Royals, Giants ride red-hot bullpens into World Series
Both managers should feel comfortable rolling out a variety of relief pitchers during the World Series this year.
Thearon W. Henderson
If the first few rounds of the 2014 postseason were any indication, one should keep an eye on the bullpens of the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals entering the World Series. Relievers played crucial roles for both teams in the past few weeks, earning 12 of the combined 18 postseason decisions handed out on the way to the Fall Classic.
That trend of bullpen importance should continue starting with Game 1 on Tuesday, given the faith Bruce Bochy and Ned Yost have shown in their respective bullpens so far. These are two of the best groups of relievers in the game, so it’s easy to see why the confidence is there. Let’s take a deeper look.
Giants
San Francisco finished the season with a 3.01 bullpen ERA, fifth-lowest in baseball. Led by closer Santiago Casilla, that dominance has continued in the postseason, and entering the World Series, Bochy should have a number of strong options to work with out of the bullpen.
We’ll start with Casilla, who earned the closer’s gig midway through the season and hasn’t looked back. He posted a 1.70 ERA in 58 regular season innings and hasn’t allowed a run in 6 2/3 innings this postseason, successfully converting all four of his save opportunities. He doesn’t rack up Ks like many other high-level relievers, but has found a winning combination with his strong command and penchant for avoiding home runs.
Beyond Casillas, the top guys out of the bullpen are Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo. Depending on the matchup, Bochy has options for pretty much any opponent, and it allows him to put his pitchers in positions to succeed. Affeldt and Lopez have thrown a combined 8 1/3 shutout innings this postseason, with the latter basically being used for one batter at a time. However, if you're going to have a lefty specialist, at least Lopez gets the job done.
The Giants also have Yusmeiro Petit to eat innings in emergency situations, and he's stepped up already this postseason. Petit has pitched nine shutout innings, allowing two hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks, over a pair of relief appearances this fall. Jean Machi and Hunter Strickland round out the unit.
| Name | G | IP | ERA | K | BB |
| Jeremy Affeldt | 7 | 6.1 | 0.00 | 2 | 2 |
| Santiago Casilla | 7 | 6.2 | 0.00 | 5 | 3 |
| Javier Lopez | 6 | 2.0 | 0.00 | 3 | 1 |
| Yusmeiro Petit | 2 | 9.0 | 0.00 | 11 | 4 |
| Sergio Romo | 7 | 4.2 | 1.93 | 3 | 0 |
| Jean Machi | 4 | 2.1 | 7.71 | 1 | 0 |
| Hunter Strickland | 4 | 4.1 | 8.31 | 5 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 7 | 35.1 | 1.78 | 30 | 11 |
Royals
Kansas City finished 10th in bullpen ERA (3.30) during the regular season, and like San Francisco, has seen even better performance with the pressure on. Yost has leaned heavily on the trio of closer Greg Holland and set-up men Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis, and all three pitchers have proven up to the task.
Holland emerged as an All-Star closer for the Royals last year, and continued with another strong performance in 2014. He’s converted all six of his save opportunities during Kansas City’s postseason run, and gives the Royals as steady a closer as any team in baseball.
Holland gets a lot of help, too, between Davis and Herrera. The pitchers posted regular season ERAs of 1.00 and 1.41, respectively, and give Yost a classic one-two-three punch to cover the final three frames of a game when necessary.
The Royals also have Danny Duffy, Brandon Finnegan, Jason Frasor and diminutive right-hander Tim Collins, rounding out an impressive group of arms for the club. However, if you can tell from the numbers, it's pretty much all about the Holland-Herrera-Davis mix.
| Name | G | IP | ERA | K | BB |
| Tim Collins | 1 | 0.2 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 |
| Danny Duffy | 1 | 1.0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Frasor | 4 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 |
| Wade Davis | 8 | 9.1 | 0.96 | 10 | 2 |
| Kelvin Herrera | 7 | 8.1 | 1.08 | 10 | 2 |
| Greg Holland | 8 | 8.0 | 1.13 | 10 | 5 |
| Brandon Finnegan | 5 | 4.1 | 4.15 | 3 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 35.0 | 1.80 | 36 | 13 |
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