We Got Wood - 42.61 - In Like Flynn. Bernard Wins Top Reliever

[7teen]

Time for my annual acquisition of participation points by creating separate team news articles handing out four separate individual awards to our top players in 2042. Those four awards are: Top Rookie, Top Reliever, Top Hitter, and Top Starting Pitcher. Let's look at our top rookie.

Finding top pitchers in Portland is tough, period. We only had 7 arms post a positive WAR this season and as a unit posted a negative overall WAR. Yeah, it's not good! Hopefully help is on the way. But enough about that. Flynn Bernard was one of the guys to post a positive WAR, but he wasn't the top WAR man in the bullpen. Nor was he the top saves man from the pen. But our top saves guy ended with a negative WAR, despite being an all-star, he crapped on himself in the second half of the season. And Bernard had a better ERA, WHIP, and strikeout total than the guy with the better WAR out of the pen so we went with Flynn!

Bernard ended the season 3-2 with 2 saves and a 3.83 ERA over 35 appearances this season. He logged 44.2 innings pitched for the Lumberjacks, striking out 65 guys compared to 17 walks. He and closer Vincente Venalde were the only two pitchers to average more strikeouts than innings pitched this season for the Lumberjacks. He and Orlando Pena were the only two guys on the entire staff to post a winning record this season, and Pena missed most of the season with an injury, only appearing in 6 games back in April.

Bernard will be a reliever the Lumberjacks will hope to take another step forward in 2043. His blazing fastball mixed with good stuff and ok control make him a pitcher that is prone to ups and downs. His low movement did allow him to give up 10 homeruns over those 44.2 innings pitched, which prevented him from possibly posting a better WAR this season and seeing more innings. At worst, Bernard will find himself a spot in the BBA for a decade as a Loogy man if need be.

[jleddy]

Nice low-cost bullpen arm for a building club. I'd confidently say you won that trade (although I did get Bernard free in the first place in a deal due to Tyler being asleep at the wheel during a Rule 5.)