Familiar faces, yes, but Royals’ pen closing in different fashion than in 2014, 2015
.jpg "Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Greg Holland (35) celebrates with catcher Salvador Perez (13) following a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The Royals defeated the Angels 3-2. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)")
The Kansas City Royals won two American League pennants and a World Series championship behind a dominant bullpen that operated on the premise that they just needed to get a lead to the three John Wayne-type alpha dogs and they’d out-gun the opposition.
Well, the latest version of the Royals bullpen has been very formidable and could be the strength of the pitching staff. But the approach thus far has also been extremely different than in 2014 and 2015.
Instead of relying on the trio of gunslingers, they’ve thrown the entire cavalry at opposing lineups.
The Royals enter Sunday’s game in Detroit with six players having recorded at least one save this season — they had five players with saves in their first seven wins — which is the most in the majors. They also entered the series having won 54 consecutive games when leading after the seventh inning, the longest active streak in MLB according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Royals manager Mike Matheny has fielded numerous questions about the bullpen approach, and his common refrain has been that if more traditional roles establish themselves “organically” with designated set-up men and a primary closer, then they’ll happily ride that wave.
But the improvement in the bullpen last season coupled with the success of a closer by committee approach so far this season begs a question. Should the Royals even be working toward traditional bullpen roles as a goal?
“It’s phenomenal to have a spot that you can claim is yours, but usually that is based off of talent,” said right-handed reliever Josh Staumont, the hardest thrower of the group. “And we’re so talented down there that I can hand a job off to somebody else who is going to hand it to somebody else and they’re all going to get it done the same way.”
Last season, Matheny ushered in a match-up based approach to bullpen usage with an emphasis on recognizing that high-leverage outs can come anywhere from the middle innings through the end of the game.
Matheny had designs on using that method prior to the pandemic and the shortened season.
This season, despite the presence of veteran relievers who’ve held the title “closer” previously in Greg Holland and Wade Davis, the Royals have continued to use the bullpen in a similar manner.
Entering the series, Scott Barlow, Jesse Hahn, Kyle Zimmer and Davis had one save apiece. Holland, who went on the injured list for an undisclosed reason prior to Friday’s game, has registered two saves. Staumont recorded his first career saves on Saturday. As a group, they’d converted 7 of 10 save chances.
“At this point, I don’t think we need a role,” Staumont said last week. “We’re a unit down there. We’ve been through everything together, so it’s kind of just like we’re working to finish these games. These starters do so much in the beginning that we’re just looking at it as a collective. If there’s three innings, four innings, five innings that we need to cover, our job is to do that the best we can.”
Teams spreading the wealth
The San Francisco Giants entered the weekend leading the majors with 10 saves. Seven of those were recorded by one pitcher, Jake McGee, but three players have recorded saves this season.
The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the popular preseason favorite to win the title this season, had four players with saves entering the weekend.
Last season, the Tampa Bay Rays — widely viewed as ahead of the curve as far as innovation, utilizing data and finding creative ways to get the most out of their talent — had 12 players with saves in a 60-game regular season in 2020. They won the AL pennant with that method.
“I think every roster is different,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said prior to his team’s series in Kansas City. “I think clubs — however they view their bullpen — they’re going to try to maximize opportunities to make it the best bullpen possible. If there are teams that have that staple closer, that staple eighth-inning guy, so be it.
“We’ve found with the guys that we had last year, we might benefit from the versatility if we can prioritize getting the right matchup to help win a game rather than prioritize getting the right inning for a guy. The game changes. The outcomes of the game and leverage of the game changes. I think that was maybe our best avenue for success last year.”
Cash, a former catcher, played for a Boston Red Sox World Series team that relied on closer Jonathan Papelbon for 37 saves in 2007 and 41 saves the following year. He was also a member of the 2009 New York Yankees championship team anchored by the greatest closer of all-time in Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera.
Cash is no stranger to the traditional bullpen roles or the mentality of elite relievers and the recognition that many desire. He lauded pitching coach Kyle Snyder and bullpen coach Stan Boroski for their communication with the pitchers.
“But we just express that if we pin ourselves into roles, there’s a chance we might not be able to get the matchups that we think are the best at that time,” Cash said. “So the more versatility that we’re able to show and buy in, it’s a benefit. We’ve been so fortunate over the last couple of seasons that our pitchers have just taken a selfless approach and have had success doing it.
“They’re not enamored with getting their inning. We understand guys want to get saves, guys want to get holds. A lot of them did last year.”
Matheny keeps options open
Matheny has certainly sounded as though he were reading from the same playbook as Cash during his tenure with the Royals.
He hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of having one true closer. When Trevor Rosenthal was on the roster last season, he settled into that role before the Royals traded him ahead of the deadline.
“I would anticipate that the more guys that we can have that we feel comfortable about in high leverage, the better team we’re going to be,” Matheny said.
He acknowledges that there’s certainly a case to be made that if you’ve got three “horses” and can make it essentially a six-inning game, that’s an easier way to manage a bullpen.
“What’s best? I don’t know,” Matheny said. “I see how these guys are going right now, I like the fact that they’re all coming in at different spots and figuring out ways to help us win games, and they all seem to be celebrating the exact same way whether or not they threw the fifth or the ninth.
“But I also know the humanistic side, and I also know categories and stats drive salaries. I know the game is getting better with that. You’re seeing high-leverage relievers being compensated really well. I also want to keep my ear to the ground if there’s a guy that we know has really taken charge.”
Matheny remains adamant from his experience that the ninth inning is just “different.” However, he doesn’t rule out the idea that they can get multiple guys to all feel comfortable pitching in the ninth to close out games.
He’s careful not to tie himself down to any approach for the time being. He has left the door open for the possibility of changing approaches mid-stream at some point down the line.
“I wouldn’t claim that we’re going to stick or stay married to one particular train of thought,” Matheny said. “Let’s just see what we have today.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Familiar faces, yes, but Royals’ pen closing in different fashion than in 2014, 2015."
