For the first three months of the season, this was impossible to contest, whether you used old metrics or new fangled ones. Just a few weeks into the season, Rob Carpenter posted here about the historical aspect of the bullpen’s performance. About a month later, Matt Wilkes updated the tragedy during May’s ERA ground zero. Remember May? Refresh your nightmares: Caleb Cotham, Steve Delabar, A.J. Morris, Drew Hayes, J.C. Ramirez, Dayan Daiz …
This situation was in equal parts due to the front office making no effort to spend money to improve the bullpen in the offseason.