SI

Two Weeks Into the 2021 MLB Season Relief Pitchers Are Worse Than Starting Pitchers

SI's Tom Verducci shares the numbers behind a statistical anomaly which has shown up early in the 2021 season.

Tom Verducci

You would have to go back to the year 1969 to find a time where relief pitchers had a higher ERA than starting pitchers. However, two weeks into the 2021 MLB season, this is indeed the case. SI's Tom Verducci shares the numbers and teams where bullpens are struggling to keep up with their starting pitchers. 

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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