Free Agent Relief Pitcher Market
RJ, Tommy, Erik, et al have done a good job so far pinpointing a few choice free agent relief pitchers. Today I'm going to take a macro-level look at the free agents and how they fared in a couple of important statistics the last three years: K% and GB%. I did a similar post last year in which I used K/9, but i felt that K% gives you a better look at the true talent-level of the pitcher as far as striking guys out.
After the jump you'll find a table of how all the FA RPs have performed in these two indicators over the last three years.
| Pitcher (Type) | GB% | K% | Quadrant |
| O. Dotel (A) | 34.8% | 30.0% | II |
| B. Wagner (A) | 36.1% | 29.9% | II |
| R. Soriano (A) | 31.1% | 29.4% | II |
| M. Gonzalez (A) | 36.4% | 27.9% | II |
| J. Valverde (A) | 38.5% | 27.6% | II |
| J. Putz* | 42.4% | 25.9% | II |
| R. Betancourt* (A) | 28.4% | 24.8% | II |
| K. Calero (B) | 32.5% | 24.1% | II |
| J. Benoit | 33.4% | 23.8% | II |
| R. Springer (B) | 26.1% | 23.5% | II |
| K. Gregg (A) | 36.9% | 22.8% | II |
| F. Rodney (B) | 50.1% | 22.1% | I |
| T. Hoffman (A) | 35.8% | 22.1% | II |
| S. Eyre (B) | 36.6% | 20.9% | II |
| T. Percival | 26.9% | 20.5% | II |
| L. Vizcaino* | 35.1% | 20.3% | II |
| W. Ohman* (B) | 36.7% | 19.8% | II |
| C. Park (B) | 47.0% | 19.6% | I |
| B. Howry (B) | 33.3% | 19.3% | II |
| D. Oliver (A) | 46.5% | 19.1% | I |
| J. Isringhausen | 45.9% | 19.0% | I |
| J. Grabow (A) | 43.7% | 18.6% | I |
| R. Mahay | 43.1% | 18.3% | II |
| B. Donnelly | 36.1% | 18.3% | II |
| T. Gordon | 46.0% | 18.2% | I |
| A. Embree | 39.3% | 18.0% | II |
| J. Rincon | 44.8% | 17.8% | I |
| League Average | 43.6% | 17.6% | |
| G. Mota (B) | 41.4% | 17.5% | III |
| C. Vargas | 37.4% | 17.2% | III |
| R. Villone | 37.9% | 17.1% | III |
| D. Brocail* (B) | 42.6% | 16.8% | III |
| B. Tomko | 40.5% | 16.7% | III |
| L. Hawkins (A) | 51.2% | 16.6% | IV |
| M. Herges | 43.5% | 16.1% | III |
| B. Lyon (B) | 43.3% | 15.9% | III |
| K. Wells | 49.1% | 15.8% | IV |
| B. Shouse* (B) | 59.4% | 15.3% | IV |
| L. Ayala | 41.7% | 15.2% | III |
| R. Franklin* | 45.6% | 15.2% | IV |
| G. Glover | 38.6% | 15.2% | III |
| J. Walker | 34.7% | 15.1% | III |
| J. Wright | 58.7% | 15.0% | IV |
| M. Hendrickson | 44.3% | 14.8% | IV |
| M. Batista | 45.1% | 14.8% | IV |
| D. Sanchez | 40.5% | 14.8% | III |
| J. Beimel (B) | 44.8% | 14.4% | IV |
| M. Kobayashi* | 50.3% | 14.3% | IV |
| S. Schoeneweis | 49.3% | 14.2% | IV |
| J. Weaver | 37.5% | 14.2% | III |
| E. Guardado | 28.9% | 13.4% | III |
| D. Baez | 56.8% | 13.1% | IV |
| J. Fogg | 40.5% | 12.8% | III |
| E. Dessens | 43.8% | 12.2% | IV |
| G. Majewski | 50.8% | 12.1% | IV |
| C. Bradford | 62.9% | 8.9% | IV |
The final column, "Quadrant," refers to the quadrant they place in on the following scatter-plot: The "*" refers to players who have an option for 2010. Type obviously refers to whether the player projects to be a Type A/B free agent.
Ideally, you want a pitcher from quadrant I that gets more strikeouts and grounders than league average. There are a few of those guys, but someone like Fernando Rodney (the clear standout on the graph) will probably fetch more than we should spend because he's got the "proven closer" pedigree. Chan Ho Park really interests me, but he may be playing himself out of contention at this point.
1 recs |
11 comments
Comments
I'm assuming this data includes
Park’s numbers as a starter, which — if I recall correctly — were neither great nor a small sample. I think Dave Cameron on Fangraphs mentioned that Park improves markedly as a reliever, but I guess I’m asking, “are his GB% and K% the same as a reliever?” Maybe his number are even better or a little worse?
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by B Ray on Nov 1, 2009 9:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
They look about the same.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1267&position=P#battedball
GB% and K/9 are ~equal to his career totals.
by R.J. Anderson on Nov 1, 2009 9:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
K-BB rates
21-17 in 33 innings as starter
52-16 in 50 innings as reliever
Vroom vroom party starter
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by Imperialism32 on Nov 1, 2009 10:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Have to get lucky with any reliever
with relievers you never know from one year to the next
by sternfan1 on Nov 1, 2009 11:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Great stuff
Its a shame you can’t handicap football games for your life
Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla
by FreeZorilla on Nov 1, 2009 1:20 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
NFL games
I dominated yesterday. Losing it all today though.
by rglass44 on Nov 1, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Ah yes, that right, the amateur ranks
Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla
by FreeZorilla on Nov 1, 2009 4:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I may give up betting on the NFL...
I was up HUGE yesterday, and now I’m down HUGER. Ehhhh.
by rglass44 on Nov 1, 2009 8:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
how about a ST invite for this guy
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=752&position=P
Teach him how to throw the fastball again.
by therayspartyleader on Nov 1, 2009 3:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

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