Rethinking How to Organize Pitchers

Pitching Experiment Debated

Now if you're really looking to reinvent the game, or at least conduct an intriguing pitching experiment, consider a plan percolating in the mind of the Milwaukee Brewers' general manager, Doug Melvin. He is in the early stages of a plan to have relief pitchers start some minor league games, then have starters come in beginning in the third inning.

"We want our starters to pitch important innings, the eighth and ninth, and not look for the bullpen," Melvin, a former minor league pitcher, said. "We want them to know it's their game. This is what we're developing them for. Some guys never see the ninth inning."

{SNIP}Melvin said he didn't see the disappearance of a closer under his plan, but the starter would at least have a better chance of pitching at the end of a game. "Even if the relievers give up runs early," Melvin said, "you have more time to come back than if a reliever gives up runs in the eighth and ninth."

A 1999 playoff game influenced Melvin's thinking. Pedro Martínez relieved for Boston in the fourth inning, with Cleveland ahead, 8-7, and held the Indians hitless for the final six innings in what became a 12-8 series-clinching Red Sox victory. "We might consider it for one of our teams at a lower level, for the fourth or fifth starters," Melvin said.

"The minors is the place to experiment," Melvin said. "It's just a matter of having enough nerve to do it."