Tampa Bay Rays’ Bullpen Splits and the 3-Batter Rule

The Tampa Bay Rays had the best bullpen in the league last year. With pitchers being forced to face at least three batters this season, we take a look at their splits from 2019.

The Tampa Bay Rays will be adjusting to MLB’s 2020 rule changes this season.

1. Roster increase to 26 players. Expands to 28-man rosters in September.
2. Three-Batter Minimum- All Pitchers must pitch to a minimum of three batters or end of half-inning.
3. Pitchers IL increased to 15 days (including 2-way players).
4. Managers will have 20 seconds to challenge a play.

With the implementation of the three-batter minimum, the LOOGY (lefty one-out guy) will be hocked and propelled out from the mouth of Major League Baseball in March. This rule could make the biggest impact on teams. It will make a pitcher’s splits more of a factor when handing out roster spots. The Rays had one of the best bullpens in the league last year, but we’ll take a look at some of the splits to help us prepare for what to expect in 2020.

Here’s a look at some brief splits form last year that make this rule interesting. The list was pulled from MLB.com’s current bullpen depth chart.

We start with the man at the top of that depth chart, Nick Anderson.

Nick Anderson RHP

vs. Right: .183

vs. Left: .250

Anderson faced righties in 141 plate appearances and faced lefties in 123 plate appearances. He held righties to a fantastic .183 average against with a .234 slugging and a .305 slugging. His strikeout to walk ratio against righties was 8.86 (incredible) while it was 4.26 (still good) against lefties. While righties only mustered a .305 slugging against the electric reliever, lefties posted a very solid .455 slugging.

Bullpen Splits – Page Two

Diego Castillo RHP – 2019 Batting Average Against

vs. Right: .205

vs. Left: .271

Diego Castillo faced 106 lefties and 184 righties. Righties posted a .295 OBP while lefties posted a .340 against Diego Castillo in 2019.

Colin Poche LHP – 2019 Batting Average Against

vs. Right: .190

vs. Left: .167

Colin Poche was dominant against both lefties and righties. Despite his 4.70 ERA Poche only allowed a .277 OBP to righties and a .276 OBP to lefties. If you can look past his not-so-great ERA, his underlying numbers tell a different story. Poche struck out 12.5 batters per nine while only walking 3.3 per nine. He posted a 1.01 WHIP

Oliver Drake RHP – 2019 Batting Average Against

vs. Right: .216

vs. Left: .147

Oliver Drake faced 115 righties and 104 lefties last season. Of his 19 total walks last season, 17 came against right-handed hitters. Drake actually went against conventional wisdom by allowing a .865 OPS against righties and just a .360 against lefties.

Jose Alvarado LHP – 2019 Batting Average Against

vs. Right: .282

vs. Left: .194

Alvarado had a very small sample size last year, but for his career, he’s actually been better against right-handed hitters than lefties. Lefties have slashed .235/.324/.296 against Alvarado while right-handed hitters have slashed .195/.297/.284. As you can see, he’s been incredibly effective against both. If he’s healthy and back to form, it doesn’t matter what side of the plate you stand on.

Chaz Roe RHP – 2019 Batting Average Against

vs. Right: .258

vs. Left: .227

Chaz Roe allowed a .351 OBP against righties and a .370 against lefties. He limited the damage by only allowing .358 and .318 slugging percentages, respectively.