I seem to get myself a bit confused as to how best to setup my bullpen for leagues where I'm not managing. Below is a screenshot from our daily SSG league and what I'm planning to use, but I wanted to discuss some assumptions to see whether I have my bullpen setup properly.
Attachment 545994
The most important guys I want to discuss are actually at the bottom, so if you read any of these, please check our my stopper/setup combo guys.
Closer - Trevor Gott
For my closer, I don't like to actually use my best RP here as getting three outs with no one on base is obviously easier than working out of a jam. Therefore, Gott who is probably our 2nd or 3rd best reliever, gets the closer gig based on him having some success in the role previously at various levels. He's slotted, and I see no issue with his placement/labels.
Lefty Specialist Andrew Miller
Fairly self-explanatory role, but for Andrew Miller--he's not the MLB Andrew Miller we're accustomed to--I'd love a secondary position that instructs "absolutely don't let him pitch to the opposite hand!" I don't mind if he pitches in high-leverage spots, but only against lefties.I actually notice that I can select "lefty specialist" as his secondary role as well. Is that going to do anything? Perhaps that's best removed if it serves no function.
Lefty Specialist Luis Avilan
Similar to Andrew Miller above, but I wouldn't freak out if he came in and worked an inning where it was L/R/L or something like that. I'd rather he just face the righty in the middle. However, I'm not sure how to set that properly for just Avilan and not Miller as team strategies would apply to both guys. Should I switch Avilan's primary and secondary roles?
While there is a personal strategy for pitcher hook, there is not one for leniency on lefty/righty matchups.
Stopper/Setup Mike Morin and Pedro Baez
These are my cream-of-the-crop relievers, and I want them to pitch in the most important times of the game, whether we're winning, tied, or losing. I want them to be used in high-leverage, and I don't want them getting yanked for perhaps a slightly better lefty on lefty matchup. If they are rested, and the game is on the line, I want them in. Period.
So, will my current combo of Stopper/Setup get the job done? Am I making a mistake ignoring the "high leverage" option as perhaps this is a catch all?
Also, I don't like having to designate which inning these guys may be used, and same for when I have a lefty/righty combo as setup--it's far less dependent on the inning, and more important to have the better pitcher pitching in the tougher of the two innings. So for instance, Baez is the lesser of the two, so I'd want him to NOT come in for the 7th inning, if it were the middle of the order coming up; I'd want Morin in that situation, and then save Baez for the bottom of the order in the 8th.
Long Reliver/Emergency Start/Middle Relief
The remaining two guys--Rucinski and Bedrosian--I think are fine as is. I don't want Rucinski really pitching unless our starter got shelled and the game is likely out of hand. Bedrosian I'm fine with pitching in any situation, more or less, but he's not in the same category currently as Baez and Morin.
Thanks for reading!