Relief pitchers in baseball are the most team oriented players.

Starting pitchers can have mediocre records, and still win the Cy Young award as best pitcher. Felix Hernandez went 13–12 in 2010, but had a 2.27 ERA and won the Cy Young award. Other winners without many wins include Fernando Valenzuela, 13–7 in 1981, and Jacob deGrom. He won in 2018 and 2019, with 10–9 and 11–8 records.

Relievers used to win Cy Young awards, which was started in 1956. Before the 1980s, relievers were used for multiple innings, and regardless of whether their team was ahead. Mike Marshall was the first reliever to win Cy Young, with a 15–12 record in 1974. He led the league with 21 saves and also finished 83 games. Only two NL pitchers won 20 that year, and only 20. One of them, Andy Messersmith, was Marshall’s Dodger teammate, and finished second in the Cy Young voting. Marshall won, in part, because he was a leader, an unofficial player-coach (with a PhD in Kinesthesiology).

Three relievers won Cy Youngs in the 1970s, four in the 1980s, but only one in the 1990s, and the last was Eric Gagne in 2003.

The best pitcher in baseball is now always considered a starter. He is not simply valued on his team’s performance, the games he won or lost.

Relievers? They can have sub-2 ERA’s, strike out 2 players an inning, but if they blow a bunch of saves, it doesn’t matter. They’re not best.

All that matters with closers is whether they convert the save. In other words, whether their team wins.

This confused some people during Mariano Rivera’s long reign. He had outstanding stats, but rarely were they the “best” of any reliever in terms of strikeouts or ERA. He was the best because he didn’t lose games.

It’s natural that starting pitchers would be evaluated differently. They can’t help it if their team doesn’t score a run. Closers now enter games after their team has gone ahead.

The reliever’s mindset is unique in many ways, and one is they only succeed if their team wins. Other players may claim this is so, but it’s different. Everyday players play so many games they will be involved in many losses. Starting pitchers can be perfect for 6 innings, then give up runs, and still be considered successful.

Relievers on a team often go through cycles of doing better or worse, at the same time. Their performance is group-oriented.

Closers can be undermined by poor defense, probably more than starters. Being team oriented, defensive errors display team failure. A reliever is there to stop the bleeding. If the defense sprouts holes, the reliever loses control. Sometimes literally.

Relievers are team-oriented.