Dodgers' Greinke laments 'ridiculous' pace of September games
Zack Greinke picked up his 16th win of the season in the Dodgers' 7-5 defeat of the Angels on Monday, but the ace had a major gripe to share following the game.
After Greinke was pulled from the game, manager Don Mattingly used six pitchers to complete the rest of the game, four of which were used in the seventh inning alone.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia tapped deep into his bullpen as well, using a total of eight relievers after starter Nick Tropeano lasted only 4 1/3 innings.
The game's 14 pitching changes played a predominant role in the final game time of 3:52, an excessively long game in Greinke's view.
"I think it's ridiculous," Greinke said of the game's slow pace. "They should probably look into this not happening anymore because it's not exciting to watch."
Fellow Dodgers starter Brett Anderson echoed Greinke's sentiment.
Expanded September rosters are primarily to blame for Monday's bullpen bonanza, as managers are supplied with more relievers in the season's final month thanks to roster sizes increasing to 40 men from the usual 25-man rosters.
The Dodgers and Angels currently both have 10 relievers on their active rosters, which allows them the flexibility to freely substitute relievers, even if they've only thrown a third of an inning or less, as seven of the relievers in Monday's game did.
"It was definitely a September game," Mattingly said.
(h/t ESPN)
