Bullpen Report: Week 26

The end of the year is always fun for me when it comes to the race for holds, and the guys getting them.  The names that appear on the leaderboard for the last 14 days of games looks like a Dateline special of guys who were abandoned by their actual parents, and just appeared in the majors.  For instance, of the top-20 Hold garnerers [Jay’s Note: garnerees? garnerererers? gonorrhea? Eh, let’s just go with garnerers…] over those same last two weeks, only three are in the top-20 for the year (Clippard, Cecil and Watson).  On a side note, these are guys for you in dynasty leagues and deeper keeper leagues to pay attention to…. wink-wink.  That right there echoes the fact of something, oh I don’t know, two weeks ago, where you should just stream the hell out of RP down the stretch to maximize everything. And by everything, I mean appearance, grooming techniques, hell, it’ll probably allow you to take better pictures to update your Tinder account.  Maximize is the name, and maximizing was the game. You see that boat in the distance?… That’s me sailing off into the sunset telling you au revoir, and that I told ya so.  I don’t make this stuff up, there are years and years of stats and performance charts that are readily available on the Google machine to prove my point.  So with that tangent concluded, here is the last bullpen/hold chart of the year, basically showing you who wins. Sort of. If winning holds is an actual award, that is.

• I know this isn’t real baseball, but he’s still a reliever, but for me, one of the best acquisitions at the trade deadline had to be Andrew Miller by the Orioles.  He’s a free agent at years end, and will be getting a Boone Logan type deal.  Thanks Boone!  Since being added to the O’s pen, he has allowed 10 batters to reach base out of 67, good for a .100 Baa against and an OPS of .330.  Yikes…awesome.
• A name to keep an eye on after his late season surge is rebound from the ole 420 factory, Jeremy Jeffress.  Seems to have found a nice groove for the Brewers pen as they stretch for the playoffs.  Holds aren’t there as much, but the K rate and the frequency of use are there.  Ear mark it for next year.
• I told you some of the names were wonky this week.  To get wonkier, Carlos Torres has paced the Mets the past two weeks with 5 Holds. Why is that important? Because the Mets inexplicably won um…. 5 games.  I sense a pattern… it looks like Hounds tooth, but is just an optical illusion.
• For some fun with numbers, let’s do a little comparison.  Clayton Kershaw, preseason ADP of inside the top 15, on the year is 20-3, 238 k’S  and a 1.80 ERA.  First round quality numbers for sure.  Picture this for the probably free off waivers pitchers.  Combined 20-3, 181 K’s and a 1.21 ERA over 50 less innings, those are the numbers of Tony Watson and Wade Davis this year.  Pretty good for free.  Just sayin’.  I am not just nit-picking at stats, but combine Dellin Betances and Wade Davis and their WAR is only 0.6 less then the probable NL CY/MVP winner. Oh, and they have more K’s combined… okay I am done.