User Guide

12
MANAGING YOUR PITCHING STAFF
It’s not enough to just have a quality pitching staff. To be
successful in World Series Baseball, you’ll have to call upon
your managerial know-how to use the right pitcher in the right
situation. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different types of
pitchers and what their roles are.
Starting Pitcher (SP) - This guy takes the ball every five
days and should be able to give you a lot of innings.
If you’ve got an ace like Roger Clemens or Greg Maddux,
count on them to give you a strong seven-plus innings.
Long Reliever (LR) - Sometimes your starting pitcher will get
roughed up and you’ll have to get him out of there. Give the
ball to your long reliever to eat up some innings and keep you
in the game. A good long reliever can give you anywhere
from two to five innings and can even be used as a spot starter
if one of your regulars gets hurt.
Middle Reliever (MR) - The middle reliever usually comes
in around the sixth or seventh inning or in a lefty-lefty or
righty-righty situation. Try to keep these guys in for less
then two innings.
Set-Up Man (SU) - The set-up man is the bridge to your
closer and usually pitches the eighth inning. When the game
is close, bring in your set-up guy to keep a lid on things before
the ninth.
Closer (CL) - It’s the ninth inning and you’ve got a one to
three-run lead – it’s time for the closer. Bring in this fireballer
to blow away the opposing hitters and collect the save. You
might think twice about trotting your closer out for a second
inning though, as it often doesn’t work out so well.