Setup pitcher
In baseball, a setup pitcher (or set-up pitcher, sometimes called the setup man) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the eighth inning, with the closer pitching the ninth.[1][2]
As closers were reduced to one-inning specialists, setup men became more prominent.[3] Setup pitchers often come into the game with the team losing or the game tied.[4] They are usually the second best relief pitcher on a team, followed by the closer. After closers became one-inning pitchers, primarily in the ninth inning, setup pitchers become more highly thought of.[5] A pitcher who succeeds in this role is often promoted to a closer.[6] Setup men are paid less than closers and mostly make less than the average Major League salary.[7] One measurement of a setup pitcher's effectiveness is the hold statistic.[8]
Accolades for setup men are few and far between; occasionally they will be selected to the All-Star Team (Brendan Donnelly, Hideki Okajima, Carlos Mármol, Mike Stanton, David Robertson and Hong-Chih Kuo, for instance). Francisco Rodriguez, who was a setup pitcher for the Anaheim Angels in 2002, tied starting pitcher Randy Johnson's Major League Baseball record for wins in a single postseason after recording his fifth victory in the 2002 World Series.[9]
Tim McCarver wrote that the New York Yankees in 1996 "revolutionized baseball" with Mariano Rivera, "a middle reliever who should have been on the All-Star team and who was a legitimate MVP candidate."[10] He finished third in the voting for the American League (AL) Cy Young Award[11] That season, Rivera primarily served as a setup pitcher for closer John Wetteland, typically pitching in the seventh and eighth inning of games before Wetteland pitched in the ninth. Their effectiveness gave the Yankees a 70–3 win–loss record that season when leading after six innings.[12] McCarver said the Yankees that year played "six-inning games", with Rivera dominating for two innings and Wetteland closing out the victory.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Zimniuch, Fran (2010). Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball. Chicago: Triumph Books. pp. 154,168. ISBN 978-1-60078-312-8.
- ^ Felber, Bill (2006). The Book on the Book: An Inquiry Into Which Strategies in the Modern Game Actually Work. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 102. ISBN 9780312332655. http://books.google.com/books?id=-HZ3xF7DT7IC&lpg=PA117&dq=setup%20man&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, pp.168–9
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, pp.169
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, p.163
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, pp.165,168,171–3
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, p.169
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, pp.169–70
- ^ "San Francisco vs. Anaheim". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores102/102293/20021020ML---ANAHEIM---0.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
- ^ a b Zimniuch 2010, p.221
- ^ "1996 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1996.shtml#ALcya. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ Zimniuch 2010, pp.219–221
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