Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza — Week 19 (Aug 14 to Aug 20) Team Rankings, 1–30 (Midweek Update)

• August 19, 2023

Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza — 8/14–8/20 Team Rankings (Midweek Update)

We are finishing up the 19th week of the season. The leader in the team bullpen/reliever/relief corps rankings has remained the same, but there have been changes throughout the rest of the board. Since this is a midweek update, we will have barebones numbers only. Statistics are through the end of play Thursday, August 17 and only include each reliever’s stats with his current team.

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.

Brief Rankings Explanation

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 19 (Aug 14 to Aug 20) Midweek Team Reliever and Bullpen Rankings

 The Elite

1. Milwaukee Brewers (36.2, First in NL), No Change from Week 18

68.8 Clutch, 8.4 Run Prevention, 10.1 Baserunners, 13.6 Command

Better Take an Early Lead…

2. Detroit Tigers (19.2, First in AL), ▲ +4 from Week 18

39.4 Clutch, 2.4 Run Prevention, 7.0 Baserunners, -4.6 Command

3. Baltimore Orioles (16.4, Second in AL), No Change from Week 18

34.0 Clutch, 1.1 Run Prevention, 3.8 Baserunners, 3.8 Command

The Very Good

4. San Francisco Giants (14.7, Second in NL), ▼ -2 from Week 18

33.3 Clutch, -4.1 Run Prevention, 5.5 Baserunners, 6.5 Command

5. Pittsburgh Pirates (12.6, Third in NL), ▲ +9 from Week 18

28.2 Clutch, -3.5 Run Prevention, -0.6 Baserunners, 17.9 Command

6. Toronto Blue Jays (12.1, Third in AL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

12.8 Clutch, 12.2 Run Prevention, 5.3 Baserunners, 19.3 Command

7. New York Yankees (11.9, Fourth in AL), ▼ -3 from Week 18

23.8 Clutch, 1.3 Run Prevention, 5.1 Baserunners, 1.2 Command

8. Seattle Mariners (10.2, Fifth in AL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

10.7 Clutch, 7.9 Run Prevention, 7.2 Baserunners, 23.5 Command

Slightly above Average

9. Los Angeles Angels (8.1, Sixth in AL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

25.6 Clutch, -3.7 Run Prevention, -10.8 Baserunners, -10.7 Command

10. Boston Red Sox (5.2, Seventh in AL), ▲ +8 from Week 18

7.5 Clutch, 2.2 Run Prevention, 4.5 Baserunners, 7.5 Command

11. Atlanta Braves (4.8, Fourth in NL), ▲ +2 from Week 18

11.2 Clutch, -1.2 Run Prevention, -0.8 Baserunners, 3.2 Command

12. Los Angeles Dodgers (4.2, Fifth in NL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

2.2 Clutch, 7.9 Run Prevention, 4.0 Baserunners, -1.7 Command

13. Colorado Rockies (4.1, Sixth in NL), ▲ +7 from Week 18

20.9 Clutch, -4.5 Run Prevention, -7.4 Baserunners, -40.5 Command

The Average

14. Cleveland Guardians (2.4, Eighth in AL), ▼ -5 from Week 18

1.8 Clutch, 3.9 Run Prevention, 1.8 Baserunners, -0.4 Command

15. Houston Astros (1.9, Ninth in AL), ▲ +4 from Week 18

2.2 Clutch, 1.5 Run Prevention, -0.5 Baserunners, 5.9 Command

16. Tampa Bay Rays (1.7, 10th in AL), ▼ -4 from Week 18

4.0 Clutch, 2.2 Run Prevention, -3.0 Baserunners, -6.7 Command

17. Cincinnati Reds (1.0, Seventh in NL), ▼ -7 from Week 18

2.9 Clutch, 0.3 Run Prevention, -1.3 Baserunners, -3.3 Command

18. Miami Marlins (0.2, Eighth in NL), ▲ +4 from Week 18

-8.2 Clutch, 4.1 Run Prevention, 5.7 Baserunners, 23.6 Command

19. San Diego Padres (-0.3, Ninth in NL), ▼ -3 from Week 18

-3.8 Clutch, 2.9 Run Prevention, 4.0 Baserunners, -2.3 Command

The Below Average

20. Washington Nationals (-1.2, 10th in NL), ▼ -5 from Week 18

1.7 Clutch, -1.6 Run Prevention, -5.3 Baserunners, -10.6 Command

21. Texas Rangers (-1.6, 11th in AL), No Change from Week 18

-16.5 Clutch, 6.0 Run Prevention, 14.6 Baserunners, 25.5 Command

22. Chicago Cubs (-3.0, 12th in NL), ▲ +1 from Week 18

-9.7 Clutch, 3.0 Run Prevention, -0.3 Baserunners, 5.4 Command

23. Philadelphia Phillies (-4.6, 12th in NL), ▼ -6 from Week 18

-15.6 Clutch, 2.9 Run Prevention, 3.4 Baserunners, 14.1 Command

Lots of Work to Do

24. Minnesota Twins (-7.0, 12th in AL), No Change from Week 18

-13.6 Clutch, -3.9 Run Prevention, 0.9 Baserunners, 4.2 Command

25. Chicago White Sox (-9.4, 13th in AL), ▲ +2 from Week 18

-7.8 Clutch, -11.3 Run Prevention, -7.0 Baserunners, -15.6 Command

Stock Up on Tums

26. Arizona Diamondbacks (-11.1, 13th in NL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

-22.6 Clutch, -5.0 Run Prevention, -0.8 Baserunners, 13.3 Command

27. New York Mets (-17.2, 14th in NL), ▼ -1 from Week 18

-29.7 Clutch, -4.0 Run Prevention, -9.4 Baserunners, -18.2 Command

28. St Louis Cardinals (-18.6, 15th in NL), No Change from Week 18

-26.3 Clutch, -9.8 Run Prevention, -11.7 Baserunners, -25.7 Command

Pray for a Blowout Win

29. Oakland Athletics (-23.9, 14th in AL), No Change from Week 18

-23.0 Clutch, -22.8 Run Prevention, -22.4 Baserunners, -38.5 Command

30. Kansas City Royals (-39.1, 15th in AL), No Change from Week 18

-61.0 Clutch, -21.0 Run Prevention, -20.8 Baserunners, -22.7 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.

Click here for the full database of these stats.

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 18 Rankings, Week 16 Rankings, Week 15/All-Star Break Rankings, Week 14 Rankings, Week 13 Rankings, Week 12 Rankings, Week 11 Rankings

Main Photo:

Embed from Getty Images

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