By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - It is probably the most thankless and least glamourous role in minor league baseball.
Wins and saves come rarely, and fans almost never pay to see a middle reliever pitch.
But a good middle reliever can be one of the most important assets a team can have.
"Obviously it's not as glorious as a starter," said Lancaster JetHawks reliever Brian Sweeney. "It's not all about glory. You're here to have fun and play hard."
The middle reliever isn't supposed to earn wins or saves. If his team is ahead, he is supposed to create a seamless transition between the starter and the closer.
If his team is behind, then it's his job to make sure the other team doesn't get any further ahead.
Sweeney calls the JetHawks' group of middle relievers the "touchdown team."
"We're either up by seven or down by seven," he said.
But with the increased specialization in baseball, solid middle relievers have become a premium. Most teams like to have one solid middle reliever to setup the closer.
The JetHawks have four pitchers in middle relief who have distinguished themselves this season: Jason Bond, Denny Bonilla, Aaron Scheffer and Sweeney.
Individually, they've all had opportunities to finish games; combined they have five saves.
But they've all been most effective in middle relief.
Bond really doesn't mind not getting the attention a closer gets.
"I know closers are rare," Bond said. "Everybody needs a good closer. Every team (also) needs a couple middle relief pitchers."
Bond, 22, is a left-hander who burst upon the college baseball scene as a starting pitcher.
He was 7-2 and a second-team freshman All-American at Arizona State in 1994, helping the Sun Devils reach the College World Series.
Bond started relieving games as a sophomore, then went back to starting as a junior.
He was drafted by Seattle in the 17th round last year and converted to relief at Everett, the Mariners' short-season Class A club.
"I had a feeling it was going to happen," Bond said. "I kind of knew from the guys that were coming from extended (spring training), they were going to be the starters. So when I stayed in middle relief and threw well, everything pretty much stuck."
Bond thrived in relief for the Aqua Sox. He was 2-0 with a 1.87 ERA and four saves, and opponents hit just .158 against him.
That was the sixth-lowest average against any pitcher in short-season Class A.
"It isn't the fact that if you're throwing badly, they put you in middle relief," Bond said. "They're setting roles for people, trying to see what they like in people.
"Right now, that is what they're doing for me," he said.
Although he is 0-5, Bond has the team's second-lowest ERA (3.00) and two saves.
Being left-handed, Bond also knows that there is a reliever on each major league team whose sole job is to get left-handed hitters out.
"If that's what is going to get me to the big leagues - going in and facing a lefty and getting him out - that's fine with me," he said.
Bonilla is in the same boat with Bond - he's a left-hander who is tough on lefties.
In fact, since a rough stretch at the beginning of the year, Bonilla has been tough on everybody.
The 23-year-old Dominican has seen his ERA fall every week since it reached a lofty 11.73 on April 16.
He's only given up six earned runs since then and his ERA dropped to 3.09 entering Thursday's action. Bonilla also has a terrific 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, with 56 strikeouts and only 11 walks.
Scheffer, a 21-year-old right-hander out of Michigan, has now been used in every pitching situation.
He was a closer last year at Wisconsin, picking up 14 saves, and he began this season as a member of the JetHawks' starting rotation.
But Scheffer never felt comfortable in that role, so he went back to the bullpen. Although his ERA was 6.22 through Wednesday, Scheffer had a streak of eight outings in May where he went 5-0 with one save and a 2.21 ERA.
"I just take the same perspective," Scheffer said of his new role. "I still have to throw strikes. It's made me learn how to pitch a little more."
Scheffer, who wasn't drafted out of high school and signed with the Mariners out of a summer tryout camp, has used his superior off-speed and breaking pitches to pile up a team-leading 70 strikeouts.
Striking out hitters isn't what Sweeney does best, even though he gave the home crowd a thrill on June 21 when he struck out seven Lake Elsinore batters in just 2 1/3 innings.
Sweeney, 23, relies on a deceptive motion that belies his most effective pitch: the changeup.
It's a pitch that has helped Sweeney get hitters out in the advanced Class A California league. It's a long way from the independent Heartland League, where he was 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA last year.
"I'd always been a starter," Sweeney said. "I've learned to accept this role and actually enjoy it."
Sweeney, who like Scheffer was undrafted, realizes that fans don't buy tickets to watch middle relievers pitch.
But he's also seen the role thrown into the spotlight in the last few years. The New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera received a first-place Cy Young vote as the set-up man for John Wetteland last year.
"It's not an exciting part of baseball - the middle relief role," Sweeney said. "It's nice to get recognized once in a while."