I had a look at the Jays bullpen and how they stacked up against other teams in an earlier post. Let's see how things stand now.
First here's the standings:
Team | SD | MD | Ratio |
Phillies | 87 | 29 | 3.00 |
Braves | 131 | 44 | 2.98 |
Giants | 118 | 40 | 2.95 |
Red Sox | 87 | 33 | 2.64 |
Padres | 102 | 40 | 2.55 |
Indians | 86 | 37 | 2.32 |
Yankees | 84 | 37 | 2.27 |
Blue Jays @ #8 |
90 | 43 | 2.09 |
Pirates | 117 | 56 | 2.09 |
Reds | 94 | 45 | 2.09 |
Athletics | 83 | 41 | 2.02 |
Royals | 102 | 52 | 1.96 |
Angels | 88 | 45 | 1.96 |
Brewers | 94 | 49 | 1.92 |
Marlins | 100 | 53 | 1.89 |
Mets | 87 | 48 | 1.81 |
Diamondbacks | 85 | 47 | 1.81 |
White Sox | 73 | 41 | 1.78 |
Mariners | 54 | 32 | 1.69 |
Rockies | 89 | 53 | 1.68 |
Tigers | 70 | 42 | 1.67 |
Cubs | 79 | 49 | 1.61 |
Nationals | 90 | 56 | 1.61 |
Twins | 75 | 47 | 1.60 |
Dodgers | 66 | 46 | 1.43 |
Rangers | 61 | 43 | 1.42 |
Orioles | 66 | 49 | 1.35 |
Cardinals | 83 | 64 | 1.30 |
Rays | 58 | 48 | 1.21 |
Astros | 57 | 52 | 1.10 |
What's this?! The Jays have stayed in 8th place in ratio (and actually maintained the same ratio)? Given the rash of blown saves and poor bullpen performance, I would have expected them to drop down a few spots. But we should look perhaps at the individual relievers to see if there's something there.
The individual relievers (with those with no SD or MDs or now starting removed)
Name | SD | MD | Ratio |
Casey Janssen | 10 | 2 | 5.00 |
Jason Frasor | 14 | 3 | 4.67 |
Octavio Dotel | 8 | 2 | 4.00 |
Marc Rzepczynski | 10 | 6 | 1.67 |
Jon Rauch | 16 | 10 | 1.60 |
Frank Francisco | 11 | 7 | 1.57 |
Shawn Camp | 12 | 8 | 1.50 |
Luis Perez | 4 | 3 | 1.33 |
A ratio of 1.6 :1 is an average reliever and 1:1 is replacement level.
Notice how many of the top relievers are no longer with the team. It's not surprising then that the team has had problems closing out winnable games recently. They are missing most of their more reliable arms. It's also worth noting that when your 2nd best reliever is at average reliever level, you don't have a good bullpen.
In summary, the Jays bullpen actually became more reliable, but that improvement was fueled by arms that are no longer with the team. I expect them to drop as the season progresses.