9-News - 48.009: Season Preview – Bullpen

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9-News - 48.009: Season Preview – Bullpen

Post by RonCo » Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:08 pm

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The Wheels Keep On Spinning

March 31, 2048: Fool’s Gulch, AZ – I suppose it’s time for a philosophical question. Just how do you determine the best bullpen in the league? Is it straight ERA? Is it right/left balance? Maybe depth? Does Recte’s Rule of Three always apply? I admit I don’t know. But I’ll say this: the Yellow Springs Nine had the best bullpen in baseball the past couple seasons. Go ahead. Fight me. I’ll wait.

This year is a bit of a different story, however. Lefties Ángel Hernández and Ernetso Martas are gone—Martas traded to Brooklyn and Hernández opting out for better Free Agent cash. It was a good move for Hernández. He’ll make a touch less this year, but he got long-term money from Long Beach that’s hard to argue against. Still, it leaves the team in a bit of a lurch—though admittedly a lurch a lot of other clubs would love to be suffering.

Rule of Three?

If that famous idea of a pen needing three reliable arms is right, the Nine will be pretty good again.

Soft-tossing Al Colbert will return to anchor the bullpen. He’s thrown in pretty much every situation—straight closer to set-up to stopper, and done nothing but succeed. He’s the #4 saves guy in franchise history, 33 behind McKinley Washington (there’s a name for the old-timers). He threw a 1.60 ERA last year. I hear that’s pretty good.

Colbert will be joined by Derrick Chaney and second year pitcher Damian Taylor. Taylor is a first round pick out of 2046. He struck out over 13 hitters every nine innings and finished with an EAR of 2.12. Some say he could be a top-of-the-order starter, others say that’s what he’ll be if the changeup ever gets better. Who can tell? Same goes for Chaney, really. Pound for pound, Chaney may be the best pitcher on the entire staff.

The Depth

You could do a lot worse than Dean Stranaghan, Josh Henson, and Roberto Ramírez.

Ramírez is that off flyball pitcher who makes it all work—primarily because he just doesn’t walk hitters. I mean, he’s thrown 398 innings in his seven years with the club, and needs to walk three more guys to break the 50 career mark. Despite posting a .329 BABIP last year, he went 6-3 and posted a 2.33 ERA.

Henson is a quiet lefty, a guy who could and sometimes does start games (despite being that two-pitch guy), but who simply comes into games whenever the club calls, and begins to get hitters out. His 1.70 ERA last year was accompanied by allowing only a single home run—a second0inning blast to Twin Cities’ Ángel Garciá.

Stranaghan is a bit of a counter to Ramírez in that he walks close to five hitters in any 9-inning span, but he used a cutter/curve combo to strike out 15 and a half guys a game last year. One never really knows where the ball of going when he pitches, but it’s always fun to watch.

Balance?

Here’s a soft spot—a difference between this year and last. Look for the 7th and 8th spots in the bullpen to turn over a bit. I expect we’ll see lefty Wilson Reyes in a LOOGY tole, and then maybe Felipe Barron if the team needs longer-term support from the left side. I wouldn’t be shocked to see young Gunawan Pakpahan make his debut sometime early this year, and maybe Philippe Dumont and Rodney Keeley, also. Keeley is a particular interest, though he scares me.

There are a few others, too, but we'll keep this moderately short. Bottom line: look for the YS9 front office to swap and match parts until they find something to work.

Overall Assessment

The bullpen is still good. Yes, you’d like Ángel Hernández back, but who wouldn’t. The lack of real high-quality lefties other than Josh Henson will cause some problems. It would be nice, for example, if AA prospect Byron Ratcliffe made a big jump early in the year, and could convince the brass to let him pitch now. If that happens, this becomes and A+ pen again.

Until then, let’s call it an A- and be done with it.
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