When Theo Epstein took over the Red Sox he brought into Bill James theory (James was hired by the Red Sox) that the 9th inning is not necessarily the most important time for the teams primary relief pitcher to pitch in. It made for a lot of interesting reading that winter. The next season the Red Sox tried that. The season after that they went back to putting their best relief pitcher in for the 9th inning. Not easy to identify where the “high leverage” situation is when there is more game to go.
Re: Giles Role With the Astros…..
When Theo Epstein took over the Red Sox he brought into Bill James theory (James was hired by the Red Sox) that the 9th inning is not necessarily the most important time for the teams primary relief pitcher to pitch in. It made for a lot of interesting reading that winter. The next season the Red Sox tried that. The season after that they went back to putting their best relief pitcher in for the 9th inning. Not easy to identify where the “high leverage” situation is when there is more game to go.