{"id":8345,"date":"2023-10-03T12:36:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T19:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=8345"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:07:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:07:33","slug":"reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-playoff-team-rankings-20231001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2023\/10\/03\/reliever-roundup-bullpen-bonanza-playoff-team-rankings-20231001\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Playoff Team Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliever Roundup and Bullpen Bonanza \u2014 Playoff Team Rankings (Current Form)<\/h2>\n

Welcome to the playoffs! Here are the team bullpen\/reliever\/relief corps rankings for the playoff teams, based on recent form. For this edition, we\u2019ve used stats from September 1 onward.<\/p>\n

Statistics are for September and October only <\/strong>and, excluding position pitchers, include every player to throw a pitch in relief for said team.<\/p>\n

For relevance, we are only discussing teams that are in the playoffs. We ran rankings and stats for everyone, but we\u2019re only writing about the playoff teams.<\/p>\n

Brief Rankings Explanation<\/h4>\n

Rankings are split into the following categories. These categories encompass what a relief pitcher\u2019s jobs are<\/a> and are weighted according to importance. We don\u2019t want to get bogged down, so we\u2019ll keep it brief. (Author\u2019s Note: For full details, leave a comment and I\u2019ll be glad to get back to you.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Clutch<\/strong> (45% of score) \u2014 How well they perform in late innings either while the game is tied or while holding a narrow lead.<\/p>\n

Run Prevention<\/strong> (35%) \u2014 How well they keep runs off the board, including inherited runners.<\/p>\n

Baserunner Prevention<\/strong> (13%) \u2014 Who has the lowest WHIP and lowest home run percentage (HR%). WHIP is 85% of the Baserunner Prevention score, and HR% is 15%.<\/p>\n

Command<\/strong> (7%) \u2014 Who has the best strikeout percentage minus walk percentage (K\u2013BB%).<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 either positive or negative \u2014 the farther they are from the league average.<\/p>\n

(Note: Due to weighting each score, adding the four categories together won\u2019t equal the total score.)<\/em><\/p>\n

For a full breakdown of each category\u2019s score formula, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Overall leaderboards, Sep 1 to Oct 1. AL (red) on the left; NL (blue) on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Playoff Team Reliever and Bullpen Rankings<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Miami Marlins<\/strong><\/a> (72.2, Second Overall, First in NL)
    \n<\/strong>163.1 Clutch, -0.4 Run Prevention, -11.2 Baserunners, 5.8 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Los Angeles Dodgers<\/strong><\/a> (40.2, Fourth Overall, Second in NL)
      \n<\/strong>52.8 Clutch, 24.6 Run Prevention, 26.1 Baserunners, 63.1 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Minnesota Twins<\/strong><\/a> (26.0, Sixth Overall, Third in AL)
        \n<\/strong>30.0 Clutch, 21.2 Run Prevention, 7.1 Baserunners, 59.4 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong><\/a> (22.2, Seventh Overall, Fourth in NL)
          \n<\/strong>30.4 Clutch, 16.2 Run Prevention, 19.7 Baserunners, 4.0 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Tampa Bay Rays<\/strong><\/a> (17.8, Eighth Overall, Fourth in AL)
            \n<\/strong>12.7 Clutch, 12.7 Run Prevention, 16.4 Baserunners, 78.8 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. Milwaukee Brewers<\/strong><\/a> (10.9, 10th Overall, Sixth in NL)
              \n<\/strong>7.5 Clutch, 16.0 Run Prevention, 15.2 Baserunners, -1.1 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Philadelphia Phillies<\/strong><\/a> (8.5, 11th Overall, Seventh in NL)
                \n<\/strong>-1.6 Clutch, 16.3 Run Prevention, 10.2 Baserunners, 31.1 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. Houston Astros<\/strong><\/a> (6.5, 12th Overall, Fifth in AL)
                  \n<\/strong>-1.0 Clutch, 13.3 Run Prevention, 11.2 Baserunners, 12.2 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. Toronto Blue Jays<\/strong><\/a> (-2.6, 16th Overall, Seventh in AL)
                    \n<\/strong>-6.3 Clutch, -0.7 Run Prevention, -4.5 Baserunners, 15.4 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                      \n
                    1. Texas Rangers<\/strong><\/a> (-6.2, 19th Overall, 10th in AL)
                      \n<\/strong>-10.0 Clutch, -4.1 Run Prevention, -7.8 Baserunners, 10.3 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                        \n
                      1. Baltimore Orioles<\/strong><\/a> (-18.3, 25th Overall, 12th in AL)
                        \n<\/strong>-53.2 Clutch, 11.2 Run Prevention, 14.2 Baserunners, -1.3 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                          \n
                        1. Atlanta Braves<\/strong><\/a> (-19.7, 27th Overall, 15th in NL)
                          \n<\/strong>-31.5 Clutch, -9.9 Run Prevention, -18.4 Baserunners, 4.6 Command<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                          Full Score Explanation<\/h3>\n

                          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<\/a>. Otherwise, here\u2019s the elevator speech.<\/p>\n

                          A Goose Egg is like a save, except more restrictive. Here are the main points…<\/p>\n