Every single team in baseball needs more starting pitching. Seriously, you think your squad is set? Think again. The cold, hard truth is that MLB teams just can’t churn out enough starters from the minors to keep up with the injury bug and guys flaming out in the big leagues. It’s a brutal cycle. But what if the answer was right there, hiding in plain sight in the bullpen? That’s right, teams are getting way more aggressive about flipping relievers back into starting roles, and honestly, the league isn’t fully ready for how much this could shake things up in 2027.
The Bullpen’s Secret Weapon: Why It’s Happening Now
This isn’t just some wild, desperate move. There’s a method to the madness. We’ve seen some seriously high-profile successes in recent years. Garrett Crochet is probably the most talked-about, but don’t forget Reid Detmers, Griffin Jax, and Justin Wrobleski all pulled it off in 2026. Even looking back a bit further, guys like Michael King, Nick Pivetta, Clay Holmes, Nick Martinez, and Seth Lugo made that jump over the last half-decade. Why the sudden wave? Well, expectations for starters have changed. Nobody’s trying to throw 110 pitches every time out anymore, and hitting 180 innings in a season is a rarity. This lower workload makes the transition more physically manageable. Plus, with a decade of advanced data and sophisticated pitch design labs, teams now have a much better handle on which relievers actually have the “stuff” to go through a lineup multiple times.
Who’s Next on the Mound for 2027?
So, who are the names popping up when we look ahead to 2027? Two guys getting some serious buzz are Grant Taylor and Didier Fuentes. Taylor is a prime candidate for a move to the rotation, but there are some workload concerns lingering around him. Fuentes, on the other hand, is offering some truly intriguing upside that’s catching eyes across the league. Identifying these guys isn’t guesswork, either. Baseball nerds are poring over the numbers, looking at pitchers from 2021 to 2026 who threw at least 50 innings as a reliever one season and then followed it up with at least 50 innings as a starter the next. They are dissecting velocities and the quality of arsenals, using metrics like Stuff+ from FanGraphs.com to see what physical characteristics make a pitch truly great. It’s all about finding those hidden gems who can take on that bigger role.
This isn’t just about fantasy baseball, folks. This is about the future of pitching in MLB. Keep your eyes peeled as we head into 2027. Will more teams double down on this strategy? Will the next wave of rotation stalwarts come straight out of the bullpen? It’s going to be wild to watch how it all plays out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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