i think that this strategy is for the most part ridiculously inefficient, and the only thing that it accomplishes is the need for 11 man pitching staffs. the platoon splits of some batters makes it a winning situation to make the pitching change at times, but for the most part the differences are unimportant, and all they do is burn through the bullpen.
look at a bullpen like the yankees this year. did anyone but yankees fans really fear felix heredia coming into the game? and yet he has a major league job only because he is a lefthander reliever. the same goes for john franco, mike myers, jesse orosco, etc. sometimes they are valuable to a team, but they are really only valuable to the very best teams, and even then their value is only maximized in the post season, where the short series give greater importance to every out.
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