Since Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan rode relievers to the National League pennant in 2011 — getting more innings from the bullpen than starters in the NL championship series — aggressive use of relievers to muzzle opponents, or “shorten” games, has become the October norm. La Russa’s work revealed it, Cleveland’s use of lefty Andrew Miller in 2016 popularized it, and, last autumn, Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers both exploited it.
The bullpen threw 39 percent of the Astros’ innings last October. The Dodgers got 47 percent of their postseason innings from relievers.