Have you noticed how pitchers throw the ball in the bullpen? They throw the ball, but their stance does not look official. Why is this? Shouldn’t they be warming up simulating a real pitch?
Stance doesn’t look official?
They’re warming up their arm(and body). Then they take a few throws on the mound to adjust to the difference between the bullpen mound and the one on the field.
When they’re first starting to warm up, they aren’t doing a full pitching motion, from the usual pitching stance – they’re initially just getting their bodies and arms warm with general throws, as @running_coach says. Once a pitcher is getting ready to actually enter a game, then he will probably be doing some actual pitches.
No. They should be warming up.
How many full-motion full-energy pitches do you think a reliever has in their body at the moment they’re called up? A middle reliever may need the endurance to throw a couple dozen pitches. A closer may be expected to last only about 10.
Why waste any of those in the bullpen when all you really need is to warm up and loosen up?
Plus trying to throw full velocity without warming up is almost a guaranteed injury.
Exactly so, and it’s not unlike any athlete warming up.
Watch runners warming up before a race: they start with jogging, skipping, etc., to get their muscles warm and loose, before they start to do anything close to full-out running.