Bad Ass ALL STAR Vato Loco???

[witesoxfan]

CLE (2)

LAD (3)

AT TEXAS (3)

AT TORONTO (4)

AT BOSTON (3)

DET (3)

 

What is getting easy about that schedule? We've played horribly against Texas and Toronto the last half-decade...Cleveland's in first place and has the 2nd or 3rd best record in all of baseball, winning 1/3 in Boston is challenging enough and then we haven't beaten Detroit in months.

 

I guess you must have meant 3 weeks from now when we finally get the Mariners at home. That's the first "easy" team in sight, and considering our home record, and that we'll probably face either Pineda or Felix, a sweep isn't something I'd be counting on.

 

OPTIMISTICALLY, I'm HOPING they can be at 5 games below .500 after this aforementioned stretch of games.

 

Compare that to 3 vs Oak, 3 vs ANA, 4 @ Tampa, 3 @ Det, and 4 @ NYY. Or the entire west coast swing, which has been brutal on this team before.

 

I will gladly take Cleveland, Los Angeles, Texas, Toronto, Boston, and Detroit over that.

 

And from there, it gets much, much easier, along with the Sox having a few more offdays as well.

[LittleHurt05]

Santos has been pretty incredible. One of the few good things to happen to this franchise amongst the avalanche of bad the last few years. But the Kimbrel kid from Atlanta has been the top reliever to this point.

 

Best reliever in basebell this year? I don't know about that. He's a hell of a pitcher, but there's several relievers that have had better seasons. A week or two ago there were rumblings about replacing him with Venters in the closing role.

[southsider2k5]

Best reliever in basebell this year? I don't know about that. He's a hell of a pitcher, but there's several relievers that have had better seasons. A week or two ago there were rumblings about replacing him with Venters in the closing role.

 

It is hard to say that people are having better seasons than a guy who hasn't given up a single run in the entire season, spring training included.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Best reliever in basebell this year? I don't know about that. He's a hell of a pitcher, but there's several relievers that have had better seasons. A week or two ago there were rumblings about replacing him with Venters in the closing role.

 

Yes, best reliever in baseball this year. At least if you believe in advance metrics. Yeah, Santos hasn't given up a run. By that definition and that definition alone he would be the best. But I don't remember anybody saying Dustin Hermanson was the best reliever in baseball in '05.

 

Kimbrel: 14.81 K/9, 4.35 BB/9, 1.09 FIP, 1.87 xFIP, 1.0 WAR.

 

Santos: 10.35 K/9, 4.05 BB/9, 1.98 FIP, 2.79xFIP, 0.7 WAR.

 

And I follow Kimbrel extensively. I've got him in 3 of my fantasy leagues. They started the season with a platoon of he and Venters. But I think Kimbrel has more than shown (11 saves) that he's capable of filling the closer role.

Edited May 18, 2011 by Jordan4life

[LittleHurt05]

Yes, best reliever in baseball this year. At least if you believe in advance metrics. Yeah, Santos hasn't given up a run. By that definition and that definition alone he would be the best. But I don't remember anybody saying Dustin Hermanson was the best reliever in baseball in '05.

 

Kimbrel: 14.81 K/9, 4.35 BB/9, 1.09 FIP, 1.87 xFIP, 1.0 WAR.

 

Santos: 10.35 K/9, 4.05 BB/9, 1.98 FIP, 2.79xFIP, 0.7 WAR.

 

And I follow Kimbrel extensively. I've got him in 3 of my fantasy leagues. They started the season with a platoon of he and Venters. But I think Kimbrel has more than shown (11 saves) that he's capable of filling the closer role.

 

Damn advanced metrics. I can't argue with those stats, guys like Storen & Madson didn't match up either, although they have only given up one earned run each all year. I guess there are other relievers that have been more successful than Kimbrel this year, but not technically better. I do know all about him, I watched him struggle to get a save vs. Philly on a Sunday night, but you could tell how electric his stuff was.

[bigruss]

Yes, best reliever in baseball this year. At least if you believe in advance metrics. Yeah, Santos hasn't given up a run. By that definition and that definition alone he would be the best. But I don't remember anybody saying Dustin Hermanson was the best reliever in baseball in '05.

 

Kimbrel: 14.81 K/9, 4.35 BB/9, 1.09 FIP, 1.87 xFIP, 1.0 WAR.

 

Santos: 10.35 K/9, 4.05 BB/9, 1.98 FIP, 2.79xFIP, 0.7 WAR.

 

And I follow Kimbrel extensively. I've got him in 3 of my fantasy leagues. They started the season with a platoon of he and Venters. But I think Kimbrel has more than shown (11 saves) that he's capable of filling the closer role.

Venters: 8.9 k/9, 2.2 BB/9, WHIP .616, ERA+507, WAR 1.2.

 

Incredible having him and Kimbrel at the back of the bullpen.

 

EDIT: one fun stat, in 83 innings last year, Venters gave up 1 homerun.

Edited May 18, 2011 by bigruss22

[Jordan4life_2007]

Venters: 8.9 k/9, 2.2 BB/9, WHIP .616, ERA+507, WAR 1.2.

 

Incredible having him and Kimbrel at the back of the bullpen.

 

Until Beachy went down (and he was killin' it), they didn't have any room for Julio Teheran or Mike Minor. Two of the top 10 or so consensus best prospects in the game. That's not even mentioning Delgado and Vizcaino. Nobody does internal development like the Braves. Nobody.

[bigruss]

Until Beachy went down (and he was killin' it), they didn't have any room for Julio Teheran or Mike Minor. Two of the top 10 or so consensus best prospects in the game. That's not even mentioning Delgado and Vizcaino. Nobody does internal development like the Braves. Nobody.

Usually a trade like they gave up to the Rangers for Tex would kill a team, and although it probably hurt them a bit, they really don't get flacked on that much because they can recover so easily from what should have been a devestating blow.

[Andrew]

Has the guy given up a run this year? I wonder if he'll get a look...

 

Well, I know I've asked at least once before about that avatar of yours...

 

Seems to me that is far more important than some Chet Kincaid, or what have you.....

 

[witesoxfan]

Usually a trade like they gave up to the Rangers for Tex would kill a team, and although it probably hurt them a bit, they really don't get flacked on that much because they can recover so easily from what should have been a devestating blow.

 

Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, and Matt Harrison (as well as Saltalamacchia and Beau Jones) and the Braves don't even need a thing of it.

 

Maybe Frank Wren wanted to show his total incompetence as a trading partner just to prove how superior the Braves' player development is compared to the rest of the league.

[LittleHurt05]

I know what the metrics say, but that's 4 blown saves now for Kimbrel. Stop blowing the lead kid!

[Rowand44]

I know what the metrics say, but that's 4 blown saves now for Kimbrel. Stop blowing the lead kid!

Ya, Kimbrel has been the most dominant reliever around but it's hard to say that he's been better than Sergio.

[witesoxfan]

I know some use FIP and xFIP as statistical measurements of how good a pitcher "has been," but I don't think that's right. I think what that says is "this is how good a pitcher has been on his own, independent of defense/luck," so it's fair for them to use it, I just don't happen to do so. They are obviously very good statistics, but more so for telling a story about the future, not the present.

 

For this reason, when determining who has pitched "the best" I still use ERA and WHIP. I will look at their peripherals and their sabermetric ratios and whatever else to determine if it's for real or if they are actually good or if there's room for improvement, but the fact of the matter is, ERA and WHIP tell the story of what actually happened while FIP and xFIP tell the story of what should have happened. A lot of times, when the phrase "should have" is used, the word "but" is used too. I often think of Javier Vazquez.

 

Therefore, I have no problem saying Sergio Santos has been better than Craig Kimbrel this year. That doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have Kimbrel nor does it mean that Santos will be better all year. But thus far, Santos has been better, and it's certainly arguable that Santos has been the best reliever in all of baseball thus far. Regardless of luck and defense, Santos has yet to allow a run. I'd say that's worth a vote.

Edited May 19, 2011 by witesoxfan

[Rowand44]

I know some use FIP and xFIP as statistical measurements of how good a pitcher "has been," but I don't think that's right. I think what that says is "this is how good a pitcher has been on his own, independent of defense/luck," so it's fair for them to use it, I just don't happen to do so. They are obviously very good statistics, but more so for telling a story about the future, not the present.

 

For this reason, when determining who has pitched "the best" I still use ERA and WHIP. I will look at their peripherals and their sabermetric ratios and whatever else to determine if it's for real or if they are actually good or if there's room for improvement, but the fact of the matter is, ERA and WHIP tell the story of what actually happened while FIP and xFIP tell the story of what should have happened. A lot of times, when the phrase "should have" is used, the word "but" is used too. I often think of Javier Vazquez.

 

Therefore, I have no problem saying Sergio Santos has been better than Craig Kimbrel this year. That doesn't mean I wouldn't rather have Kimbrel nor does it mean that Santos will be better all year. But thus far, Santos has been better, and it's certainly arguable that Santos has been the best reliever in all of baseball thus far. Regardless of luck and defense, Santos has yet to allow a run. I'd say that's worth a vote.

Spot on.

[chetkincaid]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEBODY GET THIS MAN SOME CLOSER MUSIC!!!!!