The emergence of “bullpenning” and the “relief ace” has led to an explosion in high-dollar contracts for the upper tier of relievers over the past few seasons. Understandably, the desire to use more bullpen arms for more innings in any given game has appeared most on playoff teams, where the stakes in each game are high and starters are on a short leash.
In 2015, for instance, the Royals rode the arms of Wade Davis, Greg Holland, Ryan Madson, and Kelvin Herrera to a World Series title.