Long reliever

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Long relievers are a type of relief pitchers in baseball. Long relievers traditionally enter early in a game (anywhere from the first inning all to the fourth inning) when the starting pitcher cannot continue, whether to ineffective pitching, lack of endurance, rain delays or injury. The hope is that the long reliever will be able to get the game under control, and hopefully his team's offense will be able to help get the team back into the game. Long relievers are players that used to be (and still can be) starters, but their teams feel they have better starters available. However, long relievers can find themselves occasionally starting.