By John Donovan, CNNSI.com
In the heat of a pennant race, baseball's firemen are at their best. Or at least they better be. Without a good bullpen, a team can pretty much forget about October.
So what makes an effective bullpen? There are tons of ways to weigh it. The ever-popular ERA. The not-so-cut-and-dried inherited runners scored. Saves and blown saves, average against, strikeouts and walks. Wins, even, and losses.
Some stats are tricky. For instance, one runner can be inherited by several pitchers, which tends to skew that stat. A player can get a blown save and a win in the same night. A reliever can get a hold early in the game or late. Inherited runners, inherently, mean a little less earlier in the game than later.
Still, stats are what makes baseball go around. So here's a stats breakdown of some bullpens of note, pens that could make the difference between sitting in October and playing.
Yeah, we know there are a lot of teams that still can make the postseason. But for purposes of this discussion, we're letting in only the teams who lead their division, lead the wild-card races or are within three games of the wild card.
That leaves out the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League, and both the Anaheim Angels and Minnesota Twins in the American. Sorry.
Here we go. All stats are after Tuesday's games, and the teams are listed in alphabetical order ...
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BOSTON RED SOX
22-23, 3.95 ERA (sixth in AL)
38 saves (14 blown)
67 of 172 inherited runners scored (39 percent)
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Derek Lowe AP |
Derek Lowe (eighth in the NL with 24 saves) has been dumped from his role as sole closer after the acquisition of former Expos fireballer Ugueth Urbina (who has a 1.17 ERA and two saves in nine appearances with the Red Sox). Boston is a team -- especially with a healthy Pedro Martinez -- that can throw a solid starting rotation (Hideo Nomo, Tim Wakefield, David Cone) out there to take the heat off the pen. That has benefited guys like Rich Garces (2.68 ERA, .196 average against) and Rod Beck (a pen-high 69 2/3 innings pitched). Beck, though, has given up 14 homers, most in the AL among relievers.
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CLEVELAND INDIANS
23-15, 3.48 ERA (fifth in AL)
29 saves (11 blown)
57 of 197 inherited runners scored (29 percent)
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John Rocker AP |
All you ever hear about is John Rocker this, John Rocker that. His failures in Cleveland aside, the Indians' pen does a commendable job under deplorable circumstances. Hampered by a starting staff that has a 5.40 ERA (better only than Tampa Bay and Texas) and has thrown fewer innings than any team in baseball, the Indians still manage to have a top-10 closer in Bob Wickman (tied for ninth with 22 saves) and have been bolstered by the likes of Paul Shuey (2.35 ERA before his injury) and Rich Rodriguez (who has stranded better than 85 percent of the runners he has inherited, fourth in the league).
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NEW YORK YANKEES
26-14, 3.25 ERA (third in AL)
44 saves (10 blown)
58 of 181 inherited runners scored (32 percent)
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Mariano Rivera
Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport |
One name says it all: Mariano Rivera. The closer's closer has 38 saves, second in the AL. Not to be forgotten, though, is that the Yankees do a superb job of getting the game into Rivera's hands. Mike Stanton (8-3, 2.03 ERA) is one of the premier setup men in the game, ranking fourth in the league in holds (with 20). The 10 blown saves by the Yanks are the fewest in baseball. Jay Witasick and Mark Wohlers haven't worked out as planned, but New York has solid middle relief in Ramiro Mendoza (3.01 ERA, an AL-high 77 2/3 innings pitched).
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OAKLAND ATHLETICS
19-19, 3.41 ERA (fourth in AL)
35 saves (21 blown)
60 of 207 inherited runners scored (29 percent)
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Jason Isringhausen
Tom Hauck/Allsport |
Oakland has the best starting rotation in the AL (3.84 ERA), which translates into more complete games than most (the A's are second in the league with 10) and fewer innings for the bullpen than anyone except the Anaheim Angels. Maybe they need more work. Their 21 blown saves are the most in baseball. Jason Isringhausen is the name here (seventh in the league with 25 saves), but he has blown a few, too. A league-high eight, to be exact. Still, he has a 3.11 ERA and opponents are hitting just .207 off him. Jeff Tam (3.05 ERA) and Jim Mecir (3.91 ERA but out with a bad knee right now) give solid innings.
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SEATTLE MARINERS
28-11, 3.11 ERA (first in AL)
49 saves (15 blown)
44 of 205 inherited runners scored (21 percent)
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Kazuhiro Sasaki AP |
The Mariners have one of the best closers (Kazuhiro Sasaki's 39 saves lead the league) and setup men around. Ex-Yankee Jeff Nelson is fifth in holds (18) and third in holding on inherited runners (85.3 percent); he's allowed only four hits to the first batters he has faced (at .087, the best mark in baseball) and he leads the AL in strikeouts among relievers (73). Lost in all the stats is the fact that these guys -- Arthur Rhodes, Jose Paniagua, the whole group -- can flat-out pitch. Opponents are hitting just .204 against them, the best mark in baseball.
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ATLANTA BRAVES
18-18, 3.92 ERA (ninth in NL)
31 saves (19 blown)
40 of 122 inherited runners scored (33 percent)
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Mike Remlinger AP |
The Braves have no real closer to speak of, though Steve Karsay (seven saves, 2.93 ERA), who came over from the Indians in the John Rocker trade, is probably the closest. They're a BP by committee, with Mike Remlinger (25 holds, the most in the NL, in 64 2/3 innings) the workhorse and guys like Kerry Ligtenberg, Steve Reed and, now, former Cy Young winner John Smoltz (0.59 ERA in 14 appearances) chipping in. The Atlanta pen benefits from a strong starting rotation (the 3.42 ERA of the starters is the best in baseball), which has meant fewer innings for the bullpen than any team but the Florida Marlins.
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ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
21-11, 3.46 ERA (second in NL)
26 saves (11 blown)
38 of 108 inherited runners scored (35 percent)
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Byung-Hyun Kim AP |
They could have had some closer problems with the injury to Matt Mantei, but young Bret Prinz (2.02 ERA, eight saves) and workhorse Byung-Hyun Kim (2.84, 12 saves, .174 average against in 76 innings) have held up well. Manager Bob Brenly has done a good job spreading out the work -- five pitchers have between 35 and 45 innings -- and with starters like Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling going deep into games, Brenly can almost schedule rest for his pen. The 108 runners inherited by the Arizona pen are the fewest in baseball. The .227 average against the pen is the best in the NL. Kim's 103 strikeouts are the best among relievers in baseball.
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CHICAGO CUBS
18-17, 3.95 ERA (10th in NL)
36 saves (13 blown)
47 of 173 inherited runners scored (27 percent)
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Flash Gordon AP |
The Cubs have Kyle Farnsworth and Jeff Fassero to hold on (23 holds apiece ties them for third in the league). Flash Gordon saves things (25 times, seventh in the NL). When Gordon gets in, the first hitters he faces are batting only .103 against him, the best mark in the NL. And the Chicago starters have pitched enough that the bullpen has only 346 innings, 13th among the 16 teams. That's good. So are the 392 strikeouts by the pen, best in the NL. It is a solid bullpen all around.
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HOUSTON ASTROS
22-16, 3.73 ERA (third in NL)
37 saves (15 blown)
50 of 126 inherited runners scored (40 percent)
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Billy Wagner
Otto Greule/Allsport |
Octavio Dotel, a one-time starter, has torn it up in the Houston bullpen (65 innings, 1.38 ERA). With Billy Wagner (28 saves, sixth in the NL, and a .178 average for first batters he's faced, seventh in the league) and a nice complement of middle men and setup guys (like Mike Jackson, with 16 holds, and newcomer Mike Williams), this is one of the strongest pens in baseball. The team's young starting pitching has everyone lathered up, but it's been some time coming, and the pen has some innings under its belt. Still, as the starting pitching improves, the pen will get even better.
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ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
14-20, 3.74 ERA (fourth in the NL)
31 saves (15 blown)
48 of 207 inherited runners scored (23 percent)
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Steve Kline
Elsa Hasch/Allsport |
The 207 inherited runners is a lot -- tied with the A's in this group. But the Cards, to their credit, keep most of them on base. Dave Veres leads the team with 15 saves, but lefty Steve Kline may be the pen MVP. Opponents are hitting just .184 against him. He has a 1.63 ERA. He has 15 holds (tied for eighth in the NL) in a team-high 60 2/3 innings and has stranded 81.3 percent of the runners he has inherited (tied for fifth). Mike Timlin and Gene Stechschulte also put in plenty of work.
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SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
17-13, 4.18 ERA (12th in NL)
37 saves (13 blown)
62 of 159 inherited runners scored (39 percent)
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Robb Nen
Tom Hauck/Allsport |
Robb Nen still is one of the best closers in the game, as his league-leading 36 saves attest. There are others. Felix Rodriguez has 24 saves, second in the league, a 1.85 ERA and opponents are hitting .186 off him. Tim Worrell (3.81 ERA) can be a tad scary -- he's left only 44 percent of his inherited runners on base, second-worst in the league -- but he's there for the innings. Aaron Fultz (who has stranded 81.3 percent of his inherited runners) is another inning eater. The pen's ERA, though the highest in this group, is not that far off the NL average of 3.99.
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