http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post?id=7839The Royals' bullpen got some needed relief Sunday, in the form of 12 runs of offense. So Greg Holland wasn’t required to crank up and do the thing that's his equivalent of Superman jumping into a phone booth, and Wade Davis didn’t have to ease his way into his work. Kelvin Herrera, who hasn’t allowed a run in almost two months, did take an inning, his fastball reaching 100.2 mph, his sinker averaging about 95 mph.
“These guys are something to watch,” Royals bullpen coach Doug Henry said Sunday morning, and Henry gets to see them up close, all of their habits, their different routines.
The Kansas City bullpen is probably the difference between the Royals between in or out of first place in the AL Central. While Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has had to wade through uncertainty all summer with a struggling bullpen that ranks 27th in ERA, the back end of the Kansas City relief has been nearly pristine of late. Since June 25, Holland, Davis and Herrera have a collective ERA of 0.47, with 34 hits, no homers, 18 walks allowed in 57 2/3 innings -- and 73 strikeouts.
Henry pitched in relief in 582 games in the big leagues over 11 seasons, in an era when he and others were expected to be in the bullpen at the outset of the game, regardless of their roles. But this is a different time, Henry noted, and the Royals' late-inning trio does its work like a lot of relievers these days, preparing in the early innings in the clubhouse and trainer’s room, stretching, loosening. By the time they make the trek to the bullpen, in the fourth or fifth inning, they are prepared to pitch.
Herrera tends to work in the seventh inning, and when the phone rings for him, Henry said, Herrera will throw nice and easy for the first five tosses, “like he’s lobbing the ball in there. And then all of a sudden,” Henry said, “here it comes.”
As in, fastballs close to max velocity. After throwing about 10 fastballs, Herrera will begin to mix in other pitches, such as his curveball and changeup. But for Herrera, the primary weapon will always be the fastball at close to 100 mph, and he is ready quickly.
Davis, a starter for much of his professional career, takes a little longer, with his first 10 tosses at about 70 mph, Henry guesstimated. But like Herrera, he quickly ramps up, firing his next five or six fastballs in the mid-90s. Before Davis is ready, he will want to spin a couple of curveballs, to get the feel for that pitch, and when Henry sees that, he can report to the dugout that the right-hander is ready to go.
Holland has more experience as a reliever than the other two, so his routine is cemented. He begins to warm up with seven or eight or nine tosses nice and easy, and then he spits his gum out -- a turning point in his preparation for an outing, like the Hulk’s eyes turning green. After that, he starts to fire the ball, working in his slider to both sides of the plate. After 15 pitches or so, he'll flip the ball to Henry behind his back, and he's ready to go.
As he passes Henry, he will put his pitching hand on Henry's right shoulder, walking forward and stretching his arm one last time before going through the door and heading onto the field.
The Royals have played a lot of close games of late, Henry noted, and the three relievers have been needed. But the bullpen should continue to be a weapon for Kansas City, because of how it has been used: Only one Royals reliever, Aaron Crow, ranks among the top 54 in appearances, and Davis leads the bullpen with 53 1/3 innings -- tied for 38th. Kansas City is closing in on its first postseason appearance in 29 years, and the bullpen is at the forefront of that drive.
Here's a look at the Royals' big three and their average fastball velocity (via Fangraphs). Kelvin Herrera is at 98 mph (ranked second in MLB), Holland 95.9 (11th), Davis 95.5 mph (13th).
Elsewhere, a Royals prospect has been promoted to Triple-A to pitch out of the bullpen, as Andy McCullough writes. We are at that stage in the season when contenders are preparing for September’s big league promotions.