An Old Post Truer Today Than When Written

[frankbmd]

Oh wait...I do agree with Frank! Except for the "in disguise" part.

I hate to be derailed by the small print and stand by my box. See! I'm standing outside the box.

Has a relief pitcher ever been awarded a blown save for losing the lead in the 3rd inning? I'm sure many of you are saying that would be ridiculous, but is a blown hold/save in the 3rd inning any different that a blown hold/save in the eighth inning.

Furthermore if the current army of one inning relievers cannot pitch in more than one inning, I think they shouldn't receive any credit for anything they do. To pitch 40 2/3 innings in 55 appearances over the course of a 6 month season is hardly noteworthy. They don't even deserve an asterisk *****************. As far as paying them, I would vote for minimum wage.

[molenick]

I don't think you can get a hold or save (or blown save) if you enter in the third inning and you are the first relief pitcher in because there is no one for you to hold or save the game for...because the starter can't get a win if he is out by the third inning. Otherwise you could end up with a game with seven people getting holds but no one getting the win (and you can't get a win and also a hold/save).

However, if you enter in the third after two pitchers have pitched, and the second pitcher is in line for the win, you could get a hold or a blown save (unless you finish the game, in which case you would probably be awarded the win by the official scorer, although I guess in theory you could also get a very long save).

In fact, it looks like before the starter goes five innings, the second pitcher cannot get a hold or save or blown save no matter when he comes in. In this example, Maeda left after 4.1 inning with the lead but he couldn't get the win because he didn't go five. Duffey came in and held the lead but didn't get a hold. Then three pitchers came in and got holds (the hold was to preserve a win for Duffey, who presumably would have gotten the win if the Twins had held the lead). If any of those pitchers had given up the lead, they would have gotten a blown save. Then Colome came in for the "real" save in the ninth and got a "real" blown save.