Sunday night, the Giants' bullpen gave up solo home runs in the seventh, the eighth, and finally the ninth innings. Which certainly was a strange thing. You probably saw it. Should anyone be concerned? From the St. Louis paper:
"They all did such a great job,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “They are the reason we’re in this situation, and you give (the Cardinals) credit. They threw out some good at-bats and we made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage of them.
“But they have always done such a great job for us and we have all the confidence in all these guys that we put in tonight. And I didn’t get away with any mistakes.”
--snip--
“We used our bullpen pretty much how we wanted,” Bochy said. “Machi, we wouldn’t be here without him. He’s had a great year for us. He made a mistake. Strickland, since he’s come up, he’s done a good job, he made a mistake. And of course, Romo.”
Just want to get a couple of things out there, beginning with this ... Much of the difference between bullpens we think we see? It's not really there.
The ERA spread between National League bullpens this season was substantial, from No. 1 San Diego (2.73) to No. 15 Colorado (4.79). Even if you want to throw out those those extremes because of the ballparks, you've still got the No. 2 Nationals (3.00) and No. 14 Reds (4.11) separated by more than a full run.
But funny things can happen over the course of 500 innings. The spread between xFIPs -- which again is stripping out the defenses and the luck -- is relatively tiny, just more than half a run between the No. 1 Brewers (3.33) and No. 15 Rockies (3.86). And the Giants? They finished last in the league strikeout rate, and their 3.61 xFIP is right in the middle of the pack.
Granted, the Giants' numbers include David Huff's 20 innings (6.30 ERA). But the bullpen was remarkably stable; for the most part, the relievers we're seeing now are the same relievers who made the numbers what they are. And there's not a truly impressive performer in the lot. Rather, they've got six or seven solid guys, and Bochy knows how to mix them and match them.
Which doesn't mean the bullpen's the reason the Giants are "in this situation."
As for Hunter Strickland, I think we might have been overrating him a little, just because he's eight feet tall and throws a million. I realize he's not going to keep giving up a home run every time he pitches. But you know, he's 25 and hadn't even pitched in Triple-A before the Giants called him up, and there's probably a reason or two for that.
Your Privacy Choices | Closed Captioning 
