To me, this statistic is crucial. We've got to have some arms(minds) that can come in with runners on and prevent them from crossing the plate. We were absolutely abysmal at this in 2008. Look at these numbers, our five worst IRA (inherited runners allowed) offenders:
Aquilino Lopez - 29
Bobby Seay - 16
Freddy Dolsi - 12
Zach Miner - 11
Casey Fossum - 10
(Side note, Farnsworth had 7, and he was only a Tiger from the trade deadline on.)
Total for our top (bottom) five: 78 inherited runners allowed
I'll compare this to the totals of the four AL teams that made the playoffs:
Rays - 45
Angels - 48
Red Sox - 59
White Sox - 67
You can see from the list of offenders, these are our core middle relievers (with the exception of Miner who converted to starter.) So not acceptable, so depressing, so mind-numbing, so making me lose my sanity!
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2 comments:
Jen,
It's hard to say enough bad things about the bullpen this season. It was simply atrocious. And who's to say it'll be any better in '09? The biggest concern is the lack of a true closer. Rodney never proved that he's reliable in that role. Dombrowski said there won't be any big-spending sprees, such as going after K-Rod. But they need to make some sort of acquisition to get a closer. And Zumaya has some serious proving to do...
So many questions/concerns.
So true. Zumaya may be the modern day Mark Fydrich for all we know. I hope not for his sake, and ours, but he can't be relied on to stay healthy at this point.
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