Rest or Rust? 134 Postseason Series Say a Layoff Costs Nothing
In 134 postseason series with unequal rest, the more-rested club won 68 against 70.7 its record predicts. Long layoffs and byes show no rust in Game 1 either.
October Bullpens: The Club That Needs More Pitchers Usually Loses
Since 2010 the postseason club that used fewer pitchers won 320 of 482 games, 66.4%, against 52.4% in the regular season. Why the count only matters in October.
In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on October 12, the Dodgers used eight pitchers and lost 7–4 in Milwaukee. The Brewers used five. Any October box score looks like that now: a line of relievers on each side, and a broadcast graphic counting how many arms each bullpen has left. What the graphic rarely says is that the count itself is one of the better clues to who won.
We counted the pitchers each club used in every postseason game since 1903 and in every regular-season game since 2010. In the regular season the count tells you almost nothing. From 2010 through 2025, when the two clubs used different numbers of pitchers, the one that used fewer won 52.4% of the time. In the postseason over the same years it won 320 of 482 games, or 66.4%. Clubs that got through a postseason game with three pitchers or fewer won 66.5% of the time, and clubs that needed six or more won 40.9%. In the regular season those two groups won 51.7% and 48.7%.