Managing by the inning and not by the situation /frediball
I think it's more than clear at this point that each inning has its own "personality" and requires a particular kind of pitcher:
1st - It's the first pitch. It's anyone's game, and at least a third of the crowd has already arrived. You want a time-tested veteran here who's not going to get geeked up and overamped early on.
2nd - Hopefully your starter made it out of the first. But if he didn't, bring in a time-tested veteran who can clean up the starter's mess without showing him up
too much. (It's an unwritten rule not to look better than the pitcher in the inning before you.)
3rd - For reasons which have baffled statisticians for decades, bringing in a left-fielder to pitch the third has proven incredibly effective.
4th - There's an old saying in baseball that the fourth is the least important inning. This is a great time to bring in mop-up relievers, contest winners, the owner's ne'er-do-well nephew, a girl pretending to be a guy, or a 12-year-old rookie with a wacky new pitch.
5th - Buckle in--this game's about to be official. You want a time-tested veteran who isn't going to get spooked by the fact that a rain shower or earthquake can't save his ass.
6th - The "wily southpaw" inning. If you've got a left-handed knuckleballer, screwballer, submariner, eephuser or underhander, use him right here AND NOWHERE ELSE.
7th - Time to start eyeing the big guns--bring in that hotshot young reliever. Watch out for midge swarms, though. If they're around, better to call for the time-tested veteran.
8th - Do you have a high-K, low-WHIP pitcher who previously wet himself on the mound in the 9th? Congratulations, you've got yourself an 8th inning set-up man.
9th - It all comes down to this. The pressure is so intense that no less than seventeen pitchers have physically imploded in the ninth, their six-foot frames compressed into grotesque 5x5" cubes of bone and flesh on the mound. You want that rare breed of pitcher, the kind that thrives on high-pressure situations, or is so completely disinterested in notions of success or failure that he forgets a blown save three minutes after it happens. You want a time-tested veteran. You want a
closer.