He Who Walks Behind Rows. Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street or The Des Moines Kernels Bullpen

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FuzzyRawley
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He Who Walks Behind Rows. Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street or The Des Moines Kernels Bullpen

Post by FuzzyRawley » Sat Nov 14, 2020 10:51 am

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It seems the bane of every team’s season, if they don’t win hardware, is the bullpen. For Des Moines, the bullpen is the difference between being below-average and being last in the Heartland. As a unit, their ERA is 5.88, their FIP is 5.19 and their collective WAR is 1.91. All those stats show that if Des Moines is going to be more competitive in the toughest and best division in baseball, the bullpen will need to be improved.

Bill Keiland Pedro Tanon were the focus of this pen. The Closer-Set Up combo was tested out this year and showed promise, but needs to be better to protect those close games. Keil was decent, ending the season with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. His 2-9 and 12 saves record hints that he struggled in close games and will hopefully be able to overcome that weakness in the next two seasons.

Pedro Tanon had a career-best season for ERA (4.00) and WHIP (1.3) but these numbers are still too high if Des Moines wants to win more games in 2045. Good news is that he’s only 23 and combined with the 24-year old Keil, the Kernels have a pen to build upon.

The other Set Up man in this pen was Adrian Garcia. Garcia was serviceable coming in for the late innings, but his ERA and WHIP crept up this year and he is 34-years old. He’s also at the end of his contract, so the Kernels will likely let him walk.

The middle innings were left to Norberto Asconcio and Tsunesaburo Hashimoto. Hashimoto saw his IP drop to a career low in 2044 because he was used as a Starter in prior seasons. He adapted to this new-old role very well and reduced his earned runs to a career low 3.59, but a 4.88 FIP suggests he got some help.

Asconcio bounced between middle relief and lefty specialist in 2044 and while he did well in the specialist role, his first full season as middle relief was average, posting a 96 ERA+. Good news is that he is cheap so worth keeping around for another season. But if his attitude doesn’t change and he struggles early in 2045, this 27-year olds BBA career could be in jeopardy.

The other lefty specialist in this Pen is Ron Gabriel. 2044 wasn’t kind to Gabriel against lefties. While his WHIP (1.09) and BA (.225) against were good, opposing lefties had a .575 slugging against him which means a lot of hard contact and earned runs. He’s a wildcard for 2045.

Finally, the enigma of this pitching staff is RP Juan Garcia, not to be confused with the SP Juan Garcia(who’s sometimes a reliever). This Juan Garcia is also sometimes a starter, which makes the whole damn thing really confusing. In 2044, he had to spend more time starting than he should have due to injuries in the rotation and his ERA/WHIP/Etc were higher when was starting. Hopefully, he’ll spend more time in the Pen in 2045.

In a nutshell, the Bullpen needs to make a leap forward in 2045 for the Kernels to improve, but given how bad the fielding and on base percentage is, the Kernels have other priorities for 2045. Expect them to took for hidden gems on the waiver wire to incrementally improve relief pitching.
:cool: They say it don't be like it is, but it do!

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Re: He Who Walks Behind Rows. Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street or The Des Moines Kernels Bullpen

Post by RichY » Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:55 pm

Fewer things in baseball more frustrating than a bad bullpen.
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