killeverything wrote:Hey MonkeyJuliwhatever, you'll dig this:
John Dewan's Stat Of The Week
The Best Bullpens in Baseball
August 31, 2012
The Cincinnati Reds just recently took over the title of "Best Record in Baseball" from the Washington Nationals. It is, in no small part, due to also having the best bullpen in baseball (tied with Tampa Bay). Reds relievers have combined for a 2.76 ERA, led by Aroldis Chapman's microscopic mark of 1.27. Here are the five best team bullpen ERAs:
Best Bullpens (2012)
Team Bullpen ERA
Cincinnati 2.76
Tampa Bay 2.76
Oakland 2.83
Pittsburgh 2.94
Kansas City 3.03
It's no coincidence that the first four teams are all at least 10 games over .500.
The worst bullpens in baseball this year? The struggling New York Mets with a 4.84 bullpen ERA and the Houston Astros at 4.80.
By the way, the Nationals, with the second-best record in baseball, have the best MLB starting staff this year (3.27 ERA), followed by Tampa Bay's 3.49 (second in starter ERA and tied for first for the bullpen) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.52).
The Bill James Handbook 2013 will feature a complete listing of team starter and bullpen ERAs when it is released on November 1st.
Chapman is absolutely the REAL DEAL. Absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. I'm REALLY torn on the whole "do we turn Chapman into a starter" (which I think IS the plan for next season) or "do we see if he can become one of THE all-time shut-em-down closers". I honestly don't know which I would rather see happen. He was meant to be a starter this season, as the Reds had signed Ryan Madson to be their closer and he ended up having to have TJ surgery. They tried Sean Marshall in the closer role for a while, but he couldn't handle it. So they decided they would go closer by committee. Tossed Chapman in a few times and he was so dominating, they left him there. He had a string of bad appearances (coinciding w/a shitload of crazy-assed personal turmoil that if you haven't heard about what all he went through there in a very short stretch of time, it's a pretty interesting read actually). After the dust settled, he became even MORE dominating than before. And he hasn't slowed down yet. The guy LOVES high-pressure situations. He CRAVES that shit. So yeah, he is def. the real deal.
As to the rest of the Reds BP, our "tied for best" #'s are a bit skewed IMO. We went through a stretch where our BP WAS absolutely dominating. But here as of late, maybe for the last month or a little better, there have def. been a few cracks appearing in the foundation. Ondrusek began struggling mightily (he got sent down to AAA). Alfredo Simon, an Orioles cast-off we picked up off of waivers at the beginning of the year has began to stink up the joint a bit here of late. When we picked him up, he stank the joint up his first few appearances and then he seemed to magically become totally dominating as a long reliever. I wondered if it was too good to be true (I mean, I don't think we really gave up anything for him, he was kinda one of those "trash-heap" pick-ups). He has reverted back to his beginning of the yr. form.
Sam LeCure is about 70/30. Which is pretty good. 70% of the time, he'll get the job done and about 30% of the time, he'll stink the joint up. He has one REALLY NASTY pitch. When he was that particular pitch working, ain't NOBODY hitting him. And this kid we got from Atlanta, JJ Hoover, man, I'm REALLY impressed with him. He stayed w/the big club for maybe a month or so when we first acquired him and was dealing. Sent him down to AAA and his #'s there were GREAT. Brought him back up recently and he is still posting up great #'s. I think he very well might be the real deal.
Sean Marshall is a lefty specialist. When he has his curve ball working, he is hard to hit. However, he has struggled from time to time throughout the season hanging the damn thing & when that happens, the hitters crush him and crush him big fucking time.
Bill Bray has completely sucked all season, I think he's back on the DL. Jose Arredondo has been hit/miss (but overall, he has been pretty decent).
And our acquirement of Jonathan Broxton seems to be working out quite well thus far. That big fucker (300lb.) can throw HARD. I guess you could say we sorta have a 2012 version of the 1990 WS Champion Reds "nasty boys" (as they were known as). The 2012 vs. would be Marshall, Broxton and Chapman.
The 1st 3 teams on the "best bp" list really seem to show that BP pitching really is an EXTREMELY important requirement. T.Bay has struggled with offense pretty bad at various points in the season, yet due to starters like Shields and Price + that tied for best BP, they're only 4.5 games back in the division and 2.5 back in the WC race. And since they have Longoria back, their offense has picked up some traction as well. I can definitely see them making it to the playoffs (though to be fair, the Orioles have proved to be the "real deal" as well - can they hold on through Sept.? That's a race I'm very interested in keeping track of).
And the A's? Who in the HELL saw that shit happening? Def. NOT me
But as it stands, they're only 4 back from TX. and are currently tied w/the Orioles for the WC. Once again, pitching, pitching, pitching. Can they keep it up through Sept., even w/the loss of Colon? I think it's VERY possible. All the talking heads said around the All-Star break that they would start dropping and probably be buried by the end of Aug. Well, it's the end of Aug. and they're currently on a 7 game winning streak and showing no signs of slowing down, even with the loss of Colon. Once again, pitching, pitching, pitching.
The poor Pirates just can not seem to keep it together for a full 162. They're BP is still pretty dominate, but their starters appear to be wearing down. I'm actually really rooting for them to come out ahead of the Cardinals (a team whose BP has REALLY let them down big-time at various points throughout the season - & now w/the loss of Furcal, it's quite possible that they could enter into a free-fall. But to their credit, they are and for a long time have been a VERY resilient team - it NEVER surprises me when the Cardinals defy all odds and seemingly pull success out of their ass - and I DO NOT want them making the playoffs. Should they do so, they absolutely could pull off the same thing they did last yr. NEVER EVER bet against the Cardinals).
And the final team on the best BP list, K.City...I honestly haven't kept up w/them this season, so I'm not sure what their major malfunction has been. They've managed to pull into 3rd place in the AL Central, but there is a BIG divide between them and the 2nd place Tigers. And with the Reds acquiring Broxton, I wonder just how much of that BP era was due to his help before they traded him to us? I have no idea as to their starting rotation's effectiveness nor as to their offensive production.
Okay, I've probably already rambled on far longer than anyone has bothered reading (and that's okay, I amused myself typing out all that bullshit). But one last thing.....I think it would be cool as shit if the Oakland A's make it to the playoffs, along w/my Reds, and both clubs advance and make it to the World Series, and the Reds pound those fuckers in a 4 game sweep! 1990 all over again baby