Since I last posted on bullpen useage, many things have changed. Eric Gagne went on the disabled list. David Riske went on the DL and now has come off of it. Seth McClung went into the rotation and Carlos Villanueva went to the pen. Most importantly, Salomon Torres has emerged as the closer. All of these things have skewed the picture a bit, but here is the current pace for the members of the big league bullpen:

• Salomon Torres  78.75 G / 94.5 IP

• Guillermo Mota 58.5 G / 63.7 IP

• Brain Shouse 74.25 G / 56.25 IP

• # Carlos Villanueva  63.4 G / 72.4 IP   (78.2 G / 127.2 IP)
  

• * David Riske 60 G / 67.3 IP

• % Mark DiFelice  46.3 G / 29.6 IP (50.3 G / 52.6 IP)
  

• % Tim Dillard 54 G / 56 IP (69 G / 87.3 IP)

# The first set of numbers is what Carlos is on pace for just in relief. In parenthesis are his totals with the starts added in.

* This accounts for how Riske was used in games he was available, and then prorates his use taking his missed time into account.

% The first set of numbers a represent the pace they are on in the big leagues. The numbers in parenthesis add in their work in the minor leagues.

Now that Torres is in the closers role, his inning count is coming down, as one would expect. That should continue to happen, as long as he closes and keeps him well within the realm of reason. Mota and Shouse both are on pace for pretty reasonable workloads for their roles.

Villanueva is a tough nut to crack, because of that time in the rotation. Using just his time in the pen and assuming that he spent the whole year there, he would be on a pace for  91 games and 103.5 innings, which is awfully high in it's own right. Of course, this is based on a fairly small sample size and it's probably too early to draw too many conclusions from it. Still, he is on a pace for too many appearances if his inning count is going to be so high.

Dillard and DiFelice are both being somewhat underutilized, especially DiFelice. Now it may be that the fact that since they came up the team has been on a winning streak that has been marked by starters going deep into games, thus making middle relievers less necessary than usual. Of course, Villanueva's overuse in roughly that same time points more in the direction that Yost simply trusts CV more than the two rookies. That is understandable, to a point, but he is going to have to find ways to get Carlos in less and get the other two in a bit more.

All in all, Yost is showing some progress in managing his bullpen's workload distribution but he still over relies on his best relievers too much.