Major League Baseball

Brittle pen shows mental aptitude

Published Oct. 18, 2010 10:13 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK - Sometime Friday night, after the shock of the bullpen's meltdown had eased up, Rangers relievers Darren O'Day and Clay Rapada decided to relive the nightmare all over again.

They reviewed their respective one-pitch at-bats in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the AL Championship Series. Both threw fastballs with runners in scoring position. Both got whacked hard.

When manager Ron Washington went back to each of them Saturday, they proved the talk had not been in vain. They each faced Marcus Thames. Both started the fastball-hunting, big-swinging right-handed hitter with breaking balls. Both got ahead in the count. Both retired Thames. The late innings passed smoothly. And when it was done, the Rangers had tied the series, 1-1, as it headed back to New York.

Bottom line: Lesson learned.

"It was good that they were able to do what they did yesterday," said MLB.com analyst Jeff Nelson, the linchpin setup man to Mariano Rivera during the heyday of the Yankees' late 1990s dynasty. "It showed they were able to learn from that one pitch the night before. They did exactly what they should do."

At this point, it's essential the Rangers' relievers have their wits about them, because they have little else. As a group, they are mostly overworked and inexperienced. They led the AL in relief innings pitched. And they may lead the remaining playoff teams in rookies - Alexi Ogando and Neftali Feliz, to name two - with really important jobs.

The relievers - all of them - are running on fumes.

This, however, makes them no different from any other group of relievers. Every pitcher in every bullpen could use a long vacation and all of them hope one isn't coming for another three weeks.

"You definitely notice it," O'Day said Sunday. "There is more anxiety now on every pitch. Even when you aren't in the game, it's stressful. Hey, the waiting is the hardest part."

As if the first two games weren't evidence enough, the bullpen is going to play a huge role going forward. One day, they are blowing a four-run eighth-inning lead; the next they are preserving a tie in the series by outsmarting the opponent.

By no means do the Rangers have the ideal playoff bullpen. Nobody does. Bullpens get pushed and pulled more than any other segment of the roster during the playoffs. The traditional long man is usually yanked off the roster and replaced by a specialist. The number of relievers in whom the manager has confidence usually shrinks. In the late 1990s, for example, the Yankees basically used three relievers throughout the playoffs: Nelson, Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera.

Add in these circumstances for the Rangers: They are without Frank Francisco - and probably will be throughout the playoffs - and the guy they hoped could give them a late-season shot in the arm, Tanner Scheppers, went backward at the end of the year.

What the Rangers are left with is this tired, thin group that must occasionally rely on its wits more than its arms at this point.

On Saturday, they proved that while their arms may be exhausted, their brains aren't. At this point, you may not be able to offer a finer compliment to a bullpen.

ALCS: Rangers-Yankees

Game 3 forecast: Cloudy, 54 degrees, 10 percent chance of rain, winds from the west at 9 mph

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