Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers

[snepp]

A reliever can come into a game with a 10 run lead, give up 9 runs, record 1 out, and get a "hold". It tells you absolutely nothing beneficial that any number of meaningful statistics can tell you better.

If you really want to know how a reliever pitched in important (or "high leverage") situations look at WPA.

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by snepp

A reliever can come into a game with a 10 run lead, give up 9 runs, record 1 out, and get a "hold". It tells you absolutely nothing beneficial that any number of meaningful statistics can tell you better.

agreed...this makes the numbers skewed...if they would place more guidlines on what constitutes a hold maybe it would hold more water...[/quote]

[bigfnjoe96]

I brought up Joba. It was morning & didn't have any coffee.

[snepp]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

agreed...this makes the numbers skewed...if they would place more guidlines on what constitutes a hold maybe it would hold more water...

Yeah, if they want an official stat for non-closing relievers they really ought make some improvements to it.

I won't be holding my breath though, this is the same league that leaves the responsibility of the "official" scorers used at games in the hands of the team (which leads to a lot of highly biased scoring decisions).

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by kehlis

do you feel the same about saves then? They are basically the same thing...just in different innings.

Aside from what people already mentioned in regards to holds vs saves, I'd also add that I really don't put as much stock into saves as some do either. I play attention to Save % to a bigger degree, but that's not all encompassing either.

The trouble with saves is there are too many things going into it. Look at K-Rod. He set the saves record because essentially his team was in a lot of close games. His raw numbers weren't as impressive as several other closers, yet he was perceived as the best closer last year.

Do you know who led the league in saves the year before? The answer might surprise you because aside from total saves (I think he had 44 or 45) Joe Borroski didn't have good numbers. In fact, he was designated for assignment Mid 2008.

I'm not saying saves (or ERA and W-L, etc.) are completely unimportant, only that there is much more that goes into a pitcher being valuable than the favorite stats.

[CWood2]

Nice read ...

[wsu_gb23]

How about Yovanni Gallardo?

[RAZRr1275]

Pretty nice list.