FanShot

Concerns About the Bullpen?

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This is located in an Insider article, so I will post some of the highlights: "There is plenty of experience in the revamped Braves bullpen with closer Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito in the twilight of their careers. Braves manager Bobby Cox, who has plenty of miles on the odometer as well, will try to avoid overworking his seasoned relievers. "I don't know if you can pitch them four days in a row, but certainly at times I think you can go three," Cox told David O'Brien of the Atlanta JC. "Depends on the number of pitches they throw." The plan could call for other relievers, such as Peter Moylan, to get some ninth inning work as well. " Keith Law has this to say: "As much as I'd love to see a manager run his bullpen in such an old-school fashion, without rigid role designations like 'closer' or '8th inning setup man,' this sounds to me like a back-door way of admitting that Atlanta doesn't know how much Billy Wagner's elbow can take this year. The Red Sox used him on back-to-back days once last year, and while he should be stronger in 2010, there are no guarantees on how his elbow will bounce back from normal closer usage." Hmmm...All of a sudden, I don't feel as excited about the BP situation. I figured that Wagner was back to full strength, considering the speed with which we signed him and the amount we signed him for. The thing that scares me the most is what Cox said about "They may not have 4 nights in a row in them, but they certainly have 3". That should scare all of us.