It's not fun to be this person. There so much uncertainty. One never knows how long they will stay in the big leagues before they getting shipped out. It's stressful.
While there's a name for the the player who is on the cusp of Triple A and the Majors (Merloni Shuttle), what about those pitchers who on edge of being starter and reliever? Those pitchers who are good enough to be starter, but when other starters either return from injury or just better pitchers are acquired, that pitcher gets sent to the bullpen.
Well that scenario was right there was Tim Wakefield.
He was a starter, reliever and even a closer. Still pretty mind-boggling that a guy who threw a pitch that no one has any control over was chosen to pitch the last inning of the game, but hey that was Jimy Williams for you.
It's no surprise since the man was drafted by the Pirates as an infielder. But when it was told to him that he may never make it to the majors as position player, he shifted his eyes towards pitching. Wakefield was an innovator. And it was what kept him in baseball for 19 years.
Laggers build walls when they feel winds of change. Innovators build windmills.
— Imry Halevi (@imryh) August 26, 2023
Wakefield was always the man on the move. Shuttling back-and-forth between in the rotation and the bullpen, is not ideal. No one dreams of being a relief pitcher. They always dream of being a starter - taking the mound every five days. So when you're in the bullpen you can feel lost.
But just like he did in the minors when told he wasn't going to make it as a position player. He pivoted. Wakefield used his versatility to his advantage. And it is something that needs to be studied by anyone who plays a sport from the youth levels all the way to the professional levels.
In this day when it is pays to be highly specialized we come to forget that it is the versatility that is the true marker of success.
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