In a time of short starts, the pen is running low in the MLB's LCS

CLEVELAND — For a generation, it was as much a part of October as fun Snickers bars and pumpkin spice lattes. Andy Pettitte made 44 starts in baseball's postseason, logging so many innings that no one else got under 50. And every time he took the mound, Pettitte knew what his expectations were.

“I would probably throw 100 pitches no matter what,” Pettitte said late Friday in familiar surroundings: the New York Yankees clubhouse on the brink of a pennant. “It’s just a different game now.”

Such was the case in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, when the Yankees and Cleveland Guardians somehow escaped without any pitching arm in the sling. Surgeons across the country must have been transfixed by the Yankees' 8-6 victory.

Fourteen pitchers took the mound at Progressive Field, compared to 15 in Game 3. The turnover has led to exciting late-inning drives in a series that has been much closer game-to-game than its National League counterpart.

However, both series have something in common: In neither series was there a game in which both starters lasted five innings. And almost every aid effort seems to have been used up.

“The game is bullpen-based now,” said Pettitte, now a special adviser to the Yankees. “(Teams) put it together, and that’s difficult. Now that I've been here all year, you kind of realize how different the game is from when I played it. It's simply a new brand of baseball. I don't know if it's good or bad, but the teams are built to do it now. Back when I pitched, assistive devices weren’t built for that.”

In the 1995 postseason, Pettitte's first, there were 31 games in which starters threw at least 100 throws. There were 29 such games in the 2012 postseason, his last. So far this year we've had two, from Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies and Luis Severino of the New York Mets.

In the 2009 postseason alone, Andy Pettitte pitched 30 2/3 innings in five starts. (Photo: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

It would make more sense if the relievers dominated. We didn't see that this month, but teams continue to try to fight their way to the title.

For Game 4 on Friday, the Yankees planned to give Luke Weaver a night off, who had pitched in every postseason game and hit David Fry's walk-off homer in Game 3. However, even without their best reliever – and with his replacement, Tommy Kahnle, taking advantage of all the changes to get the save while Weaver warmed up – the Yankees expected minimal work from starter Luis Gil.

Gil was as fresh as he could be after not pitching for almost three weeks. A leading candidate for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, Gil was barely adequate in September with a 4.00 ERA, but he managed to last at least five innings in all five games.

So it was surprising – apparently even to Boone himself – to hear this after the game:

“The great thing was Luis gave us four innings,” Boone said, adding that he knew it sounded easy. “I actually kept him at about 75, 80 pitches. I think he ended up throwing 80 (actually 79), probably more than we would really like.”

While this is all an educated guess, it underscores every pitching move a manager makes from March through November: How long will each pitcher be effective, given how much rest he gets? Now add the complications of the postseason, where the competition is greater and the stakes are higher, and this is what you get.

The starters aren't trained to go deep in games anyway, and now they're at the end of a long season. And not only are the relievers demanding, their repeated appearances make them more familiar to the hitters.

“Guys have thrown a lot of innings and guys can be tired,” said Kahnle, who acknowledged he should probably throw a fastball or two next time. “But I would say the adrenaline plays a big role in these games, so you don’t really notice it until you get out.”

In his third appearance in the ALCS, Tommy Kahnle made 18 changes to earn the save in Game 4. (Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)

However, you can tell by the lack of command authority. A tired thrower can often throw as hard as usual. But the ability to repeat mechanics suffers, and that leads to errors in the strike zone.

“It’s mid-to-late October,” said Guardians veteran catcher Austin Hedges. “Everyone has been training since the off-season to prepare for a six-month season. As much as your goal is to win the World Series, there are only a handful of teams that play that long, and it's exhausting.

“You can see it in the past. There are a lot of pitchers who pitched a lot in the playoffs and then come back the next year, but they're just not the same just because of all the extra month, and also the pressure of every moment is tough. So this is very real.

“But it’s also something they have to be able to respond to. I feel like your team is experiencing the same thing. They have a good bullpen, but they don’t necessarily pitch the way they would like to.”

The Guardians' bullpen had a 2.57 ERA in the regular season, the best of any team since the 2013 Kansas City Royals. However, in the postseason, Cleveland's relievers were far more ordinary, with a 3.83 ERA. The Yankees' tired (but less tired) group did better at 2.97.

Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, who gave up just five earned runs in the regular season, has now allowed eight in October. After blowing the save in Game 3 and losing Game 4, his ERA is 10.29. Manager Stephen Vogt said Clase's problems included on-field conditions and a Yankees team that led the majors in walks and allowed errors.

“That’s what the Yankees do really well,” Vogt said. “They have a really good approach against the pitchers and then they get throws over the middle. They don’t miss it, and they’ve really capitalized on it.”

Whether through loud home runs or soft contact, the Yankees made short work of Emmanuel Clase. (Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)

He's right: The Yankees have had exceptional offense this postseason, with Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton being just as dangerous as Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. While Judge and Stanton beat Clase with a home run in Game 3, it was Anthony Rizzo, Anthony Volpe, Alex Verdugo and Torres who paced him with singles and soft contact on Friday.

Cleveland has only gotten 15 outs from a starter once this postseason, when Matthew Boyd held the Yankees to one run over five innings in Game 3. Tanner Bibee, the nominal ace, lasted just 39 pitches on Tuesday, an appearance so brief that he will start Game 5 on short rest on Saturday.

“Our team's strength all year has been our bullpen, so we're going to lean on that,” said Shane Bieber, the former Cy Young Award winner who required Tommy John surgery after two starts this season. “I think most of these teams do that too because it's fast and runs are the priority. Beginners can definitely go deeper in games, but when the stakes are this high, the leash is a little shorter.”

It's a credit to the Guardians that they've made it this far without their best starter. Boyd was a smart addition – a veteran with a fresh arm after his own Tommy John rehab – but they simply don't trust any of their starters to pitch for very long.

It's a formula that worked in the regular season, leading Cleveland past an even more bullpen-heavy team, the Detroit Tigers, in the division series. But now that the top of the mountain is in sight, the little engine sputters.

“I mean, everyone is tired,” Vogt said. “I think we used them a lot. We had. This is who we are.”

With this identity, the Guardians have another chance at victory. It's a hard way to live, and they are not alone.

(Photo of starter Gavin Williams leaving the game: Jason Miller / Getty Images)