Bullpens.
It’s a different year. It’s the same story.
The bullpen is always trouble. Injury. Ineffectiveness. Overuse. Roster crunches. Roster rules. The label we put on the trouble changes from week to week, game to game, but the core of the problem remains.
Bullpens are volatile.
Players who were good one year suck the next. And sometimes vice versa.
And because relievers pitch later in the game, when they struggle it seems to lead directly to losses. So we “feel” the bullpen troubles more than we do in other spots
The annual tradition of bullpen volatility (and subsequent pain) remains true this season.