What is a Bullpen in Baseball?

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As you start to understand the rules of the baseball, you may start hearing terms that don’t make sense to you. One of the things you may hear is the term “bullpen”.

You may hear the coach say ‘you think its time to use the bullpen or hear him tell a pitcher to head to the bullpen to warm up. What is a bullpen in baseball?

A bullpen is a part of a baseball field where the pitcher warms up before he enters the game.

The bullpen will almost always be in foul territory or behind the homerun wall or fence. The bullpen is considered out of play. Some fields have the bullpen in the foul area inside the park, and some fields will have the bullpen located outside the fenced area. 

In Little League, you will mainly see the bullpen outside the fenced area for safety reasons. This will help protect the pitcher and catcher by getting hit with a foul ball that may be in play. In upper level divisions such as high school, college, or professional; the bullpen might be in foul territory. Bench players or coaches will stand near the bullpen if a pitcher and catcher are warming up to protect them in case a foul call comes their way. 

What is in the bullpen?


A bullpen will have a mound and home plate positioned the give the pitcher a chance to warm up before he enters the game. Typically you will find a bucket of baseballs, some bands used by the pitchers to warm up their arms, and maybe some weighted balls. 

Some bullpens will also have a bench to sit on used for pitchers who may enter the game. As you move into the major league levels there will be a phone connected to the dugout for the coach to use to call down and tell the coach which pitcher he wants to warm up.

Usually a bullpen will have 2 mounds side by side so 2 pitchers can warm up at the same time. Sometimes a coach will want a left handed and right handed pitcher to warm up at the same time, in order to pitch to match ups of hitters on deck. 

A pitching coach may also let the coach know which pitcher looks better that day in warm ups and advise which pitcher to choose to put in next. Some days pitchers just ‘don’t have it’ and a coach may be able to determine that before the pitcher enters the game. 

What is a bullpen game?


A bullpen game is when a coach does not use a starting pitcher. He starts the game with a relief pitcher and uses the reliefs pitchers the whole game instead of a starter. 

In a typical game, a starting pitcher may go 6-7 innings before a coach turns the game over the bullpen for the last 2-3 innings of the game. Sometimes a starting pitcher gets pulled early which puts more pressure on the bullpen. A bullpen game is when the coach doesn’t use a starting pitcher and has each relief pitcher throw 1-3 innings each.

A bullpen game can be used to help give the starting rotation a rest. It can be a very good strategy as hitters won’t have the opportunity to see the same pitcher twice. It allows you to pick your match ups, and could give you an advantage to win the game. The risk is running out of arms. If one of your relievers doesn’t have his best stuff, it could throw the game our of rhythm and cost you runs early.

What does it mean to throw a bullpen?


Throwing a bullpen means a pitcher will practice his pitchers in the practice area. Usually a pitcher will throw a bullpen mixing in all of his pitches and practicing his mechanics. It’s a time for a pitcher to build his arm strength and work on new pitches. Throwing a bullpen is one of the most essential forms of practice for a pitcher at all levels of baseball. 

Pitchers also throw bullpens during games to warm up before entering the game. They might also throw a bullpen the day after they pitched as a way to recover from the previous day.

In the beginning of a season pitchers will throw many bullpens before facing live hitters. Bullpens allow pitchers to work on their craft without the stress of facing a live hitter. A bullpen is the best way for pitchers to practice their craft. 

This is how they work on their accuracy and arm strength. 

What is the difference between a relief pitcher and a starting pitcher?

A starting pitcher is used to start the game and go deeper into the game. They are typically able to throw more pitches and hope to last at least 4-7 innings.  A relief pitcher is a pitcher that will enter the game in relief of the starter. They are usually built to throw hard or crafty, and usually only throw 1-3 innings. Sometimes relief pitchers are brought in only to face one batter.

Common reasons to bring in a relief pitcher are:

  • Starter has reached number of pitches limit
  • Starting pitcher is getting hit hard, giving up runs
  • Batter vs Pitcher stats unfavorable for starting pitcher
  • Left handed batters coming up to bat, bring in left handed pitcher (statistically left handed pitchers are more difficult for left handed batters to face)

Relief pitchers need to be able to recover fast however, since they may be called on to throw multiple days in a row. A starting pitcher will need 4-5 days of rest before taking their next start on the mound.

The art and importance of being a relief pitcher has made teams invest in solid relievers to complete their teams. Having a solid bullpen is key to having a successful and complete team. When I was in college we always focused on innings 7, 8 and 9. In our eyes they were the most important innings to win, and where most baseball games were won. Those were the innings the relievers would pitch. 

What are the top stats for bullpen players?

 

The most notable stats for bullpen players are saves and holds. The best bullpen pitchers are usually the closer and the setup pitcher. They normally get credited the save and/or hold. 

A hold is when a relief pitcher enters the game in the same save situation but doesn’t record the last out. If the game is within 3 runs and a pitcher enters the game in the 7th inning and holds the lead he is rewarded a hold in the stat book. 

You can also judge a reliever by his ERA (earned run average) WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) and to some extent his Win/Loss record. Other great stats for relief pitchers are K/9, H/9 and K/BB. That’s strikeouts per 9 innings, hits per 9 innings, and strikeouts to walks. Managers who want to give their team the best chance to win late in a game love these stats because it means a pitcher strikes out more batters and gives up less hits or walks. 

What is a closer in baseball? What is a save?

Having a good closer to close out games is key to winning. A closer is the relief pitcher brought in to pitch the last inning of the game. A save is a stat given to the closer who gets the last 3 outs of a baseball game where the tying run has a chance to bat during the inning. If the bases are empty when the closer starts the inning, that means the game is within 3 runs for a save to be counted. 

Who are the best closers in the game?

The best closer of all time is arguably Mariano Rivera. He threw a cut fastball 90% of the time which was very difficult to hit. He had incredible control and ice in his veins! 

Here is a list of the top 10 players in MLB with the most saves. 

Player Saves
Mariano Rivera+ (19) 652
Trevor Hoffman+ (18) 601
Lee Smith+ (18) 478
Francisco Rodriguez (16) 437
John Franco (21) 424
Billy Wagner (16) 422
Dennis Eckersley+ (24) 390
Joe Nathan (16) 377
Craig Kimbrel (12, 33) 372
Jonathan Papelbon (12) 368

 

Conclusion

Having a good bullpen is very important when building a team. Being able to win the late innings or shutting down a team when on the verge of scoring will mean the difference between winnings and losing. In a lot of ways the bullpen players don’t get enough credit. You can have a great offense and great starting pitching, but if you have a bad bullpen, it will be tough to win games.