Excerpt: "How to Break Pitchers"

"Ogando and Davis are the latest victims of a new phenomenon: moving young pitchers from starting roles to one-inning relief roles and back. Up until the last 10-15 years, young starting pitchers could be broken in with long-relief work. It was Earl Weaver who said that the best place for a young pitcher was in the bullpen, and he practiced that. In 1965, a 19-year-old Jim Palmer relieved 21 times for the Orioles, making two six-inning appearances and seven others of at least three innings, with just seven of fewer than two innings. Ogando has made 103 relief appearances in his career and has gone more than two innings four times. Davis made 54 appearances in 2012 and went more than two innings three times. Palmer was pitching out of the bullpen in much the manner he would as a starter, facing hitters multiple times, having to pace himself, getting to throw all his pitches. Ogando and Davis were…not doing that."