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Relievers No Longer In Over Their Heads

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 27, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Gary Glover is the lone survivor.

Of the seven men who made up the most effective bullpen in the majors heading into the weekend, he is the only one who was among that group at the same time last season, when the Rays already were at the bottom on the way to a season of historically bad relief pitching.

Glover took care not to disparage those who toiled around him in 2007, particularly in those ugly early months that saw the Rays' relievers blow game after game. He bided his time searching for the word he wanted before it finally came to him.

"There's a lot more of a ... presence," he said.

That's one way to put it. When Troy Percival, Dan Wheeler or Trever Miller step to the mound, there isn't a hint of fear, nor any sense that an untimely walk or double will spur a complete unraveling.

"These are all battle-tested guys and it's their job," said Glover. "They go out there and do their thing and the rest of us are just trying to learn and gather as much from those guys as we possibly can."

It's working. Through 23 games last season, Rays relievers had posted a 5.92 ERA, allowing 76 hits and 43 earned runs in 651/3 innings. In the same sample size this year (through Friday's game), those numbers had been slashed to a 2.32 ERA, with 57 hits and 19 earned runs in 732/3 innings.

"I think this, so far, is beyond what you're looking for," said Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman. "To a man, they've all pitched great."

So what's the secret? Are they doing something different? Following a game plan that wasn't executed last year?

"A lot of it is personnel," said Friedman, perhaps understating the case.

The simple fact is the Rays ran out a series of relievers last season who were learning on the fly. Some were just trying to figure out how to retire major-league hitters, and others had done that before but never with a team that actually expected to win.

Whether they were in over their heads or flat-out not good enough to do the job, the Rays couldn't win with Brian Stokes, Shawn Camp and Ruddy Lugo logging so many important innings. And the Rays' miseries were compounded by the fact they had to use them, as the alternatives - Chad Orvella, Tim Corcoran - were no better.

"You've got guys at the end of the ballgame this year that have multiple years of big-league experience and last year we were throwing guys out there who didn't have a year of experience," said Glover. "I think that's a big difference."

It has manifested itself in a sense of security when the ball goes into the bullpen's hands that certainly was absent before. Last year, the Rays lost 13 games they had led after six innings, dropped 10 games they had led after seven, and managed to lose six times when leading after eight.

This year, such catastrophe has befallen them only once, when Al Reyes allowed four runs in the eighth inning of the second game of the season at Baltimore to blow a game the Rays had led 6-5 after six.

During 162 games, there are going to be nights like that. There have been a lot fewer of them so far this season, and each success helps build belief that it might last.

"The confidence probably is higher this year than it was last year for a lot of us, myself included," said Glover. "We just go out there and pitch and have a good time and things have been working out better."

THIS AND THAT: The Rays' revamped in-game "entertainment" doesn't appear to be an improvement through 16 home games. From bursts of music blaring through the speakers inadvertently to fumbled announcements, there's still a ways to go. ... LHP Jon Barratt, who was placed on the voluntarily retired list by Montgomery two weeks ago because he needed a break from baseball, told the Springfield (Mo.) News-Press he plans to continue working out and hopes to rejoin the Biscuits at some point.

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