Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza — Week 16 (July 24 to July 30) Team Rankings, 1–30

• July 28, 2023

Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza — 7/24–7/30 Team Rankings

We are almost through the 16th week of the season. The leader in our bullpen/reliever/relief corps rankings has remained the same but has widened its lead by a significant margin. In the rest of the rankings, there has been crazy movement, with some teams plummeting. Since this is a midweek update, we will have barebones numbers only. Statistics are through the end of play Wednesday, July 26.

These rankings are not interested in what some guy in the minors did back in April before he was sent down. We want to see whose current relief roster is the toughest. That will be most useful when watching and analyzing games.

Rankings are split into the following categories. These categories encompass what a relief pitcher’s jobs are and are weighted according to importance. We don’t want to get bogged down, so we’ll keep it brief. (Author’s Note: For full details, leave a comment and I’ll be glad to get back to you.)

Clutch (45% of score) — How well they perform in late innings either while the game is tied or while holding a narrow lead.

Run Prevention (35%) — How well they keep runs off the board, including inherited runners.

Baserunner Prevention (13%) — Who has the lowest WHIP and lowest home run percentage (HR%). WHIP is 85% of the Baserunner Prevention score, and HR% is 15%.

Command (7%) — Who has the best strikeout percentage minus walk percentage (K–BB%).

The total score in each category is based on the league average. Zero points equals the league average. Positive scores are better than league average; negative scores are worse. The farther their score is from zero — either positive or negative — the farther they are from the league average.

(Note: Due to weighting each score, adding the four categories together won’t equal the total score.)

For a full breakdown of each category’s score formula, click here.

Week 16 (Jul 24 to Jul 30) Midweek Team Reliever and Bullpen Rankings

The Elite

1. Milwaukee Brewers (79.5, First in NL), No Change from Last Week

159.9 Clutch, 12.0 Run Prevention, 15.5 Baserunners, 18.6 Command

Better Take an Early Lead…

2. Seattle Mariners (21.1, First in AL), ▲ +3 from Last Week

34.7 Clutch, 6.4 Run Prevention, 5.2 Baserunners, 35.6 Command

3. San Francisco Giants (18.7, Second in NL), ▲ +7 from Last Week

38.3 Clutch, -1.0 Run Prevention, 5.0 Baserunners, 16.0 Command

The Very Good

4. Detroit Tigers (16.3, Second in AL), ▲ +4 from Last Week

35.9 Clutch, -0.9 Run Prevention, 5.3 Baserunners, -3.1 Command

5. Atlanta Braves (13.7, Third in NL), ▲ +8 from Last Week

35.8 Clutch, -3.7 Run Prevention, -6.9 Baserunners, -2.6 Command

6. Boston Red Sox (13.6, Third in AL), ▲ +6 from Last Week

25.9 Clutch, 2.2 Run Prevention, 5.1 Baserunners, 6.9 Command

7. Pittsburgh Pirates (13.5, Fourth in NL), ▼ -5 from Last Week

20.0 Clutch, 4.0 Run Prevention, 11.5 Baserunners, 22.4 Command

Slightly above Average

8. Baltimore Orioles (9.9, Fourth in AL), ▼ -5 from Last Week

17.0 Clutch, 1.9 Run Prevention, 5.5 Baserunners, 13.1 Command

9. New York Yankees (8.2, Fifth in AL), ▼ -3 from Last Week

17.5 Clutch, 1.2 Run Prevention, 3.1 Baserunners, -7.5 Command

10. Cincinnati Reds (8.1, Fifth in NL), ▲ +4 from Last Week

15.7 Clutch, 3.8 Run Prevention, 0.7 Baserunners, -5.8 Command

11. Los Angeles Dodgers (7.4, Sixth in NL), ▲ +4 from Last Week

13.4 Clutch, 4.4 Run Prevention, -0.7 Baserunners, -1.3 Command

12. Toronto Blue Jays (7.3, Sixth in AL), ▼ -8 from Last Week

8.0 Clutch, 6.8 Run Prevention, -2.5 Baserunners, 24.4 Command

13. Cleveland Guardians (7.0, Seventh in AL), ▼ -6 from Last Week

10.6 Clutch, 6.5 Run Prevention, 4.3 Baserunners, -8.8 Command

The Average

14. Philadelphia Phillies (2.8, Seventh in NL), ▼ -5 from Last Week

3.7 Clutch, 1.3 Run Prevention, -0.5 Baserunners, 10.3 Command

15. Tampa Bay Rays (2.0, Eighth in AL), ▲ +2 from Last Week

-1.4 Clutch, 7.7 Run Prevention, 1.9 Baserunners, -5.0 Command

16. Los Angeles Angels (0.2, Ninth in AL), ▲ +6 from Last Week

11.2 Clutch, -8.0 Run Prevention, -7.0 Baserunners, -16.3 Command

17. Miami Marlins (0.0, Eighth in NL), ▼ -6 from Last Week

-4.5 Clutch, 0.0 Run Prevention, 6.3 Baserunners, 17.9 Command

18. Houston Astros (-1.5, 10th in AL), No Change from Last Week

-3.4 Clutch, -0.9 Run Prevention, -3.4 Baserunners, 10.6 Command

19. New York Mets (-1.8, Ninth in NL), ▼ -3 from Last Week

-2.9 Clutch, -0.1 Run Prevention, -2.2 Baserunners, -1.9 Command

The Below Average

20. Texas Rangers (-3.6, 11th in AL), ▲ +6 from Last Week

-15.6 Clutch, 4.3 Run Prevention, 8.8 Baserunners, 10.6 Command

21. San Diego Padres (-5.3, 10th in NL), ▲ +6 from Last Week

-12.8 Clutch, 2.1 Run Prevention, 2.1 Baserunners, -7.1 Command

22. Minnesota Twins (-5.7, 12th in AL), ▼ -1 from Last Week

-14.5 Clutch, 0.9 Run Prevention, 3.9 Baserunners, 0.6 Command

Lots of Work to Do

23. Chicago Cubs (-6.9, 11th in NL), No Change from Last Week

-15.2 Clutch, -1.1 Run Prevention, 0.0 Baserunners, 5.1 Command

24. Chicago White Sox (-7.2, 13th in AL), ▼ -4 from Last Week

-13.6 Clutch, -2.6 Run Prevention, -0.3 Baserunners, -2.5 Command

Stock Up on Tums

25. Colorado Rockies (-10.8, 12th in NL), No Change from Last Week

-13.7 Clutch, -6.0 Run Prevention, -4.6 Baserunners, -27.6 Command

26. St Louis Cardinals (-13.5, 13th in NL), ▲ +2 from Last Week

-21.9 Clutch, -8.0 Run Prevention, -4.4 Baserunners, -4.5 Command

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (-13.8, 14th in NL), ▼ -8 from Last Week

-29.2 Clutch, -2.6 Run Prevention, 0.1 Baserunners, 3.2 Command

Pray for a Blowout Win

28. Washington Nationals (-19.4, 15th in NL), ▼ -4 from Last Week

-22.8 Clutch, -12.1 Run Prevention, -19.1 Baserunners, -35.3 Command

29. Oakland Athletics (-23.6, 14th in AL), No Change from Last Week

-31.7 Clutch, -14.2 Run Prevention, -13.7 Baserunners, -37.5 Command

30. Kansas City Royals (-30.8, 15th in AL), No Change from Last Week

-48.8 Clutch, -16.2 Run Prevention, -15.3 Baserunners, -16.9 Command

Full Score Explanation

For clutch, we will use both the Goose Egg total (33%) and the ratio of Goose Eggs to Broken Eggs (67%) due to the major flaws in Saves and Holds. Full details about Goose Eggs are here. Otherwise, here’s the elevator speech.

A Goose Egg is like a save, except more restrictive. Here are the main points…

• It’s done inning by inning, starting in the seventh.
• Maximum of a two-run lead, not three, but it also includes tie games. Like the save, exceptions are made if the tying run is on base or at bat. (Not on deck, however.)
• Run Breakdown:
  • No run of any kind — earned, unearned, or inherited — scores, it’s a goose egg (GE).
  • Earned run charged to the pitcher, it’s a broken egg (BE).
  • Any other run scores, it’s neither.
  • Earned run scores in an inning where he closes out the victory, it’s also neither.
  • Starts the inning and gives up no runs, but doesn’t finish the inning, it’s also neither.
• He must finish the inning while recording the following number of outs:
  • No one on when he starts the inning — all three;
  • One on — at least two;
  • Two or three on — at least one.
• Any time it’s “neither,” it’s called a “Meh,” as in “nothing special.” They’re like a stalemate in chess and count as nothing, so we really don’t talk about them.
• Most important is the ratio of GE to BE (GE/BE). The historical average, dating to 1921, is 3.0, or 3-to-1.

For run prevention, we will use a mixture of the Scoreless Outing Percentage (Earned Runs only), Inherited Runners Scored Percentage (IS%), and ERA-minus. ScOtg% is 75% of the score, IS% is 15%, and ERA-minus is 10%.

Back to the rankings.

Also See:

Week 15/All-Star Break Rankings, Week 14 Rankings, Week 13 Rankings, Week 12 Rankings, Week 11 Rankings

More General Baseball Articles

More Major League Baseball Articles

More MLB Articles

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