top 40 relief pitchers per mlb.com

[Whisox05]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/108138376/be...s?tcid=tw_share

[AlSoxfan]

I think Robertson's better than #7 but maybe I'm a bit biased.

Edited February 3, 2015 by AlSoxfan

[southsider2k5]

This is step one of our bullpen being a helluva lot better than it was last year. Getting guys like Robertson and Duke for the later innings, and pushing everyone else back into the middle innings will be a huge pressure reliever for some of the younger guys.

[thxfrthmmrs]

I don't read anything from mlb.com not written by Jim Callis, and I was quickly reminded why. The writer seemed to favor closers to setup men in his rankings, which is probably why Wade Davis was 25th, but then Batences was a setup men last year and was ranked 5th on his list.

 

Also, if Fernando Rodney is the 6th best reliever in MLB then I think we could audition random dudes off the street to pitch in the big leagues.

Edited February 3, 2015 by thxfrthmmrs

[LittleHurt05]

I don't read anything from mlb.com not written by Jim Callis, and I was quickly reminded why. The writer seemed to favor closers to setup men in his rankings, which is probably why Wade Davis was 25th, but then Batences was a setup men last year and was ranked 5th on his list.

 

Also, if Fernando Rodney is the 6th best reliever in MLB then I think we could audition random dudes off the street to pitch in the big leagues.

 

And he didn't even mention Kelvin Herrera

 

[Rowand44]

The Wade Davis low ranking stood right out to me but he's due to regress a bit so I don't think that's necessarily crazy. It's just the guys opinion on who he thinks the best relievers for 2015 will be.

[thxfrthmmrs]

The Wade Davis low ranking stood right out to me but he's due to regress a bit so I don't think that's necessarily crazy. It's just the guys opinion on who he thinks the best relievers for 2015 will be.

 

I don't think he will regress much. He relieved as well in 2012 and was very good in that role. He became elite in 2014 after adding 2 MPH to his fastball, so last year wasn't just an aberration to his usual performance.

 

If he thinks K-Rod and Soriano, both are currently free agents, and guys like Perkins and Cishek will be better than Davis in 2015, then I don't think his opinion should be published by MLB.

[AlSoxfan]

I don't read anything from mlb.com not written by Jim Callis, and I was quickly reminded why. The writer seemed to favor closers to setup men in his rankings, which is probably why Wade Davis was 25th, but then Batences was a setup men last year and was ranked 5th on his list.

 

Also, if Fernando Rodney is the 6th best reliever in MLB then I think we could audition random dudes off the street to pitch in the big leagues.

Saw and thought the same things

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

40-year-old Joe Nathan who had an ERA of almost 5 last year is better than Zach Duke who had a 2.09 xFIP, 3 more K/9, and 2 less BB/9, while both pitching 58 innings.

 

Yeah.....no.

[witesoxfan]

40-year-old Joe Nathan who had an ERA of almost 5 last year is better than Zach Duke who had a 2.09 xFIP, 3 more K/9, and 2 less BB/9, while both pitching 58 innings.

 

Yeah.....no.

 

But Joe Nathan also had decent peripherals and has a much more heralded career. Prior to last year, Zach Duke was a journeyman swingman who was bordering on AAAA player.

 

He had Brad Boxberger on his bubble and he was nothing short of filthy last year, with a K/9 of more than 14. Relievers are volatile, and going on guys who've proven it over the last 10-15 years means something, even if they are old and struggled last year.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

But Joe Nathan also had decent peripherals and has a much more heralded career. Prior to last year, Zach Duke was a journeyman swingman who was bordering on AAAA player.

 

He had Brad Boxberger on his bubble and he was nothing short of filthy last year, with a K/9 of more than 14. Relievers are volatile, and going on guys who've proven it over the last 10-15 years means something, even if they are old and struggled last year.

 

He had decent peripherals? He had a 8.4 K/9 (worst of his career), a 4.5 BB/9 (worst of his career), a 9.3 H/9 (worst of his career), a 1.53 WHIP (worst of his career), and his only decent peripheral was his HR/9, which was 0.8 (career average).

 

His peripherals were bad, like really bad.

 

And yes, I get that Zach Duke has only done it for one year, but he also fundamentally changed his pitching mechanics and arm slot. It wasn't that he finally had a lucky season. Not saying Duke deserves to be treated as if 2014 is who he is now, but I can't see how you wouldn't pick him in 2015 over Joe Nathan in 2015 based on last year and their ages.

[witesoxfan]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a K rate in the 8's. It's perfectly decent. His walk rate was a little elevated, and it's a bit troublesome, but it's not "write him off, he's terrible" bad. The WHIP is partially a result of the relatively high walk rate and can also be affected by a poor defense. His groundball rate was perfectly acceptable at 41.6%. He had an abnormally high percentage of runners scoring (with a LOB% of 69.9%).

 

He's 40 years old, and I don't expect him to stick around forever, but someone considering Joe Nathan to be a better reliever and better bet overall than Zach Duke isn't wrong, nor is it right. It's merely an opinion.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a K rate in the 8's. It's perfectly decent. His walk rate was a little elevated, and it's a bit troublesome, but it's not "write him off, he's terrible" bad. The WHIP is partially a result of the relatively high walk rate and can also be affected by a poor defense. His groundball rate was perfectly acceptable at 41.6%. He had an abnormally high percentage of runners scoring (with a LOB% of 69.9%).

 

He's 40 years old, and I don't expect him to stick around forever, but someone considering Joe Nathan to be a better reliever and better bet overall than Zach Duke isn't wrong, nor is it right. It's merely an opinion.

 

Care to make a wager on who has the better 2015 campaign? Grandpa Joe or Duke of Hurl?

[chitownsportsfan]

nathan sucks jeez forget sabermetrics just watch him pitch 4 or 5 times in a row. Tigers fans hate him.

[asindc]

nathan sucks jeez forget sabermetrics just watch him pitch 4 or 5 times in a row. Tigers fans hate him.

 

True that. If anyone's calculator tells them otherwise, they should get a new calculator, because the one they have is broken.

 

[shysocks]

142 qualified relievers last year. Nathan's ranks:

GB% 96th, K% 82nd, BB% 128th, FIP 114th, SIERA 125th. Of guys who piled saves, his K-rate was one of the lowest; the guys who were lower were either Latroy Hawkins or were explicit groundballers (Zach Britton, Petricka). Plus he's 40.

 

I'm sticking a fork in him. Any belief that he'll be better than Duke has to be based on the belief that Duke can't sustain his improvements. That's a thought I can understand but I don't share it. I know the article was just a "who's better" thing and didn't factor contracts, but I'd also easily take Duke for 3/$15 over Nathan for 1/$11.

[witesoxfan]

Care to make a wager on who has the better 2015 campaign? Grandpa Joe or Duke of Hurl?

 

No, because I don't care and trying to predict who would have a better season between two relievers is like trying to predict heads or tails on a cointoss. Just because one guy thinks Nathan is a better reliever than a guy who has had one good season doesn't make him wrong. That's all I'm saying.

[southsider2k5]

There is a pretty good chance of a regression from Duke, both because of the year he had last year, and because of the move to the AL for the first time in his career.