The A’s strategy this past month has been clear: stockpile as many good relievers as possible to make an excellent bullpen even better and deeper. The “chicken or egg” question becomes: did the A’s make these moves because the starting pitchers can’t even toss 6 decent innings, or are the starting pitchers now tossing less than 6 IP because the A’s have so many relievers they’re excited to use?
The blueprint unveiled last night could have been a one-game coincidence, but it was also the first game with Fernando Rodney on the roster. Brett Anderson threw 5 IP and 63 pitches and was yanked in favor of Lou Trivino to start the 6th.