1
in SPADES.
No way to prove it, but in my eyes the immense pressure put on this pitching staff to carry a(nother) woeful offense finally took it's toll after September 6th. I'll bet McClendon anticipated this problem, and it's part of the reason he kept finding ways to get extra rest for all his pitchers. It was not just Elias and his IP limit. It was Felix, and Kuma too. He even went so far as to stock his bullpen with extra bodies so he could pull any SP, including Felix, after 7 IP. Despite his best efforts, the staff cracked under the pressure. Felix was throwing WP's left and right in his last few starts. He was overthrowing whenever crunch time came.