SWIP III: Relief Pitchers

March 22nd, 2011 | by Ray Flowers |

Photo by Jon Konrath

By now you know the drill with SWIP, right? I mean you have been coming to the site everyday to read my work haven’t you? Well, in case you haven’t been studious and are wondering what SWIP actually is, you can cick on the like to SWIP- Measuring a Pitcher’s Dominance.

Here is the simple equation that we will use to calculate SWIP.

SWIP = (K – BB) / IP

The 2010 ML average for SWIP was 0.43.

PART II of SWIP discussed starting pitchers.

Today I’ll break down the men who toss pitches out of the bullpen.

SWIP-2010-BBGuys-40-90

.90 and Up: An excellent season. Hall of Fame level.
.70 to .89:  An all-star performance. Worthy of Cy Young consideration.
.50 to .69:  Borderline all-star. A guy you’d like to have on your staff.
.35 to .50:  Nothing more than the 3rd or 4th starter with his club.
.20 to .34:  His major league days could be numbered.
Below .20: Minor leaguer in training.

1.30 – Rafael Betancourt
I’ve already expounded on the greatness that is Betancourt in in his 2011 Player Profile.

1.18 – Billy Wagner
If only he hadn’t retired.

1.14 – Koji Uehara
His competition for saves in Baltimore, Kevin Gregg, was way down the list at 0.47, just slightly above league average. The key for Koji is can he stay healthy?

1.11 – Carlos Marmol
When you strike out an all-time record 15.99 per nine innings (see: The Strikeout – Relievers), even if you walk nearly everyone else you’re still going to be a SWIP dominator.

1.06 – Joel Hanrahan, Joaquin Benoit
Hanrahan was named the closer for the Pirates over Evan Meek. It was the right call. Benoit was amazing last year leading all pitchers who threw 60-innings with a 0.68 WHIP.

1.01 – Matt Thornton
He should have been the White Sox closer last year. The last three years, amongst pitchers who have thrown at least 200 innings, Thornton 1st in base runners per nine, 5th  in ERA, 2nd in H/9 and 3rd in K/9 in  baseball

0.96 – Takashi Saito, Ryan Madson
Both of these setup men had a better SWIP than the men who take the ball in the 9th inning after them – Jonathan Axford (0.84) Brad Lidge (0.61).

0.90 – Brian Wilson, Sergei Romo
If Wilson does indeed miss some time with his strained oblique the Giants may not miss him too much if Romo’s slider is breaking.

0.82 – Matt Belisle, Bobby Jenks
Last year Belisle came out of nowhere for a guy who owns a 0.49 SWIP mark for his career. As for Jenks, despite “struggling” last year according to many people he still posted a better SWIP than Jonathan Papelbon (0.72) and Daniel Bard (0.62).

0.78 – Tyler Clippard
He’s struggled in camp this year, though so has Drew Storen. Perhaps Clippard will get some looks in the 9th this year for the Nats?

0.72 – Jonathan Broxton
Admittedly he struggled big time last year, but he still posted a better mark than Rafael Soriano (0.69) and the same mark as Huston Street and Papelbon.

0.57 – Mariano Rivera
The greatest closer in AL history is still money, but his declining K-rate will start to eat into his effectiveness.

0.52 – Chris Perez
You shouldn’t have a barley better than league average SWIP when your K/9 mark is 8.71.

0.49 – Jose Valverde
His 9.00 K/9 mark was a career worst and the fourth straight season of decline in that category.

0.37 – Brandon League
He’ll close for the Mariners with David Aardsma on the shelf. His SWIP mark is poor, but he offsets that with a dynamite ground ball rate (62.8 percent).

0.32 – Francisco Cordero
His 7.31 K/9 was more than a batter and a half below his career 9.09 mark.

0.29 – Brandon Lyon
Doesn’t get strikeouts, and really is a league average pitcher in many respects.

0.26 – Fernando Rodney
Angels know they have a lit fuse here (his BB/9 mark is 4.64 for his career). The question is – when will it burn out?

Photo by Jon Konrath

Tags: Fantasy University, Pitching, Relief Pitcher SWIP, RP SWIP, SWIP, SWIP 2011