Not that Clemens, Koufax and the Johnsons would need much relief, but starting from the right side, who's that down in the bullpen?
| Dennis Eckersley |  16 (13.01%) |
| Rollie Fingers | 4 (3.25%) |
| Rich Gossage | 5 (4.07%) |
| Trevor Hoffman | 3 (2.44%) |
| Dan Quisenberry | 1 (0.81%) |
| Mariano Rivera | 80 (65.04%) |
| Lee Smith | 1 (0.81%) |
| Bruce Sutter | 1 (0.81%) |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 6 (4.88%) |
| Other (who?) | 6 (4.88%) |
123 votes | 5 featured comments
Wouldn't it be nice if Mariano Rivera received a little more credit for the Yankees success of the last 12 years? Cue summer harmonies...
I hated to vote for a Yankee but Rivera has been just amazing. For sake of comparison...
Seasons above 200 ERA+
Eckersley - 2 (plus a 196, peak of 606)
Fingers - 1 (plus a 196 his second last season)
Gossage - 3 (465 peak)
Hoffman - 2 (plus two 197's)
Quisenberry - 2
Smith - 1
Sutter - 2 (peak of 327)
Wilhelm - 1 (plus 3 190's)
Rivera - 4 - oops, that is how many times he _hasn't_ had an ERA+ of 200 or more, he has actually done it 8 times and only once (his rookie season with 10 starts) has he had an ERA+ below 160 (!)
So, the other 9 combined have 14 seasons of 200+ while Rivera has 8 seasons of it.
Ex-Jays - Henke had 2 of them (plus a 338 over just 15 IP as a rookie), Ward had 2 then blew his arm out, Koch peaked at 189, Ryan just had his second (343), Timlin had one in 1995, Randy Myers had one just before coming to Toronto as a free agent. No other Jays with 30 or more saves had a 200 ERA+ season, although Victor Cruz had 2 of them (both between 25 and 50 IP, his first and his last season - go figure). Mark Eichhorn had 3 of them.
Seasons above 200 ERA+
Eckersley - 2 (plus a 196, peak of 606)
Fingers - 1 (plus a 196 his second last season)
Gossage - 3 (465 peak)
Hoffman - 2 (plus two 197's)
Quisenberry - 2
Smith - 1
Sutter - 2 (peak of 327)
Wilhelm - 1 (plus 3 190's)
Rivera - 4 - oops, that is how many times he _hasn't_ had an ERA+ of 200 or more, he has actually done it 8 times and only once (his rookie season with 10 starts) has he had an ERA+ below 160 (!)
So, the other 9 combined have 14 seasons of 200+ while Rivera has 8 seasons of it.
Ex-Jays - Henke had 2 of them (plus a 338 over just 15 IP as a rookie), Ward had 2 then blew his arm out, Koch peaked at 189, Ryan just had his second (343), Timlin had one in 1995, Randy Myers had one just before coming to Toronto as a free agent. No other Jays with 30 or more saves had a 200 ERA+ season, although Victor Cruz had 2 of them (both between 25 and 50 IP, his first and his last season - go figure). Mark Eichhorn had 3 of them.
Wow, B.J. pitched to the tune of a 343 ERA+( ! ) That's pretty amazing, as Rivera's highest total, which was in 2005 in what I thought should be remembered as one of the most dominant seasons ever for a reliever, especially given that he started off pretty rocky, was a measly 323.
I realize that B.J. was cruising along last year but it got easy to expect good things from him. Now with a better perspective, I see he really, truly, kicked some ass.
Haven't even heard much said about how important he will be to the Jays this season, as I believe much of the media has taken him for granted as well. Really, what other player on the team -- not named B.J. -- could you not ask anything more from this season? It's unthinkable to ask him to improve in any area. Other guys, you might want them to work on fixing a habit or two, developing some other part of their game, show more focus throughout the season, better conditioning, preparation .
B.J. only needs to stay at the top of his game. If he comes close to replicating last season, he really needs to get more love from the fans. Hard to spread it around to so many players (how nice it is to say that again) but he is all that you could ask for from a player in the closer role. That being said, which guys does he need to battle to win the next round? Franco? Myers? Plesac? Wagner? Guardado? Lyle?
I realize that B.J. was cruising along last year but it got easy to expect good things from him. Now with a better perspective, I see he really, truly, kicked some ass.
Haven't even heard much said about how important he will be to the Jays this season, as I believe much of the media has taken him for granted as well. Really, what other player on the team -- not named B.J. -- could you not ask anything more from this season? It's unthinkable to ask him to improve in any area. Other guys, you might want them to work on fixing a habit or two, developing some other part of their game, show more focus throughout the season, better conditioning, preparation .
B.J. only needs to stay at the top of his game. If he comes close to replicating last season, he really needs to get more love from the fans. Hard to spread it around to so many players (how nice it is to say that again) but he is all that you could ask for from a player in the closer role. That being said, which guys does he need to battle to win the next round? Franco? Myers? Plesac? Wagner? Guardado? Lyle?
Token vote for Henke. He was as good as any on the list, but never got the recognition.
That being said, which guys does he need to battle to win the next round? Franco? Myers? Plesac? Wagner? Guardado? Lyle?
Most of those guys. But Ryan does not yet belong on the list of all-time greatest LHRP, does he? We'll see.