Statscape.(Baseball)

Want to cook up a quality bullpen with leftovers? The recipe is simple: Take a starter who has trouble getting through a lineup more than once. Get him to shelve one or two of his least dependable pitches.

Give him a limited role so he rarely faces the same hitter twice in a game. Convince him that, like a sprinter instead of a miler, he must go all-out from the time the bullpen gate swings open. Then step back, and watch his strikeout rate rise, his walk and hit rates fall, and his ERA shrink. Repeat as necessary.

Exhibit A: The Dodgers' Eric Gagne, who produced a 4.92 ERA and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 24 starts in 2001 but a 1.61 ERA and an incredible 13.5 strikeout rate since becoming a full-time reliever. Although such dramatic improvement might be a best-case scenario, it's not unusual for struggling starters to turn things around quickly in well-defined bullpen roles.

Consider the 26 active pitchers with more than 20 career saves and starts, and compare their collective performance in their last year as starters to that in their ...