It's really hard to watch a relief pitcher get lit up.
It's really, really hard to watch him get lit up three or four times in a row. Especially if he's coughing up leads.
So it's hard to blame management for demoting or dumping struggling firemen. Still, this tweet reminds me of something I think a lot more often than I actually write ...
I hope its "Good Tim Collins" of 2012-2013 and not "Bad Tim Collins" of early 2014. RT @McCulloughStar Tim Collins will be here tonight....
— Royals Review (@royalsreview) September 19, 2014
That Bad Tim Collins?
He pitched 17 innings. Or you might even say he pitched 16 innings.
Collins made only two appearances in April, in which he faced nine batters and walked four of them. That cost him his job. He rejoined the roster in May, and pitched those 16 innings over the course over about six weeks. In those 16 innings, he struck out 10, walked six, and gave up one home run. Hardly a disaster. But he got sent down anyway.
This season with Omaha, he's been fine: 2.76 ERA in 42 innings, perfectly nice peripherals. Essentially, his Triple-A performance is exactly what you would expect from the Good Tim Collins of 2012-2013 (who wasn't, by the way, really so good).
So whch is the Real Tim Collins? The one who looked pretty good in 2012 and 2013 and most of 2014? Or the one who couldn't quite locate his pitches over the course of 17 innings last spring?
I don't know, actually. Maybe Collins deserved his demotions. What I think, though, is that we've all become a lot less patient with relief pitchers, usually for non-valid reasons.
In 1984, the Royals essentially used three relief pitchers all season.
Seriously. Oh, they had some other guys who relieved some and started some, most notably Bret Saberhagen and Danny Jackson. But their only pure relief pitchers were ace Dan Quisenberry, Joe Beckwith, and Mark Huismann. All three acquitted themselves well. In the spring, though, Beckwith had a 17-inning stretch with a 6.48 ERA, in which he gave up six home runs. Meanwhile, Quisenberry went through a 21-inning stretch with a 5.23 ERA and three blown saves.
The Royals weren't going to send Quiz down, no matter what. But today, would Joe Beckwith be allowed to work through his troubles, or maybe just let the odds work around to his favor? I doubt it.
Which is great for all those Triple-A relievers who get called up to replace the Joe Beckwiths of the modern baseball world. I'm just not sure it's a winning strategy for the clubs. And it's definitely a pain in the ass for the Assistant Traveling Secretaries of the World.
