May 1st, 2009

The bullpen experience can vary from team to team and now for me country to country. Understanding how each pen is run is an important part of giving you the best chance to succeed. Now that I am in the bullpen with the Wyverns I’ll have to figure out how things work here.

In Japan it was a challenge figuring out the pen. On opening day my first season I warmed up 4 times, threw about 80 pitches and never went in the game. That prompted a meeting with my bullpen and pitching coaches after the game. It took a while, but we got it figured out. Their style of running a bullpen sharply contrasted what I was used to in the U.S.

My first day in the pen with the Wyverns was a complete disaster. There was a major break down in communication, luckily I didn’t pitch in the game. It’s a learn as you go process.

The key is getting a read on your manager. Trying to get a feel for how he likes to use the bullpen is extremely helpful. The situations he tends to use me in and how much he trusts me is information I’ll need to figure out. Knowing when he usually uses me makes it easier for me to get ready for the game. I can anticipate when I might go in and start getting ready, both physically and mentally. Consistency is the key, hopefully I’ll get that here.

It might take me a little time to get it figured out, but time I may not have. Our last foreign reliever was released after pitching just 2 games out of the pen. I think the best way to describe how our team is run from an American’s viewpoint is unusual. The pitching staff is used in a way I have never seen before, not even in Japan, so there are adjustments I need to make quickly to assure that this works out.

The one thing relievers like to see avoided as much as possible is warming up, getting fully ready to go into the game and then not going in. Too much of that is abusive on your arm and a good manager knows how to limit the amount of times that happens to his pitchers. In 2006 I had the best experience of my career when I only warmed up and didn’t go into the game 3 times. That was for the entire season, an absurdly low total. I told you it happened 4 times on my first day in a Japanese bullpen and it’s happened three times already in my two days in the Wyvern bullpen.

Getting ready and not going in the game is part of being a reliever and something we have to come to terms with. I have learned to pace myself through my years of experience and that’s why I say it’s key to have a feel for how your manager likes to use you. If your role changes daily or if you are used inconsistently it can make for a very long and painful season.

I’m just hoping I find a steady role in this bullpen and that I stay in the bullpen. I’m not interested in going back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, that is never fun and it can be extremely difficult to have success when you’re asked to do that.


source: cjbaseball.com