Quote:
Originally Posted by umpjim
From my 2010 PBUC: "Motioning to the bullpen is to be considered an official substitution for the new pitcher."
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I don't necessarily read that as saying, "A motion with the left arm to the bullpen is to be considered an official substitution for the left-handed new pitcher who is warming up" or vice versa.
What happens when the manager motions to the bullpen with a left arm, and two right-handed pitchers are warming up? Does that mean whoever is in the bullpen that is still left-handed is the one who should come in?
Now that I think of it, why is the manager committed to calling in a pitcher who is actually warming up? Where does it say anywhere that if a manager makes a motion to the bullpen, he MUST bring in the pitcher who is up and throwing? What if he wants to bring in someone else who wasn't warming up?
Sorry, but I would argue that Darling overstepped his authority here. A motion to the bullpen should only be an indication that the current pitcher is done for the day. But the PBUC wording doesn't imply to me that the manager is committed to a certain player based upon which arm he uses to make that motion. If he's got six pitchers in the bullpen, he should have the wherewithal to pick any one of those six.