[easyliving]

Bullpens are obviously a major part of the game and knowing how good a teams bullpen is crucial in handicapping. Their are rankings of bullpens out their by ERA and whip but these numbers don't tell the whole story. For example Mets are #11 in terms of lowest Bullpen era but obviously the Mets bullpen isn't even top 15 in the league right now. Whether its injuries or guys getting moved to the bullpen from a starting role. Anyone know any sites that rank bullpens based on a variation of stats, or does anyone wanna rank it themselves?

[freeVICK]

I would guess A's and Royals are up there

[Big Bear]

Braves
Royals
A's

[LT Profits]

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.asp...ter=&players=0

Mets dead last despite ERA

[wikkidinsane]

I just use ESPNS's overall reliever stats :

Sortable Pitching
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	SV	CG	SHO	IP	QS	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	Washington	59	11	9	2.17	12	0	0	187.0	--	45	55	67	181	.221
2	San Francisco	61	17	5	2.38	22	0	0	189.1	--	50	53	52	148	.210
3	San Diego	61	9	4	2.50	19	0	0	205.1	--	57	63	66	194	.209
4	Oakland	60	13	10	2.61	13	0	0	190.0	--	55	56	56	167	.214

[jay89]

there are so many metrics out there, but the ones that stand out for me are WHIP/opp baa and LOB%.

if a bullpen has any reliever that can come in, not allow a hit or walk, and strand runners, it's pretty solid.
ERA... if a reliever inherits runners from the starter, doesn't that mean the earned runs are charged to the starter and not reliever?

[DutchPrimetime]

17-5 is crazy but thats not just the pitchers thats the bats stepping up clutch nearly every damn game. 2 more come from behind wins by my G's today and yesterday to polish off the sweep.

[CollegeOverUnder]

Jean Machi is a complete animal this year

[BigDofBA]

I think whip is overrated.

ERA is what I care about. Sometimes you pitch around guys or put people on.

When push comes to shove, are you getting outs when it matters?

[LT Profits]

I like FIP the best, but WAR is supposed to be a "catch-all" and that is why ranking I posted above are based on it.

[LT Profits]

I think whip is overrated.

ERA is what I care about. Sometimes you pitch around guys or put people on.

When push comes to shove, are you getting outs when it matters?

ERA is the worst metric you could use, it is almost as meaningless as W/L record. WHIP is just slightly better, but still bad for the most part. ERA and WHIP contain too many elements that the pitcher has no control over, ranging from his team's defense to even the official scorer.

[jontebond]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/...hing/split/128

[benjy]

ERA is the worst metric you could use, it is almost as meaningless as W/L record. WHIP is just slightly better, but still bad for the most part. ERA and WHIP contain too many elements that the pitcher has no control over, ranging from his team's defense to even the official scorer.

I like FIP or other DIPS too. Interestingly DIPS are a better predictor of future ERA than ERA (source: Bradbury's The Baseball Economist)

[frogsrangers]

30. Texas Rangers

[Chi_archie]

I think whip is overrated.

ERA is what I care about. Sometimes you pitch around guys or put people on.

When push comes to shove, are you getting outs when it matters?

when we are talking about relievers I think ERA is even more outdated, as inherited runners don't factor into a relief pitchers ERA

I've been using Relief Run Average http://www.reliefstat.com/

as it gives you data on inherited runners, and a guy on 3rd with 0 outs is not treated the same as a man on 1st with 2 outs.... see the copy and paste below




The challenge a relief pitcher faces in preventing inherited runners from scoring changes based on two factors:

1. The base(s) that the inherited runner(s) occupy when the reliever enters the game
2. The number of outs there are when the reliever enters the game

Accordingly, calculating R.R.A.^® requires the use of base factors as well as out factors. Because a higher R.R.A.^® reflects lesser ability, the value of the factors are lower for more difficult pitching situations and higher for less difficult pitching situations. The factors are as follows:
If an inherited base runner scores from....
- 1st base, his factor is 2.54
- 2nd base, his factor is 1.48
- 3rd base, his factor is 1.00
These factors are based on decades of historical data that reflect the difficulty of holding those inherited runners on base. Preventing an inherited runner at 3rd base from scoring is 1.48 times more difficult than preventing an inherited runner at 2nd base from scoring, and 2.54 times as difficult as preventing an inherited runner at 3rd base from scoring. A pitcher is penalized more harshly for allowing an inherited runner to travel greater distance to score. These conclusions are based upon thousands of innings of data.
If the reliever enters with...
- 0 outs, the out factor is 2
- 1 outs, the out factor is 3
- 2 outs, the out factor is 6
These out factors are chosen because base runners have more opportunities to score when there are fewer outs. When there are no outs, base runners have 1.5 times as many outs in which to score than if there is one out and 3 times as many outs to score than if there are two outs. The out factors are based on this numerical scale. There are fewer opportunities to score when there are fewer outs remaining. Therefore, a pitcher that allows inherited runners to score is penalized more harshly when he enters the inning with fewer outs.