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Bullpen Holding Up Well
Written by Colin on July 16, 2008 – 1:15 pmBack in February, I wrote a post called “5 Keys to 2008 Bullpen Success” and identified five points I thought would be crucial to have a successful bullpen. Let’s see how the bullpen has done compared to those five points.
#1 – Rafael Soriano is lights out as closer.
#2 – Peter Moylan eats up innings – and stays effective.
#3 – Will Ohman fills the left-handed setup role.
#4 – The emergence of an effective long-reliever.
#5 – The healthy return of Blaine Boyer and Mike Gonzalez.
Well, I got three out of five right. Ohman has been great, and Boyer and Gonzalez have been healthy, but Soriano hasn’t seen much time and Moylan is out recovering from Tommy John surgery.
And yet the Braves’ bullpen is one of the best in the NL – we have the third best ERA (3.22) and the best Batting Average Against (or BAA at .224). We’ve also give up the third fewest runs in the NL. Our BAA is second only to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
This is thanks in no small part to Will Ohman, Blaine Boyer, and Manny Acosta. For the crap we give Bobby for over-using Acosta, Manny is a really good pitcher when he’s not overused. The return of Mike Gonzalez has been crucial to a stable back end of the ‘pen, and we should see that get even stronger as Rafael Soriano nears his return.
As we head into the second half of the season, our bullpen has to continue to impress to give us a chance for our hitting to win us some games. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I’d say we’re in a good spot and on a good track.
Who’s the most indispensable arm in the bullpen so far?
- Colin
Edit: You just can’t make this stuff up…It seems Mike Hampton tweaked his hamstring after 2 IP in his latest rehab start, you just have to feel for the guy. He gave up one home run, no word on the severity of his injury yet. More details later.
Edit2: He tweaked his groin in the first inning and pitched a second, still no word on the severity, but said his super-surgically repaired arm felt great.
Tags: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Braves Bullpen, Blaine Boyer, Bullpen, Manny Acosta, Mike Gonzalez, Peter Moylan, Rafael Soriano, Will Ohman
Posted in General | 12 Comments »
By Akshay on Jul 16, 2008 | Reply
To be honest, I haven’t looked at the numbers yet. But from watching the season it has to be Acosta, Ohman and Boyer. Those were the three guys super over used while either most guys were out (Moylan, Soriano) and the starters weren’t giving us enough innings (Glavine, Smoltz, Jurrjens in a couple of starts, Bennett, Campillo at the beginning).
By PapaGLP on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
I'd go with Ohman long before I'd go with the other two. Though as of late, Buddy, without a doubt.
By Akshay982 on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
I really don't think he's been exposed, because he wouldn't have been able to pitch six and two thirds scoreless innings if he was "exposed," The guy's a major league ready pitcher and they don't get exposed. He was tired, he was pitching everyday and was getting tired and wasn't getting his location down, that's why he was walking guys, wasn't keeping the ball down, stuff like that.
By PapaGLP on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
This is the first season in a few years that I was comfortable with our bullpen going into the season. I mean, we usually were scraping together pitchers just to fill the roster, but in spring training this year, we had to actually pick and choose and that was a great feeling. But now, we're back to what we always do and the bullpen has done as much as it can.
I'm thinking it might be time to scrap everyone and start the rebuilding process.
By colin_ake60861 on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
I'd have to agree with the seller assessment – if they were looking to make a run for it, they'd have made some sort of move already for left field… right?
By Akshay on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
To be honest, I haven't looked at the numbers yet. But from watching the season it has to be Acosta, Ohman and Boyer. Those were the three guys super over used while either most guys were out (Moylan, Soriano) and the starters weren't giving us enough innings (Glavine, Smoltz, Jurrjens in a couple of starts, Bennett, Campillo at the beginning).
By colin_ake60861 on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Acosta hasn't been bad unless he's been overused. Well, and in the first game of the year he just SUCKED.
By Akshay982 on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Buddy's been the new designated long relief guy after Bennett couldn't hold it down.
But as far as "the other two" I would still without a doubt give either the ball: Acosta, in April and May, allowed five earned runs in 28 innings (1.61 ERA), went down in June with a 9.28 ERA, but the bulk (9 out of 12 ER) came in three outings. In July he has yet to allow a run in 6.2 innings.
Boyer on the other hand, not as much. He has a 3.9 ERA, which is decent considering the amount of innings he's pitched, but he just hasn't been clutch. He's been able to keep us in games where we were down, but could never keep us in games where we were tied for some reason.
I look for a BIG second half from Acosta, one that will our bullpen very dangerous (think about it, Acosta, Ohman, Carlyle, Soriano, Gonzo, just makes you drool, doesn't it?) Plus with our starters pitching more, it makes the bullpen that much more dangerous down the stretch if they don't pitch too many innings now.
By Akshay982 on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Hampton pitched tonight, 2 IP, 1 HR, 2 Ks, just the one hit, word is it's a hamstring tweak…seriously, I'm not kidding.
By Dan on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
I'd argue that up until the last month, Manny Acosta has been the glue that has kept the bullpen together. He really worked out well the first couple months of the season and picked up some saves and late inning appearances. He has been exposed lately, but hell — he has at least hung in. I think that Mike Gonzalez and a healthy Rafael Soriano will be huge down the stretch if the Braves are still in it as they will have some viable late inning relievers. Honestly though, I have been very disappointed in this bullpen this season as I originally called the Braves bullpen the deepest and best bullpen in Major League Baseball. Yet with all of the injuries that will not be true at any point this season. New thought…based on the lack of activity by the front office, I view this team as a seller moving towards the trade deadline.
By Dan on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Alright, then he can be exposed as not having a rubber arm. Either way, he is not a 2.5 ERA guy. I'd go with middle reliever with set-up man upside. I meant to suggest that he has been exposed as not being a closer.
By Andrew on Feb 2, 2009 | Reply
Manny Acosta's problem has always been his control and he's done nothing to show us that he's slayed those demons at the major league level with a 4.88 BB/9 rate. The guy has fantastic stuff, but we're looking at a Tyler Yates level reliever at best.
Will Ohman has been a pleasant surprise and has definitely been our most valuable reliever in high-leverage situations (i.e. 7th inning and later), but I think Boyer has a lot more upside than Ohman.