Rethinking Reliever Evaluations & Measuring Bullpen Quality

From Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball The Athletic

Eno, Trevor, and DVR discuss spring injury updates and a new potential closer entering the mix in Texas, before digging into how the conversation and analysis of relief pitchers should change with a greater emphasis on leverage index and win probability added, and other existing metrics. Plus, they look at teams effectively building bullpens in different ways, and wonder if there is a better way to measure the overall quality of a bullpen based on the different looks and pitches a group offers.

Rundown

2:57 Spring Training News & Notes

13:40 A Sleeper for Saves in Texas?

19:33 Increasing the Conversation Around Leverage Index

25:25 Shutdowns & Meltdowns

31:55 Finding Ways to Appropriately Value Cade Smith Relative to Emmanuel Clase

41:11 Building a Bullpen with Varying Looks

50:19 Would a Smaller Strike Zone Reduce Pitcher Injuries?

58:20 How Much Pain Are Pitchers Throwing Through Day-to-Day?

1:05:42 Name! That! Dude! (Season Series entering 3.6.25: Trevor 1, Eno 0)

Follow Eno on Bluesky: @enosarris.bsky.social

Follow DVR on Bluesky: @dvr.bsky.social