yankees and Indians. He was mostly a one-inning guy, throwing 29 innings in 26 games for Cleveland and 45 1/3 in 44 games for New York.

In the postseason, Jansen has thrown 1 2/3 innings or more in three of six games. In the regular season, he did that just once in 71 games for the Dodgers.

Managing in the playoffs is different. Take the Division Series for example, where you play two games, take a day off, play two and take a day off and then play one. That is if the series goes the full five games and has no rainouts. Two built-in rest days are there for relievers so they can be pushed more, and why wouldn’t you push them more in the playoffs if they are up to it?

So to those that feel we will start seeing closers pitching in the sixth or seventh inning with multiple-inning outings more often, I say don’t hold your breath.

Perhaps this will lead to some changes, however, for those that feel the true save in a game can come in the sixth and/or seventh inning due to the situation and/or opponent batters. But I still think most of these relievers are trained to pitch an inning and they get used to and comfortable with pitching in certain roles. Asking them to change that, even in small doses, may not work as well as Jansen and Miller made it work in the last week or so.

The so-called high-leverage situations can, in fact, come well before the ninth inning. And in this postseason, some very talented relievers have done some very special things. But when the 2017 regular season begins, I don’t expect to see many changes from how managers have run games for many years.

BK’s take: Regular viewers of Brian Kenny on MLB Network will not be surprised that he loves the playoff usage of pitchers like Miller. He sees changes coming and took a second off from patting himself on the back for that to share a few thoughts on this video. He fails to mention the off-days that help make this possible and the fact that, you know, these are the biggest games of the year. Or the fact that relievers, even the best of the best, are not used this way during the season. Where he would see changes coming based off this postseason, I do not.