With two bad starts in Houston from Zito and Cain, with the Red Sox in town this weekend, and with a trip to Coors Field looming, I worry about the Giants bullpen. I worry worry worry.
Our gut feeling that the pen's been inconsistent lately is borne out by advanced metrical statistics. In fact, the Giants only have two relievers who have been better than average, according to this measurement. Brian Wilson has been awesome -- the second-best reliever in the game -- and Santiago Casilla has racked up game-saving appearances in his short tenure. Otherwise, please avert your gaze.
Despite the nice peripherals, Sergio Romo has been bad in high-leverage situations (that's what BP's WXRL is biased toward), as has Guillermo Mota. Funny how Mota's fallibility began just as Bochy began using him more as the 8th inning guy. Jeremy Affeldt has been awful and injury-plagued, which probably have some correlation.
I see bullpens like this, and I'm jealous. And scared. And confused. How does San Diego keep finding the Luke Gregersons of the world? Why do they keep facing the Giants? Make them stop.
A healthy effective Affeldt will go a long way toward closing the gap, but even if Affeldt puts up numbers like last year from here on out, he probably won't repeat last year's performance, which was heightened by an extraordinary number of ground-ball double plays. Dan Runzler is walking half the batters he faces, Mota is giving stank-eye every time an umpire refuses to call a corner pitch a strike, Romo picks bad times to hang his slider...it is soooo obvious Brian Sabean is jonesing for a veteran bullpen arm or two right now. Must...have....Octavio....Dotel.
Our gut feeling that the pen's been inconsistent lately is borne out by advanced metrical statistics. In fact, the Giants only have two relievers who have been better than average, according to this measurement. Brian Wilson has been awesome -- the second-best reliever in the game -- and Santiago Casilla has racked up game-saving appearances in his short tenure. Otherwise, please avert your gaze.
Despite the nice peripherals, Sergio Romo has been bad in high-leverage situations (that's what BP's WXRL is biased toward), as has Guillermo Mota. Funny how Mota's fallibility began just as Bochy began using him more as the 8th inning guy. Jeremy Affeldt has been awful and injury-plagued, which probably have some correlation.
I see bullpens like this, and I'm jealous. And scared. And confused. How does San Diego keep finding the Luke Gregersons of the world? Why do they keep facing the Giants? Make them stop.
A healthy effective Affeldt will go a long way toward closing the gap, but even if Affeldt puts up numbers like last year from here on out, he probably won't repeat last year's performance, which was heightened by an extraordinary number of ground-ball double plays. Dan Runzler is walking half the batters he faces, Mota is giving stank-eye every time an umpire refuses to call a corner pitch a strike, Romo picks bad times to hang his slider...it is soooo obvious Brian Sabean is jonesing for a veteran bullpen arm or two right now. Must...have....Octavio....Dotel.
