Rob Mains over at Baseball Prospectus gave a very good graphical breakdown of the Rays pitching usage. It’s not behind the paywall, and it’s worth your time. Basically, he goes through comparisons of innings for starts, and innings for relief experiences to show exactly where the Rays are and aren’t unusual as a result of their bullpen days and their opener-headliner strategy.
It’s most interesting to me to see where the Rays are not leading—relief pitchers per game (that’s Toronto) and starts between three and four innings (that’s Miami).
I do have to pick a little bit of a bone with the conclusion, because this is an excellent piece ruined (maybe that’s the wrong word because I’m still telling you to read it) by some faux-analysis that got tagged on at the end.