I know you're not 100% serious, but just for a moment picture a rust-caked Story striding to the plate in mid-August and tell me you're not shuddering at the human carnage you're about to behold.
Story seems like he might be right on the verge of not being able to hit major league fastballs any more. The combination of age and injury and inactivity sure doesn't help.
So Jake Bennett last 5 games, 33 innings, 3 runs. Not bad for the rookie and 39th round pick.
Whatever our problems are, I don't think Andrew Bailey is one of them.
OK, well, your first paragraph is the kind of elaboration I was looking for.
I don't think anyone knows exactly what the issue is. Or why it seemed to only pop up this year and not in previous years.
I find your theory mildly perplexing, in that Bello faced at least 24 batters in each of his "relief" outings, so he would have faced the best hitters at least twice each.