A hold is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions:Enters the game in a save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply:
He appears in relief when his team is leading; and
He is not the winning pitcher; and
He qualifies under one of the following conditions:
He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and maintains that lead for at least one inning
He enters the game with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck
He pitches for at least three innings;
Records at least one out;
Leaves the game before it has ended without his team having relinquished the lead at any point and does not record a save.
Arthur Rhodes, long-time lefty specialist reliever, is second all-time in holds.
In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher has been removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather delays or pinch hitter substitutions. Relief pitchers are further divided informally into various roles, such as closers, setup men, middle relief pitchers, left/right-handed specialists, and long relievers. Whereas starting pitchers usually throw so many pitches in a single game that they must rest several days before pitching in another, relief pitchers are expected to be more flexible and typically pitch in more games with a shorter time period between pitching appearances but with fewer innings pitched per appearance. A team's staff of relievers is normally referred to metonymically as a team's bullpen, which refers to the area where the relievers sit during games, and where they warm-up prior to entering the game.
Cleveland Guardians relief pitchers Aaron Fultz and Rafael Betancourt warming up in the bullpen at Jacobs Field in 2007
The bullpen car used by the Boston Red Sox to cart relievers into games