losing one-run games

[JEFFFESPERMAN]

I've entered the tour championship for the first time and my winning percentage in one-run games is quite poor (33 out of 80). I assume this is most likely to poor bullpen management, so I wanted to seek advice on how to build and manage a winning bullpen.

[johnsain]

spend at least 12 million on relief - 4 solid relievers - 1 or 2 mediocre ones - 2 or more with closer ratings *3 or better. have a lefty that can come in for one or 2 lefty batters and dominate them.(indicate that pitching changes be done often) -------have one good defensive outfielder on bench for late innings when you have close lead ---------one good pinch runner for when 1 run behind late --------a pinch hitter who is a A-B bunter and B-C hit and run (indicate bunt more - hit and run more on their cards)....

[geekor]

I don't believe in all that at all.

Look, first off unless your bullpen was 10-50, which I doubt, it doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad bullpen. 1 run games to me are a good show of the luck factor. 1 good roll (or bad if you're on the other side of it) can mean the difference between a W and a L in those close games. I use the 1 run game to show who was lucky and who was not. Almost always when you see a team with a poor run differential but a good record, their record in 1 run games are very good, ie they have been lucky.

That being said, let's talk about bullpens. The amount you spend isn't a set number, it had many determining factors. If your ballpark is a hitters paradise, you typically want more $$ invested in your bullpen since your starters won't last as long, and less $$ invested in your SP's for that reason. I've gotten away with good sp's and a very cheap bullpen in parks like Shea.

There really needs to be more details to give a good answer.