- Setup pitcher
In
baseball , a setup pitcher (or set-up pitcher, sometimes called the setup man) is arelief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the 7th and/or 8th innings, with the closer pitching the 9th.The concept of a team having a defined setup pitcher is a relatively new one which has been aided by the addition of the statistical category of holds. The role, however, remains a flexible and sometimes ill-defined one. Setup pitchers, unlike closers, commonly appear in games where their team is tied or even behind, making the designation of setup pitcher representative of only a certain number - perhaps under half - of the pitcher's appearances within a season. However, it is fairly common for a young setup man that achieves success to be moved to the closer role.
Accolades for setup men are few and far between; occasionally they will be selected to the All-Star Team (
Brendan Donnelly ,Hideki Okajima ,Carlos Mármol , andMike Stanton , for instance) or receive votes for theCy Young Award or MVP (Mariano Rivera finished 3rd in the AL Cy Young voting in 1996).Teams commonly have a right-handed and a left-handed setup pitcher in their
bullpen s.Current set-up men by team:
American League
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Baltimore Orioles :Jamie Walker
*Boston Red Sox :Manny Delcarmen
*Chicago White Sox :Scott Linebrink andOctavio Dotel
*Cleveland Indians :Rafael Betancourt ,Masahide Kobayashi , and Rafael Perez
*Detroit Tigers :Joel Zumaya
*Kansas City Royals : Ramón Ramírez
*Los Angeles Angels :Scot Shields andJustin Speier
*Minnesota Twins :Jesse Crain andDennys Reyes
*New York Yankees :Jose Veras andDamaso Marte
*Oakland A's :Santiago Casilla andHuston Street
*Seattle Mariners :Sean Green
*Tampa Bay Rays :Dan Wheeler andGrant Balfour
*Texas Rangers:Joaquin Benoit
*Toronto Blue Jays :Scott Downs National League
*
Arizona Diamondbacks :Jon Rauch ,Brandon Lyon , and Tony Peña
*Atlanta Braves :Blaine Boyer
*Chicago Cubs :Carlos Mármol
*Cincinnati Reds :David Weathers andJared Burton
*Colorado Rockies :Manny Corpas
*Florida Marlins :Arthur Rhodes ,Logan Kensing , andJoe Nelson
*Houston Astros :Doug Brocail
*Los Angeles Dodgers :Joe Beimel
*Milwaukee Brewers :Guillermo Mota andEric Gagné
*New York Mets :Brian Stokes
*Philadelphia Phillies :J.C. Romero andScott Eyre
*Pittsburgh Pirates :Tyler Yates
*St. Louis Cardinals :Russ Springer
*San Diego Padres :Heath Bell andCla Meredith
*San Francisco Giants :Sergio Romo
*Washington Nationals :Saul Rivera
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