What do you call a starter who doesn't start?

[Edgy MD]

When a reliever is used to start the game, throwing just an inning or two before handing the ball to the guy who is scheduled to take the bulk of the innings, hopefully pitching deeper into the game than he might otherwise have, and perhaps get the lineup flipped over for him, we have a name for that guy. He is the opener, and he is pretty much called that across the league. A new strategy emerged and the lexicon adapted.



But what of the guy he gives the ball to? He wasn't in the lineup, but he was scheduled to enter the game when he where he did before the game even started, just like a starter, and it is likely his scheduled second- or third-inning entry was even publicly announced before the game, if only un-officially. He is asked to carry the workload of a starter while not starting. Is he the headliner? The featured pitcher? The ball carrier? The mule?



I feel like we have a hole in the lexicon here, and if we take the initiative to fill it, there might be some money in it for us.

[Frayed Knot]

The one I've heard most often is 'Bulk Reliever' since he's expected to handle at least a plurality of the remaining innings even if not a statistical majority of them.

The only time 'bulk reliever' doesn't work is when it's going to be a true 'bullpen' game where the manager plans to massage six or seven different arms hoping

that each can nail down somewhere in the neighborhood of three to five outs as the innings and matchup situations dictate.

[MFS62]

They used to call the pitcher who comes in mid game and is expected to pitch several innings the "long man".

I see no reason why that isn't still good enough to use.

In The Long Season, Jim Brosnan had that role described to him (sometimes starter and sometimes reliever) and he said "my arm still hurts".



Later

[metirish]

"next man up" ? Long man to me is a pitcher that comes in for a stater who had to leave the game like unexpectedly...

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, a long man to me is a guy who comes in to eat innings when the competitive nature of the game has take a big turn — a team has either fallen behind or pulled ahead by a large number.



This guy is put in early to be the primary competitor in a game that is hopefully close, but he is pre-scheduled to enter not as a response to the situation, but regardless of the situation.