Royals ready to get ‘creative’ with bullpen usage, and roles, during short MLB season
The wheels had already started turning inside the mind of Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny months ago, long before a truncated 60-game season became the new Major League Baseball reality.
Back in March, when MLB clubs initially held spring training and the Royals were at their facility in Arizona, Matheny expressed a desire to buck the traditional bullpen dynamic with a designated closer called upon to finish tight games and other relief pitchers who knew like clockwork in which inning they’d be summoned.
Matheny wanted to take an outside the box approach. Despite the presence of veterans like Trevor Rosenthal and Greg Holland, who’ve held the title of “closer” and performed at All-Star levels — as well as an incumbent in Ian Kennedy, who became one of four players in big-league history to record both 20-win and 30-save seasons — Matheny was asking his players to be receptive to unconventional roles.
And now, the abnormal circumstances of this 60-game season may have made it easier for Matheny and his staff to get players to buy into that non-traditional approach.
Matheny could turn to one of his most dominant relievers in the fifth or sixth inning, if he feels it’s best based on the situation the Royals are facing and what part of their opponent’s lineup is due up.
“We’re going to have an expanded roster; that’s going to help,” Kennedy said. “You’re going to play games like it’s a playoff situation, where if a starter starts to struggle in the middle of the fifth, he doesn’t have to eat up innings. We’ve got guys to do that at the beginning of the season. We have a lot of versatile guys who can start games, pitch three or four innings and we have guys that can piggy-back them.
“I don’t know what (Jorge Lopez’s) role is going to be, but just thinking of somebody off the top of my head that can throw multiple innings. It just gives more roles and more versatility to guys. Whatever they do on the back-end of games, that’s Mike’s job to figure out.”
Kennedy said the shortened sprint of a season compared to the grueling marathon of a 162-game slate lends itself to trying new things — such as using relievers to starts games, or pitchng multiple relievers for multiple innings each.
“That short season allows for that to happen,” Kennedy said. “I think when people start talking about openers — like the Rays do it once a week or once a time in through the rotation — it’s hard on the bullpen. Although, I think for 60 games, you can sustain that. I think for a 162(-game season), it’s really hard for longevity. I think that for a short couple months, it could possibly happen.”
Holland, who signed a minor-league deal to return to the Royals this winter, has three seasons with 40 or more saves on his resume, and he’s been selected to pitch in three All-Star Games.
Even with that track record, he’s not going to turn up his nose at pitching in any inning that has a chance to make a difference in a game’s outcome.
He has also seen how much difference a bullpen can make. The Royals’ back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015 left him with some great examples.
“I just want to be used when the game is on the line, but you’ve also got to understand that’s got to be an earned thing,” Holland said. “That’s not just based on reputation. It’s based on what have you done in the past, what’d you do yesterday. I don’t concern myself with that. I know that if I want to be in those high-leverage situations, I’ve just got to pitch consistently and pitch well when I get the opportunity.
“But I’m not going to be mad about throwing the fifth inning or the sixth inning or extra innings. Just go out there and get outs, help the team win. I understand that for a long time here in Kansas City in my first run, we had some guys that got some big outs in the sixth, seventh inning that led to wins and ultimately led to a championship.”
The Royals believe they have a versatile set of arms from which to choose. Along with Rosenthal throwing 100 mph heat, young right-hander Josh Staumont is another flame-throwing reliever with nasty stuff. The Royals have suspected for some time that former starters Lopez and Glenn Sparkman were best suited to thrive in bullpen roles, but they can also pitch multiple-inning outings in relief.
Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred, who pitched as both a starter and reliever during his 14-year career in the majors, knows pitchers operate around routines.
“I think what it’s going to take is communication on our part as a coaching staff, especially me and (bullpen coach Larry Carter) and Mike,” Eldred said. “We’re going to have to communicate to them, going into the next day’s game, where they may be used.”
Eldred realizes the next day’s plans will be subject to change based on how a current day’s game unfolds. Ongoing communication will be his aim.
For Matheny to hear that the Royals’ veterans are buying in — at least at this point — is music to his ears.
“If you’ve got Ian Kennedy thinking that way, that’s a great start,” Matheny said.
Matheny stressed that the idea isn’t simply to get creative for the pure sake of “being off the wall” or trying to stand out. Having “a why” for each decision he and his staff make has been important to him since he was named KC’s manager at the end of October.
“We’re going to need to see results with that, too,” Matheny said. “We’re going to see, if we’re using guys a little bit differently, they’re going to eventually have to see how it plays into success for us collectively and them individually.
“It’s part of the process, but the initial step is buy in. We need to have these guys understand that we got to do whatever we got to do this year. To me, it’s exciting. It’s a chance to try some things this year that maybe people wouldn’t in 162.”
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Royals ready to get ‘creative’ with bullpen usage, and roles, during short MLB season."
