“Openers”

[GoYanksGo]

Has anyone here tried the “opener” strategy, and basically just have relievers in all of the starting spots and starters in the bullpen? I’m sure there’s a way to play with the settings to ensure the “opener” comes out after a few batters/one inning and then let the starter pitch 5-6 innings.

The only advantage I can see is that it would let your best starters pitch more frequently (albeit fewer innings each time, probably), but just curious if anyone has tried it and if so what the results have been.

[basilrathbonejr]

There are many relievers who because of their endurance cannot be used as starters...I have only ever used a C+ reliever as a starter with moderate to limited success.

[Hamilton2]

Oh. It works. It really, really works.

I'll try to find a player card of the guy who used it most effectively. I think it was in the Sandy Amoros League back in the day ...

[Hamilton2]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Exhibit "A" in "Why Openers Work:" Alfonso Marquez

Mr. Marquez was a fascinating case. At his peak he was an A overall SP with B+/A+ splits and B+ endurance. After being drafted #1 overall in 1985 by the Florida franchise, Marquez immediately debuted in the bigs and made an impact, leading the league in Shutouts as a rookie, complete games his sophomore year, and games started and shutouts in 1989 his final season down south. Florida disbanded and there was an expansion draft. As a new franchise looking for a face to bring in the fans and make an impact, Pittsburgh selected Marquez #1 overall in the 1990 expansion draft.

The SAL was a unique league with unique owners. We were one of the first variable development leagues on the site and eventually became one of the first salary leagues. Our variable development adventure led to some absolutely insane things. At one point we had a team with two A+ overall SP's on the roster at the same time.

Marquez was a dominant pitcher, but as a starter he was just one of about half a dozen front-end ACES at that point in the league. He could hold his own and likely would have gone down as one of the best SP's in league history without the gamesmanship that followed. PIT's owner was a dynamic character and an outside the box thinker. After the expansion draft he tried to trade some pieces and rebuild, which didn't really work, so he turned and bought some pieces to "compete now". He ended up with Marquez and a pile of C- to C+ endurance guys as his pitching staff. Recognizing a unique opportunity and deciding to test the boundaries of the possible, this owner tweaked his settings to that his SP's would pitch once through the order and then get replaced by Marquez. He had a loaded lineup and another decent RP or two, but it was Marquez and a world class offense that drove that team to success.

The results, as they say, speak for themselves.

Marquez led the league in 1991 as a SP in a traditional role. He played 28 games, posted a 0.89 WHIP and 2.21 ERA ... and then the apocalypse happened. In 1992, PIT's owner decided that at all costs he must get Marquez the Cy Young award. He implemented the "opener" strategy, using his starter to get through the opponent's lineup once and then turned it over to Marquez until tired. Marquez was a beast. He posted almost identical rate stats in 1992 as 1991 (0.96 WHIP, 2.19 ERA), once again leading the league. He pitched 217 vs. 211 innings. But the Wins? Oh baby, those sweet W's. 47 of them.

Marquez stayed in the first out of the pen role for 5 seasons total, accumulating 5 Cy Youngs and 215 Wins in that span. I've never seen anything like it before or since. The message boards were filled with angst. The HOF votes for the next 2 decades were controversial. Owners left. It was wonderful.

So ... yes, the "opener" strategy can work. But be careful. It may not be worth it in the end.

[GoYanksGo]

Interesting. That definitely worked, but it also seems like a somewhat extreme example. What made me wonder was in back to back games, my opponent took out their starter in the first inning (http://www.simdynasty.com/boxscore.jsp? ... 9&cityid=7 and http://www.simdynasty.com/boxscore.jsp? ... 2&cityid=7), and his bullpen pitched 8.1 innings of one run ball in the first and 8.2 innings of shutout ball in the second.

I feel like approaching it as a true bullpen game probably isn’t sustainable over a full season, but I guess if you have a guy like Marquez an opener could work.

[Hamilton2]

The key is to keep your bullpen guys "rested" by setting your manager prefs properly. You could theoretically run a staff this way without a superstar like Marquez. The trick is to balance back to back days and total batters faces to optimize the performance of your whole rotation.

[ratman44]

A guy n my league ran it to a bunch of division wins, never won the series, but he had an interesting way to do it. He would pitch his starter until he gave up a run, then it would convert to one of these 3 guys. He also had an ace closer who I can't find. He had a stacked line-up so 1 run wasn't normally an issue to make up. He had 3 dominant pitchers and he moved them around. You can see from 2024 until 2028 the stats these guys put up. He had a tendency to trade for guys that were 33 or 34 from other teams where you could get a guy cheaper and then ride them out. He got 300+ innings out of Namath and he was a spectacular pitcher.


http://www.simdynasty.com/player.jsp?pl ... d=10378362

http://www.simdynasty.com/player.jsp?pl ... d=10681730

http://www.simdynasty.com/player.jsp?pl ... d=10473977


I have often toyed with attempting this, especially in leagues that have weak pitching.

I am also at a point with my one team that I have an A-/A+ SP who is 30 and most of my hitters are 28-31 but the rest of my pitchers are 34 this year. I was thinking I could somehow make a few more playoff runs by isolating this Pitcher as the go to guy.

[bahstonwedsawks]

I've been using what is now termed "openers" since I started SimDynasty some 48 seasons ago. It allows me to pinch hit for my SP very, very early in the game. It's one of a number of unconventional strategies I've used over the years (about 8 years real-time).

[pecker247]

They work and I have been playing against an owner that has perfected it. Below you will see a player card that pitched 346 innings last year and he only started 1 game. He also had 62 improvement chances. So yeah it works. I have beaten many times because of this.

http://www.simdynasty.com/player.jsp?pl ... d=12678200

[GoYanksGo]

What’s going on with all those trades between Montreal and St. Louis lol?

They work and I have been playing against an owner that has perfected it. Below you will see a player card that pitched 346 innings last year and he only started 1 game. He also had 62 improvement chances. So yeah it works. I have beaten many times because of this.

http://www.simdynasty.com/player.jsp?pl ... d=12678200