Now you know Anthony Banda
It seems like a lifetime ago, but the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in this year's World Series. The relief pitchers were front and center.
Anthony Banda wears the specs and hunches over like his back hurts when he comes set. Tim Hill has the mustache and looks like Gumby as he comes back to center after following through with a pitch.
Luke Weaver looks like a child. Blake Treinen has the stern facial expression and stenciled-on goatee of the template in the create-a-character mode of your favorite video game.
And because I’m overdue for a sports-to-wrestling connection, Michael Kopech looks like Malakai Black.
The relief pitchers for both the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers emerged as the main characters of the 2024 World Series. As much as the star players for either team, they became the familiar figures.
I know their faces. I know their mannerisms. And it’s not just about appearance. I know their pitching repertoires, too.
Weaver has the diving changeup. Treinen has the big “video game” sweeper. Banda has a sweeping slider of his own. Hill throws sidearm at an angle where the ball disappears behind the heads of left-handed batters. Kopech throws 100 mile-per-hour fastballs.
Watching this year's World Series, you could count on seeing most of those relievers in every game. Anonymous until the playoffs, these journeyman and grinders are central to how teams win right now.
Here’s the funny thing about relievers: the Dodgers and Yankees could square off in a rematch in next year’s World Series. The action would likely revolve around a bunch of bullpen pitchers once again. But it could be a completely different group of guys.
I would go so far to say that it’s likely we would be getting to know a whole new gang of high leverage pitchers and their facial hair and quirks and violent deliveries and nasty pitches that coax swings and misses.
Now you know Anthony Banda. And the other boys listed above. And Tommy Kahnle. And Daniel Hudson. And Clay Holmes.
Just don’t get attached.
In today’s Kanefabe newsletter
Two weeks ago, which feels like a lifetime ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series. I've finally gathered up some observations and some questions.
Programming note: I was going to run this last week. Then I wasn't up for it. I wasn’t up for much writing, really. I know I’m not alone in hitting a wall given the events of the world.
If there's anyone who might benefit from some thoughts about staying connected as we make sense of the world, here's the only newsletter I did write last week.
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And now, we distract ourselves with baseball. I'm glad you're here. On we go.
Gerrit Cole and Walker Buehler
I'm going to do the big swear (tip of the cap to Meg Rowley). But actually, I'm going to use the Good Place substitution for the big swear.
Even in a series and a general MLB environment that is light on starting pitcher aces, both of these teams have pitchers who can go out there and deliver a "fork you" start. We're talking about the kind of pitching performance where they find nasty pitches when they need them, blow fastballs past guys in contests of strength, and mean-mug on their way off the mound.
Gerrit Cole is unquestionably one of those pitchers. As Rowley noted in the Effectively Wild episode where she and Ben Lindbergh recapped the World Series, Cole almost came through with a "fork you" start in game 5. Trying to keep the Yankees' season alive, he grinded through seven innings. He struck out batters in key spots. He did some staring down and various other tough guy moves.
It didn't quite all land, however. That's mostly because game 5 was so weird. While Cole offered some vintage moments and iconic images, his teammates were doing a yakety sax routine in the background.
So it was that the “fork you” game lost its luster and was relegated to the list of things that almost happened.
On the Dodgers side, Walker Buehler is another pitcher with the pedigree and makeup to reach that extra level. That said, he wasn’t top of mind as a star entering this year’s World Series.
Buehler was coming off his second Tommy John surgery when he returned in the middle of the 2024 regular season. And he just wasn’t right. He wasn’t missing bats or dominating like he had in previous seasons. He struggled to the point there was doubt if he would even make the Dodgers’ postseason roster.
So yes, Buehler had the “fork you” start in his bag. We just hadn’t seen it for a couple years. And just like Cole’s almost iconic start, there were moments in this series when Buehler walked right up to the line of dominant, ace-level pitching. I'm just not sure he ever crossed it.
It was a cool moment when Buehler closed out the World Series, coming in on short rest and recording the final three outs. He certainly did so with some swagger.
But it didn't feel inevitable. He wasn't head and shoulders above other pitchers in the series.
Ultimately, it didn’t feel like Cole or Buehler elbowed out the parade of relief pitchers as main characters in this year's Fall Classic.
Does Nestor Cortés count?
Am I leaving out any starting pitchers who left more of an impression?
The Dodgers got a good start from Jack Flaherty in game 1 and then a very bad start from him in game 5. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was stellar in five innings of work in game 2. Maybe a longer series and another good start would have him competing for more attention.
On the Yankees side of things, Carlos Rodón got shelled in game 2. Clarke Schmidt didn't have it in game 3. Luis Gil joined his colleagues in giving up a home run to Freddie Freeman and had a forgettable game 4 start otherwise.
Nester Cortés is a former All Star and well-known pitcher. He certainly participated in one of the most famous moments in World Series history. But he's a supporting actor in that scene. In the end, for a guy who's easy to root for and who was trying to come back from injury, Cortés didn't leave his mark on the series. Even if he was on the field for the play most likely to live on in baseball history.
Cortés was in a tough spot, and he wasn't alone. This series wasn't for the starters.
Will the pendulum swing back to starting pitchers?
The trend for shorter starts across baseball is familiar. Complete games are rare, as are pitch counts over 100. We're used to seeing starters pulled after four or five innings. Teams now proceed with "bullpen games" on purpose, not just because their starting pitcher struggled and got chased early.
Oftentimes, the bullpen game works. The relief pitchers are nasty, maxing out as they are because they don't need to worry about long outings. The opposing hitters don't see your starting pitcher a third time, avoiding the uptick in offensive production that comes with that third time through the batting order. They rarely see any pitcher more than once, making it even tougher to hit.
It's that last point where things get complicated in the playoffs. In a single game, teams pull their starting pitchers early and hitters only see the line of relief pitchers once. But then they see the same bullpen guys the next night. And then they see the same bullpen guys in game 3. And game 4.
At that point, it's fair to wonder: is it still an advantage to rely on those relief pitchers? Or have the teams neutralized that benefit for the same reason that pitchers struggle the third time through the lineup? Batters are still seeing the pitchers frequently in a short span, after all, even if it's over a couple days instead of within the same game.
In this year’s World Series, there was also the simple issue of the relief pitchers being gassed by the time these teams reached the end of game 5.
This wasn’t because of both teams riding their bullpens entirely by choice. The Dodgers were already battered by injuries. The Yankees likely would have stuck with starters longer if not for some struggles on the mound.
In the end, and for different reasons, both teams would have benefitted from better starting pitching. That fact became clear as the relievers struggled as the series wore on.
That might seem obvious. But it isn't, not really, not when teams are so quick to get into their bullpens and build entire game plans around their bullpens.
So, I wonder if that might change. Maybe teams will recommit to trying to build deeper starting rotations. These trends change and unfold over years, so we probably won't know in 2025. But I'll be curious to see if this overall approach to pitching usage might change.
Next year's playoffs
Nothing is guaranteed, but I feel confident that the Los Angeles Dodgers will be in the playoffs again next season. Thinking ahead to their attempt to repeat as world champions, some of the main characters will likely remain. There will be the MVP-led lineup and the depth of star players. Maybe Walker Buehler will remain atop the rotation. Maybe Clayton Kershaw will stir the echoes.
Even without knowing the exact list of players, I can make a reasonable guess at the hitters and starting pitchers who will lead the way for the Dodgers next season. But the bullpen? I have no idea what that will look like.
Maybe it will be many of the same guys, and you will see the lefty with the specs and go, "hey, I know that guy!" Maybe the starting pitchers will pitch more innings and take the heat off the bullpen. Or maybe it will continue to be the battle of the bullpens, just with a lot of new faces who have things click at the right time.
I'm not much for predictions, but I'd bet it's the last option.
