Lugo listened to the suggestion—and promptly declined.

“As a starter,” he responded. “I pitch out of the windup.”

It would take seven years for a team to let Lugo try to earn a permanent rotation spot. The wait was worth it. At age 35, Lugo has unexpectedly developed into one of the most effective starters in baseball for the Kansas City Royals. He posted a 3.00 ERA last season over 206 ⅔ innings, finishing second in the voting for the American League Cy Young Award.

Seth Lugo posted a 3.00 ERA last season over 206 ⅔ innings and finished second in voting for the AL Cy Young Award. Photo: Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Lugo’s rise to stardom has put him at the forefront of an unlikely trend sweeping the sport. Savvy organizations in need of quality starting pitchers—perhaps the most valuable commodity in baseball—are finding them at a bargain rate in a surprising place: the bullpen.

Garrett Crochet emerged as an ace for the Chicago White Sox in 2024 despite having not started a game since college. The San Francisco Giants signed former St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks last winter to use in their rotation. In December, the Mets inked All-Star reliever Clay Holmes to a $38 million contract with the intention of converting him into a starter.

“Everybody’s looking for starters,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. “You see the scarcity, so you’ve got to try and maybe be a little bit more open-minded.”

Preller and his front-office colleagues have spent years looking for relievers that could handle the switch. They were the ones who granted Lugo’s wish to start in 2023. They also demanded Michael King, primarily a reliever with the New York Yankees, as part of the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Bronx. King was a revelation in San Diego’s rotation in 2024, putting up a 2.95 ERA in 173 ⅔ innings.

The San Diego Padres acquired Michael King as part of a trade with the Yankees for Juan Soto. Photo: Gregory Bull/Associated Press

Why this has worked is partly because the definition of “starter” has changed. For much of baseball history, starting pitchers were workhorses, expected to go deep into games every time they took the mound.

Today, teams rely on a committee approach, driven by data that shows starters’ performance often declines after facing an opposing lineup twice. In 2024, starters averaged just five innings a start.

“If it was seven or eight innings,” White Sox GM Chris Getz said, “perhaps you wouldn’t be seeing the trend that we’re seeing at this time.”

There’s also a strong financial incentive at play. In an era where elbow surgeries have become as much a fixture in the game as hot dogs and Cracker Jack, reliable starting pitchers are increasingly rare—and, consequently, wildly expensive.

Just this past offseason, three free-agent pitchers—Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell—signed contracts worth a combined $610 million. Relievers without any starting experience come much cheaper. The Padres paid Lugo just $7.5 million in 2023. After his strong performance, he declined an option in his contract for the same amount and doubled his salary with the Royals.

“Starting pitching,” Crochet said, “is king.”

The challenge for teams is tapping the right candidates, which begins with identifying relievers who aren’t particularly happy with their current job descriptions. That was certainly the case for Lugo.

“I didn’t enjoy just the one inning,” he said. “It was like, ‘That’s it?’”

Garrett Crochet was traded to the Boston Red Sox in December. Photo: kim klement neitzel/Reuters

But desire doesn’t always equal ability. Just about every MLB reliever was a starter at some point in their lives. In most cases, they were moved to the bullpen because they lacked the arsenal to survive multiple turns through the lineup. Modern technology has changed that, allowing teams to teach relievers new pitches more easily than ever before. Hicks, for instance, picked up a splitter with the Giants last season—and wound up throwing it 20% of the time.

The last piece of the puzzle is projecting whether certain pitchers can dramatically increase their workloads. For Lugo, that hasn’t been a problem—including the postseason, he led MLB in innings last year. Crochet, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox in December, said his body felt better while starting than it ever did as a reliever because he could maintain a more consistent training routine.

Hicks, meanwhile, had more trouble with the transition. He said after about 2 ½ months, he began experiencing fatigue and wound up injuring his shoulder.

“It’s not going to be successful for every guy,” Getz said. “But it’s certainly a worthwhile effort considering some of the success we’ve had.”