FanHouse Rich Thompson

With pitch counts becoming so important in recent years it seems as though starting pitchers are working less innings every season. These days if you can give your team six innings of solid work every start you're probably going to end up making a lot of money in baseball because the Roy Halladays of the world are very few and far between. Because of this, bullpens are becoming more and more important for teams.

It's not a coincidence that division-winning teams usually are teams with the best bullpen in their division, and as any baseball fan knows, the bullpen is also the least predictable part of a baseball team, which is why I've always considered Scot Shields to be one of the best relievers in baseball. Since 2002 he's been a very reliable part of the Angels 'pen and has never finished a season with an ERA over 3.86.

SAN DIEGO -- Joe Kerrigan saw it watching video over the winter. Zach Duke saw it in the attitudes of his fellow pitchers in spring training.

Now, the rest of baseball is seeing it too. The Pirates pitching doesn't stink. In fact, it's pretty good.

But is this real? Or just a three-week fluke?

Even Kerrigan, the veteran pitching coach, doesn't know for sure, but he's enjoying it while it lasts.