In previous years, he either leaves Marshall in and hopes for the best, or he goes to one of few reliable guys in the bullpen whom he has managed to already overuse inside of the first five games. Or he goes to a bum who serves up more than just two runs, and without getting a strikeout first. An early trip to the bullpen always spelled doom, but if they turn out to be as good as they seem so far, we could be in for a very fun season. Exactly. And, in past years, if he goes to one of the reliable guys to get out of a jam in the fifth inning, he would still have to put in one of the crummy guys later in the game who, inevitably, would end up giving up more runs. Look at our pen's stats so far: Apr 3: 5 pitchers, 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 SO Apr 5: 4 pitchers, 4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO Apr 7: 2 pitchers, 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO Apr 8: 4 pitchers, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO Apr 9: 4 pitchers, 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO Aside from the walk problem in the first two games, the pen has been lights out. 3 ER in five games for a 1.44 ERA. Looks awesome to me. I know we'll have our rough games, but it's encouraging so far.