This year we’ve watched big league teams employ the dreaded “bullpen day” as much as I can ever remember. In particular we’ve watched the Tampa Bay Rays utilize this strategy with regularity. Heck, after the trade deadline they didn’t have a starter left on their roster for a short time.
The same circumstance has come up in Toronto recently, and John Gibbons has had to get pretty creative to get through nine innings some days. Last week we watched John Axford get his first career start for the Blue Jays before he was traded to Los Angeles, and last night Tyler Clippard took the mound to start the game.