A year ago, the playoff formula for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico was simple: Get five or six good innings from a starter, then rely on their sensational bullpen to do the rest.
Between a solid starting rotation and a bullpen where seven of 10 pitchers who made a relief appearance had postseason ERAs under 3.00, the formula worked. The Diablos went through the playoffs with a 16-2 record, sweeping three of four series, including the Serie del Rey against the Charros de Jalisco, on their way to their second consecutive title.
This year, the bullpen went from sensational to sickening, and it cost the Diablos a chance to win a third straight Serie del Rey.
The 2025 Diablos bullpen threw 75 total innings in 18 games, allowing just 19 earned runs in 86 2/3 innings of work for a group ERA of 1.97, while this year, the bullpen threw 67 innings in 13 games, allowing 42 earned runs for a bullpen ERA of 5.59.
Which is to say, it was the difference between sweeping three of four series in last year's playoffs and going 6-7 in the postseason on the way to a second-round elimination loss this year.
The biggest stalwart in the bullpen in 2025, J.C. Mejia, allowed three earned runs in 17 innings, but to say he was ineffective in this year's playoffs would be an understatement on the level of saying the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was merely a nice painting. Six earned runs on 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings just didn't get the job done.
Another key reliever in 2025, Nick Vespi, threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings over 12 appearances in relief a year ago, vulturing five postseason wins as the first guy called out of the bullpen when a Diablos starter couldn't finish an inning. In a similar role this year, he threw five innings in seven appearances, allowing four earned runs and posting a 7.20 ERA.
Last year, Jimmy Yacabonis was nearly untouchable, making 16 appearances totaling 15 2/3 innings and allowing three runs, two of them earned, on 11 hits. This year? He threw just 3 2/3 innings in the playoffs, allowing seven runs on 10 hits for an ERA of 17.18. Another former New York Met, Stephen Nogosek, threw 9 2/3 innings of relief, allowing 11 earned runs on 18 hits in the postseason.
Only two Diablos relievers who threw five or more innings in this postseason had an ERA of 5.00: reigning LMB reliever of the year Tomohiro Anraku, who made eight appearances totaling 10 innings in which he allowed two runs for a 1.80 ERA and was 3-for-3 in save opportunities, and Gerardo Reyes, who totaled 8 1/3 innings over seven appearances, allowing two earned runs for a 2.16 ERA.
Was it all on the bullpen? No. To be fair, the Reds' starters weren't great, and the offense ran hot and cold. They lost four games in the playoffs by five or more runs, and scored only 10 runs total in those four games. They scored three or fewer runs in seven of the 13 playoff games they played and went 1-6 in those games. In the six postseason games where they scored four or more runs, the Diablos scored 67 total runs, an average of 11.6 runs per game and went 5-1.
But you can bet that there will be a lot of time spent scouting relievers by the Diablos' front office this coming winter.