Just how good is the Dodger bullpen?

by David Young on Sep 29, 2009 10:24 AM PDT Comment 17 comments

An ESPN writer in a recent article comparing playoff bullpens didn't bother to evaluate the Dodgers and dismissively predicted that they would be swept in three games anyway because "Nearly every year, one September favorite forgets to show up in October. This year, it will be the Dodgers" (see this fanpost for more.) This despite claiming that "So often, postseason survival comes down to one thing: Can your bullpen get those critical outs late in games?". As Bugs Bunny once said, "what a maroon."

In any case, since ESPN won't provide you any edification, here are some statistics for the Los Angeles Dodger bullpen, compared to the rest of the NL (all stats as of end of play Sunday):

leads in runs per game 3.75, while being second in IP for relievers!
leads in ERA, 3.15. The closest likely NL playoff team is the Cardinals at 3.63
first in WHIP, 1.261. The closest likely NL playoff team is the Cardinals at 1.310
second in K/BB, 2.14. The Rockies lead at 2.36.
second in HR/9. 0.73. The Braves lead at 0.64. Next best likely playoff team is the Phillies at 0.90.
first in OPS+ allowed, 81. Cardinals, 90.
first in OPS allowed, .657. Cardinals, .694
first in OBP allowed, .313. Cardinals, .321
first in SLG allowed, .345. Cardinals, .373
first in BA allowed, .229. Cardinals, .236

Those "triple slash" stats are about the equivalent of "Sloppy" Joe Thurston this season: .229 / .319 / .336

Conclusion: The Dodger bullpen is pretty damn good overall. If you believe the bullpens are a big playoff factor, you shouldn't predict that the Dodgers get swept.

All stats from the awesome Baseball-Reference.com, except HR/9, which I calculated from their statistics.

3 recs | Comment 17 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I nominate El Lay Dave for Steve Berthiaume's job

Or anyone in TBLA. But I will thank Steve for one thing, thank you for posting crap like you did. It not only makes you look really stupid, but you also made us realize more how great our bullpen is.

by PHAT JULIO on Sep 28, 2009 8:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff, Dave. As usual.

by Eric Stephen on Sep 28, 2009 8:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Our bullpen is only as good as the weakest link.

Charlie Heager I’m looking at you. Joe Torre expected you to eat innings today, and all you could do is get hit by a line drive off your leg and be taken out of the game.

For shame Heager, for shame.

by Tripon on Sep 28, 2009 9:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In other words

Charlie Haeger is not our guy.

by Michael White on Sep 29, 2009 7:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's somebody's guy

by meercatjohn on Sep 29, 2009 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is unrelated to anything about this post

but this picture makes me happy. Courtesy of Ben Maller:

by Eric Stephen on Sep 29, 2009 10:55 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

???

by meercatjohn on Sep 29, 2009 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its media day for the Lakers. I think they are doing all sorts of weird cross promotional stuff.

by Eric Stephen on Sep 29, 2009 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see no image of anything

by meercatjohn on Sep 29, 2009 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Weird, it was showing up earlier.

Here is the link, which I forgot to include:

http://twitpic.com/jmd09

by Eric Stephen on Sep 29, 2009 11:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It did make me crave a Klondike bar

What kind of baseball player would Kobe have been? How many Shooting guards could have had a Dave Winfield type of career?
Who would be the best choice to play baseball on the Lakers? Shannon Brown, Farmer( I think his dad played ball)?

by meercatjohn on Sep 29, 2009 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good question. I wonder if anyone could have pitched, a la Dave DeBusschere or Mark Hendrickson. Maybe one of the smaller guards could have pulled a Dick Groat and played the middle infield.

by Eric Stephen on Sep 29, 2009 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Dodgers bullpen

will carry them this year.

Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

by Ian Capilouto on Sep 29, 2009 11:10 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What about fatigue?

The Dodgers almost lead baseball in innings pitched

VEB CheBird T-Shirt & Hoodies for Sale - Red or Powder Blue

by FlimtotheFlam on Oct 5, 2009 8:07 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That is why the two days off...

will be key. Another reason GS took off the last day of the season, even though Ausmus had offered him to close before the game started. GS wanted the day off instead.

by elsid on Oct 5, 2009 1:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Dodgers carried a 13-man pitching staff for large parts of the season

This helped reduce the fatigue factor for some of the relievers. The acquisition of George Sherrill and the return from a three-month DL stint of Hong-Chih Kuo and their ascending to the 7th and 8th inning roles also helps because earlier in the season, Ronald Bellisario and Ramon Troncoso were the pitchers accumulating (perhaps too many) innings in those roles. Belisario is now the 6th inning, maybe 7th if Torre really, really wants a RHP there; Troncoso is a 5th/6th inning fireman . When you look at the key relievers’ IP, does it look alarming? I don’t think so.

Closer – Broxton, 76 IP
Set-Up – Sherrill, 69 IP
7th – Kuo, 30 IP
6th – Belisario, 70 2/3 IP

by David Young on Oct 6, 2009 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Berthiaume = jackass

Here is my comment I posted on that ESPN article:
http://tinyurl.com/yff47bj
-—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Hey Steve Berthiaume, good call on choosing not to discuss the Dodger bullpen because the team was so bad they were going to get swept anyway. The team had the best record in the NL, by far the biggest run differential of any team in the NL, and they won the toughest division in the NL by far. They had the best team ERA in the league, the best bullpen in all of baseball, but you chose not to even discuss their bullpen in your article devoted to the bullpens of all contending teams. The reason? Because they were going to get swept anyway. You sir are a male member of the species Equus africanus asinus.
-—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

by The Dude Abides on Oct 12, 2009 6:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs