Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Can a reliever enter a game "tired" from the very first pitch? Let's say my 1 endurance closer has thrown twice in the last three-game series for a total of 4-5 innings (ie a 2 inning save, day off, then a 2-3 inning save). In "real" life he probably rests the next game. But let's say HAL brings him in again the next day. Can he begin the game fatigued due to the "overuse" in the previous games? A related question is....can he begin the game fine, but become "tired" in his second inning even if he gavbe up no runners during the first, just due to the "overuse" in games prior?

[quote:cc53f59106] Let's say my 1 endurance closer has thrown twice in the last three-game series for a total of 4-5 innings (ie a 2 inning save, day off, then a 2-3 inning save). In "real" life he probably rests the next game. But let's say HAL brings him in again the next day. Can he begin the game fatigued due to the "overuse" in the previous games? [/quote:cc53f59106]It could happen... HAL will be very reluctant to bring in a tired pitcher, but especially if he has no other choice, he is "allowed" to do it. This is one reason why it's very important to have enough relievers and relief innings available.[quote:cc53f59106]A related question is....can he begin the game fine, but become "tired" in his second inning even if he gavbe up no runners during the first, just due to the "overuse" in games prior?[/quote:cc53f59106]It's possible that the recent prior use could decrease his available pitch count, yes. Again, it will remove him when he gets tired if it possibly can; but again, it's possible that, if you deprive it of options, it will have no choice.