Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale came out of the bullpen in the top of the eighth during Thursday night’s Wild Card game, a move straight out of the Miami Marlins’ playbook that has the whole league buzzing. It’s a shocking play, seeing an ace like Sale pitch in relief, but it shows how far teams are willing to go when the chips are down, borrowing a strategy Miami debuted only weeks ago.
Miami’s Wild Idea: Bullpen Day, But Make It a Game
You know, the Marlins weren’t exactly cruising to the playoffs in September, but credit where credit is due: they used those slim chances to experiment for next year. One of their wild ideas was to have a starter, a true ace, close out a game on what was supposed to be his light bullpen day. We’re talking about former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara here, a guy who’d already thrown over 200 innings this season. None of those innings came in a save situation, not until Wednesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only two days after throwing 101 pitches in a no-decision, Alcantara came out of the ‘pen for the first time in nine years and slammed the door shut on a 4-3 victory for his first major league save. Crazy, right? The whole point was for starters to pitch in actual games on their bullpen days instead of only throwing in the pen. While it was partly out of necessity due to Miami’s bullpen injuries, Sun Sentinel’s Alanis Thames reported the Marlins are looking into using Alcantara and other starters in late-inning situations going forward.
Braves Adopt the Madness in Win-or-Go-Home Wild Card
Fast forward only a few weeks, and you see NL East rival Atlanta adopting this exact same philosophy. Thursday night, in a crucial Wild Card game, Braves ace Chris Sale entered the game in the top of the eighth for his “short bullpen outing.” Atlanta was up 6-2, with Bryce Harper stepping to the plate and two outs in the inning. And let me tell you, Truist got LOUD when that bullpen door opened, as Braves Today’s Lindsay Crosby noted. Yeah, it’s the playoffs, and managers are gonna pull out all the stops to win. But seeing manager Walt Weiss put his ace in a five-run game, in a win-or-go-home situation? That’s gutsy. Organizations usually protect their guys from that kind of usage. But Sale clearly used Thursday night as his bullpen day, right there in the middle of a playoff game, following the exact trend Miami had started.
This isn’t just a playoff gimmick; it’s a peek at what might become standard. You gotta wonder if more teams are gonna start trying this out, especially when the stakes are sky-high like they were Thursday night. It certainly makes you pay attention!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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