AL Central Pitching Analysis
-Dexter Sports
2:46 PM
Dexter-Sports Inbox
A long time ago, when the 2008 season was young, I made a bold and completely dumb prediction. For some reason, I felt the Royals would have the best pitching in the AL Central. I was convinced that a staff that included Zack Grienke, Brian Bannister and Gil Meche would be enough, because of the strong bullpen arms. on the staff. In the original post though, I stated that they would at least be better than Cleveland and Detroit and I wasn't far off. Let's break down the AL Central pitching numbers for 2008.
Pitching Total Stats:
IP Relief IP ER HR TBB SO CG ShO SV/Opp.
Minnesota 1459 485 675 183 406 995 5 10 42/65
Chicago 1457.2 463 658 156 489 1147 4 10 34/52
Cleveland 1437 399 711 170 444 986 10 13 31/51
Kansas City 1445.2 439 720 159 515 1085 2 8 44/60
Detroit 1445 440 786 172 644 991 1 2 34/62
So what information do we gather from this compilaton? Here are a few things to note on successes and failures.
1.) Walks and Close Games slay the Tigers-
The Tigers were 16-25 in one run games, and that makes sense. They had the most walked batters in the Central, and the third most in the American League. They only converted 58% of their save opportunities. It only makes sense for a complete rebuild of this bullpen after their failures in 2008. A lot of it had to do with the injury of Todd Jones (18/21). Fernando Rodney did a decent job of holding runners in his absence, closing 13 of nineteen games successfully. But the major issue seemed to be holding leads. Kyle Farnsworth did seem to be a solid acquisition, leading the team in holds with 14 after his trade. To their bullpen's credit, they did inherit a lot of runners, because the staff couldn't stay healthy, or go long into ballgames. The Tigers only had two shutouts and one complete game this season. This makes it clear that a closer will be need, along with other help in the bullpen. Tom Knapp will have to emphasize cutting out the walks, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an innings eater added to the staff. Nate Robertson, who was expected to put up pretty good numbers, gave up the most earned runs in the league. Justin Verlander, who was expected to put up his first twenty win season, led the leagues in losses with 17. Dontrelle Willis, who once had 5 shutouts in a season, had a hard time even shutting down one hitter at a time. He had more walks than innings pitched.
What happened in Cleveland?- Cleveland's pitching performance last year, is one of the strangest that I have ever witnessed. The staff struggled mightly in the first half of the season(41-53). The Indians couldn't find a consistent closer. C.C. Sabathia started off slowly. Joe Borowski was finally let go, and then the combination of Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi failed to close out close ball games consistently (10/17 combined). But Jenson Lewis stepped up in the second half, closing out 13/14 ballgames. Rafael Perez did a good job getting the ball to the closer, by holding 25 ballgames (4th in baseball). Beyond the performances of Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, the pitching staff was rather suspect. Paul Byrd gave up 23 dingers in 22 starts with Cleveland. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sower were also a bit upsetting in 2008. Many wonder if Jenson Lewis will maintain the job in 2009. I think he should get a shot. But his lack of experience will be hard to allow that. Expect a free agent veteran to come in.
Kansas City isn't that far off- It is clear now that the Royals have a formidable rotation. Sure, they didn't lead the Central like I expected, but they put together a pretty good show. Zack Grienke eclipsed ten wins and two-hundred wins for the first time in his young career. he struck out one hundred and eighty three hitters. Teammate Gil Meche also had 183 strikeouts and added 14 wins. He he also started 34 games and led the league in games started for the second straight season. Third Starter Brian Bannister struggled though, giving up the most amount of runs in the league. He went 9-16 with a 5.76 ERA. Horacio Ramirez was a slight surprise in the pen, going 24 innings and only giving up 7 earned runs. Ramon Ramirez was a big part of the Royal pitching staff, getting in 71 games and holding 21 of them. He struck out nearly a hitter an inning while holding his walks down. Joakim Soria was lights out, shuting down 42/45 save opportunities. He struck out more than one an appearance. He is molding into a top tier closer.
2:46 PM
Dexter-Sports Inbox
A long time ago, when the 2008 season was young, I made a bold and completely dumb prediction. For some reason, I felt the Royals would have the best pitching in the AL Central. I was convinced that a staff that included Zack Grienke, Brian Bannister and Gil Meche would be enough, because of the strong bullpen arms. on the staff. In the original post though, I stated that they would at least be better than Cleveland and Detroit and I wasn't far off. Let's break down the AL Central pitching numbers for 2008.
Pitching Total Stats:
IP Relief IP ER HR TBB SO CG ShO SV/Opp.
Minnesota 1459 485 675 183 406 995 5 10 42/65
Chicago 1457.2 463 658 156 489 1147 4 10 34/52
Cleveland 1437 399 711 170 444 986 10 13 31/51
Kansas City 1445.2 439 720 159 515 1085 2 8 44/60
Detroit 1445 440 786 172 644 991 1 2 34/62
So what information do we gather from this compilaton? Here are a few things to note on successes and failures.
1.) Walks and Close Games slay the Tigers-
The Tigers were 16-25 in one run games, and that makes sense. They had the most walked batters in the Central, and the third most in the American League. They only converted 58% of their save opportunities. It only makes sense for a complete rebuild of this bullpen after their failures in 2008. A lot of it had to do with the injury of Todd Jones (18/21). Fernando Rodney did a decent job of holding runners in his absence, closing 13 of nineteen games successfully. But the major issue seemed to be holding leads. Kyle Farnsworth did seem to be a solid acquisition, leading the team in holds with 14 after his trade. To their bullpen's credit, they did inherit a lot of runners, because the staff couldn't stay healthy, or go long into ballgames. The Tigers only had two shutouts and one complete game this season. This makes it clear that a closer will be need, along with other help in the bullpen. Tom Knapp will have to emphasize cutting out the walks, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an innings eater added to the staff. Nate Robertson, who was expected to put up pretty good numbers, gave up the most earned runs in the league. Justin Verlander, who was expected to put up his first twenty win season, led the leagues in losses with 17. Dontrelle Willis, who once had 5 shutouts in a season, had a hard time even shutting down one hitter at a time. He had more walks than innings pitched.
What happened in Cleveland?- Cleveland's pitching performance last year, is one of the strangest that I have ever witnessed. The staff struggled mightly in the first half of the season(41-53). The Indians couldn't find a consistent closer. C.C. Sabathia started off slowly. Joe Borowski was finally let go, and then the combination of Rafael Betancourt and Masa Kobayashi failed to close out close ball games consistently (10/17 combined). But Jenson Lewis stepped up in the second half, closing out 13/14 ballgames. Rafael Perez did a good job getting the ball to the closer, by holding 25 ballgames (4th in baseball). Beyond the performances of Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, the pitching staff was rather suspect. Paul Byrd gave up 23 dingers in 22 starts with Cleveland. Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sower were also a bit upsetting in 2008. Many wonder if Jenson Lewis will maintain the job in 2009. I think he should get a shot. But his lack of experience will be hard to allow that. Expect a free agent veteran to come in.
Kansas City isn't that far off- It is clear now that the Royals have a formidable rotation. Sure, they didn't lead the Central like I expected, but they put together a pretty good show. Zack Grienke eclipsed ten wins and two-hundred wins for the first time in his young career. he struck out one hundred and eighty three hitters. Teammate Gil Meche also had 183 strikeouts and added 14 wins. He he also started 34 games and led the league in games started for the second straight season. Third Starter Brian Bannister struggled though, giving up the most amount of runs in the league. He went 9-16 with a 5.76 ERA. Horacio Ramirez was a slight surprise in the pen, going 24 innings and only giving up 7 earned runs. Ramon Ramirez was a big part of the Royal pitching staff, getting in 71 games and holding 21 of them. He struck out nearly a hitter an inning while holding his walks down. Joakim Soria was lights out, shuting down 42/45 save opportunities. He struck out more than one an appearance. He is molding into a top tier closer.
