Pen in the 2nd Half

nsacpi

nsacpi

Expects Yuge Games
Measured by FIP or WAR, our pen has been the second best (to the Padres!) in the NL in the second half.

Those guys have been doing great work. And I don't get the impression most of the posters around here realize how good.
 
Since the deadline they have the 2nd best FIP in all of MLB (Astros), and 2nd most WAR (Rays due to a huge 154 to 93 IP advantage).

I was one who criticized AA for not making good enough additions to the BP, but he seems to have cobbled together a pretty solid unit. I wouldn't expect them to spend heavily on the BP this off season.
 
It doesn't have any big names, but I think it could be a plus in the off-season when teams go to the pen more quickly and more aggressively seek out the platoon advantage.
 
The only thing they lack in the pen is a guy who can really take the bat out of opposing hitters' hands. Probably just a quibble on my part, but the only guy I'd consider a true power pitcher out there at the moment is Sobotka. Minter is a borderline power pitcher in my view, but he has a killer cutter. Hopefully, Vizcaino can come back and help out. He could give us a pretty decent closer-by-committee framework.
 
There have been 694 pitchers in MLB this year who have thrown at least 1 FA.

Minter's average FA velocity of 96.6 ranks him #40 on the list...the Top 5%.

Restricted to LHP, he ranks #6 in MLB this year of all 170 guys that have thrown a FA...the Top 3%.

That easily meets my definition of a "power pitcher".
 
Enscheff said:
There have been 694 pitchers in MLB this year who have thrown at least 1 FA.

Minter's average FA velocity of 96.6 ranks him #40 on the list...the Top 5%.

Restricted to LHP, he ranks #6 in MLB this year of all 170 guys that have thrown a FA...the Top 3%.

That easily meets my definition of a "power pitcher".
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Thanks for the data. I confess my initial assessment was in error.
 
Enscheff said:
Since the deadline they have the 2nd best FIP in all of MLB (Astros), and 2nd most WAR (Rays due to a huge 154 to 93 IP advantage).

I was one who criticized AA for not making good enough additions to the BP, but he seems to have cobbled together a pretty solid unit. I wouldn't expect them to spend heavily on the BP this off season.
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Right now Atlanta has.

Venters, Minter, Biddle from left side.
Viz, Winkler, Sobotka, O'Day from right side, and other options like Carle, etc. Could bring back a guy like Brach on a 2-yr deal or so. I thought Atlanta would make a run at Kimbrel but i dont see that happening anymore. Very interested what AA does with the money this winter in free agency.
 
Heyward said:
Right now Atlanta has.

Venters, Minter, Biddle from left side.
Viz, Winkler, Sobotka, O'Day from right side, and other options like Carle, etc. Could bring back a guy like Brach on a 2-yr deal or so. I thought Atlanta would make a run at Kimbrel but i dont see that happening anymore. Very interested what AA does with the money this winter in free agency.
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I think the pen is going to be a fairly low priority this off-season. It is nicely set up for next year. Btw you forgot about Freeman.
 
Heyward said:
Right now Atlanta has.

Venters, Minter, Biddle from left side.
Viz, Winkler, Sobotka, O'Day from right side, and other options like Carle, etc. Could bring back a guy like Brach on a 2-yr deal or so. I thought Atlanta would make a run at Kimbrel but i dont see that happening anymore. Very interested what AA does with the money this winter in free agency.
Click to expand...

The Braves don't have as much money as folks like to think.

If we acknowledge they had an opening day payroll of $110M, added $7M in deadline acquisitions, and couldn't afford to add Murphy's $4M, the highest 2018 payroll the Braves could afford with a projected attendance of 2.5 million is $120M.

It's probably safe to assume they will be projecting ~2.5 million in attendance for 2019, which will lead to an opening day payroll of $120M or less.

The Braves currently sit at ~$75M for 2019 without non-tendering anyone. Trading Teheran's contract will be hard, and no other non-tendder candidates will save more than a couple million (like Brothers' $2M).

We can probably expect the Braves will have ~$45M to get 2 catchers, a cOF, and possibly some help at 3B.

At least one of those position players has to be an impact player and will use up the majority of the available payroll. There simply won't be much cash available to pay market rates on BP arms, and it doesn't matter because teams have shown they can grab those guys at the deadline for reasonable packages.
 
Enscheff said:
The Braves don't have as much money as folks like to think.

If we acknowledge they had an opening day payroll of $110M, added $7M in deadline acquisitions, and couldn't afford to add Murphy's $4M, the highest 2018 payroll the Braves could afford with a projected attendance of 2.5 million is $120M.

It's probably safe to assume they will be projecting ~2.5 million in attendance for 2019, which will lead to an opening day payroll of $120M or less.

The Braves currently sit at ~$75M for 2019 without non-tendering anyone. Trading Teheran's contract will be hard, and no other non-tendder candidates will save more than a couple million (like Brothers' $2M).

We can probably expect the Braves will have ~$45M to get 2 catchers, a cOF, and possibly some help at 3B.

At least one of those position players has to be an impact player and will use up the majority of the available payroll. There simply won't be much cash available to pay market rates on BP arms, and it doesn't matter because teams have shown they can grab those guys at the deadline for reasonable packages.
Click to expand...

I dont think we have as much as some think, nor do i think we have a shot at Harper or Machado. But more so how wisely AA uses the money. I could see us more active in the trade market more than FA.

Signing some of the young guys or trying to, to extensions would be smart as well.
 
nsacpi said:
I think the pen is going to be a fairly low priority this off-season. It is nicely set up for next year. Btw you forgot about Freeman.
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I didnt forget Freeman, hopefully hes non-tendered.
 
Trading Teheran would be nice, if he can finish strong. I think the Braves’ payroll is tight enough that it’s a worthwhile move, no matter the depth he provides.
 
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