Hey, it's Zack.
In 2016 I had the best season of my career. 47 saves in 47 opportunities. A 0.54 ERA. I was the American League Reliever of the Year.
I watched our season end from the bullpen without throwing a pitch.
THE ENTRANCE
October 4, 2016. Wild card game in Toronto. Tied 2-2 in the eleventh inning. Buck brought in Ubaldo Jimenez. Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer and our season was over.
I had warmed up three times. The ninth, the tenth, the eleventh. I never got the call. Buck said afterward he was waiting for us to take the lead so he could use me to close it. We never took the lead.
Getting hot in the ninth inning of an elimination game and sitting back down is brutal. Your adrenaline is all the way up and there is nowhere for it to go. Then you do it again in the tenth. Then the eleventh. By the time Encarnacion hit it, my night was over without a pitch that counted.
I think about that night every October. I think it changed the way managers handle the playoffs. People are still arguing about the decision ten years later. I am not going to rehash it. What matters is what happened next.
THE DELIVERY
Here is the lesson everyone took from that game. Do not save your best arm for a situation that never comes. If the season can end in the eleventh inning of a tie game, your best pitcher needs to be in the game before that.
For years after, October bullpen decisions got measured against it. Managers would rather get second-guessed for using a guy too early than for never using him at all. Managers have a quick trigger now. Nobody wants to be the guy who saved his best arm for a lead that never came.
Most October managers have the game mapped before first pitch. Sixth inning, this guy. Seventh, that guy. The game does not always cooperate. Then the starter gives up four in the third and the whole plan goes out the window.
I know both sides of this. I closed in Baltimore. Then I went to New York and set up behind Chapman. People think the setup job is the same thing one inning earlier. It is not. The ninth has a shape. You know when you are pitching. The eighth is chaos. You might get the heart of the order or the bottom of it. You might pitch with a lead or from behind. The eighth inning in October is the hardest inning in baseball. The starter is gone, the closer is waiting, and their best hitters are due up. That was my role for years in New York. The setup man has been living this era for years.
The other reason is the starter. Hitters figure out a pitcher the third time they see him. That part is real and the numbers back it up. Some starters still go through a lineup three times. It is just not common anymore. Teams do not like those odds, so the hook is quick.
Sunday was where all of this ends up. The Braves and Dodgers used thirteen pitchers. Nobody got more than eleven outs. Atlanta opened with Ray Kerr, who had already done it in the wild card round. Then a 21-year-old rookie retired eleven straight Dodgers. On the other side, Blake Snell, who has two Cy Young awards, needed 90 pitches to get eleven outs. That is a lot through four innings. Taking him out was the easy call.
In Milwaukee, Mason Miller walked three straight in the ninth after a dominant eighth inning. Those were the first walks of his postseason career, which led to 22-year-old Jackson Chourio lining a 101-mile-per-hour fastball up the middle, and the Brewers walked it off 4-3. For Miller, the last time he was asked for a two-inning save, he blew that one too. When a closer who is rarely asked to get six outs walks three in a row, it tells me he was probably out of gas.
Monday kept it going in the American League. The Rays chased Cam Schlittler in the fifth inning. He is the Yankees' best pitcher. A week ago he dominated Boston to win the wild card round. Last night he did not make it through the fifth, and the Yankees made four errors behind him. Tampa Bay leads the series 2-0. The White Sox are up 2-0 as well, relying heavily on their bullpen.
We will see if the teams that are over-relying on their bullpens can make it last, or if these guys get burnt out and overexposed. Time will tell.
THE SAVE
Ten years ago the lesson from Toronto was simple. Do not let your best arm sit while the season ends. The whole sport listened. Half of every playoff roster is relievers now. The biggest outs in October go to guys pitching the seventh and eighth. That night changed how the game is played.
That is good for the bullpen. The innings matter more than they ever have. The recognition will catch up. It just takes the game a little while.
Tuesday gives us the other version. Chris Sale against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Two starters, no committee. It still happens. Just less than it used to.
Talk soon, Z
The Save is a personal newsletter based on my own experiences, opinions, and recollections. The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not represent any team, organization, union or employer past or present. When discussing players, contracts or organizational decisions I am sharing my perspective as a former player — not making legal or financial claims. When I share stories involving others I am telling them from my point of view. When I share tips or lessons I am sharing what worked for me. Always do your own research and consult professionals when making important decisions.