According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the Mets may be using an “opener” in second game of their doubleheader Monday against the Atlanta Braves. The game is a makeup for a rainout on April 22nd, and is one of three games the Mets have had postponed to inclement weather this season – April 2nd and May 12th, both versus the Phillies.
DiComo believes that Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo could start the game, go one or two innings, and then use one of Corey Oswalt or Chris Flexen for the regular length of a starter. Flexen has been with the team for about a week now and is yet to appear in a game.
Flexen has a 3.40 ERA, with a 7.03 K/9, and 2.50 BB/9 in 39.2 innings in the hitter-haven Pacific Coast League.
The concept of an opener has recently been used by the Rays who have utilized pitchers like Sergio Romo in the opener role, then switch to Ryan Yarbrough for a start, or Matt Andriese in a long relief role.
The idea of using an opener boils down to effectively eliminating the best hitters in a teams lineup and limit first inning scoring. It also may be implemented if a team has a strong array of mostly lefty or mostly righty hitters to start a game. A manager may implement the opener whose splits would be good against those specific hitters, then bring in the starter to burn through the rest of the lineup, while having a different look on the mound.
It seems to have definitely paid dividends for Matt Andriese this season, who has been used in a number of “bullpening” games, as his ERA/FIP/xFIP numbers are down from last years 4.50/4.93/4.41 to 3.45/2.92/3.21 this season. He has also raised his strikeout rate from 7.95 k/9 to 9.48 K/9, and lowered his walk rate from 2.93 BB/9 to 1.72 BB/9. Andriese has also matched his WAR of 0.5 last season in about a third of the innings.
This is Yarbrough’s first round in the Majors, and he has primarily taken the role of starter after an opener except in just three of his eleven games. Yarbrough currently holds a 3.54/3.92/4.69 ERA/FIP/xFIP line.
Another benefit could come in the way of an early pinch hitter, especially if it could give a team a chance to put up runs early in a game.
There is a chapter dedicated to this in Brian Kenny’s book “Ahead of the Curve” if anyone is interested in learning more about the methodology behind “bullpening” and the use of an opener.
