Highest WHIP, 45+ saves
Posted by Andy on August 25, 2008
While nobody can deny that Francisco Rodriguez is having a great season, it's interesting to note that he's never been as dominant, at least in terms of WHIP, as the typical closer who racks up 45 or more saves.
Here's the complete list of 46 pitchers to reach 45 saves in a season (which already includes K-Rod this year, but nobody else from 2008 since nobody else has more than 35 saves at the moment.) Currently, Rodriguez has the 6th-worst WHIP for such a season, and his two previous 45-save seaons (2004 and 2005) come in at #13 and #17. Dennis Eckersely in 1990 (0.61 ERA AND 0.61 WHIP...wow!) he's not.
Cnt Player **WHIP** SV Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Antonio Alfonseca 1.514 45 2000 28 FLA NL 68 0 0 0 62 5 6 .455 70 82 35 33 24 47 4.24 104 7 311 282 13 2 3 1 3 1 10 2 0 0 2 0 .291 .347 .426 .773 105 1074 731 2 Joe Borowski 1.431 45 2007 36 CLE AL 69 0 0 0 58 4 5 .444 65.2 77 39 37 17 58 5.07 91 9 292 266 12 0 4 2 3 4 1 9 2 1 0 2 .289 .332 .436 .768 98 1179 761 3 Jose Mesa 1.374 45 2002 36 PHI NL 74 0 0 0 64 4 6 .400 75.2 65 26 25 39 64 2.97 130 5 331 281 15 0 7 4 6 1 6 2 0 0 0 9 .231 .332 .338 .670 86 1265 789 4 Rod Beck 1.320 51 1998 29 CHC NL 81 0 0 0 70 3 4 .429 80.1 86 33 27 20 81 3.02 144 11 349 320 14 3 4 2 2 5 3 8 1 0 0 2 .269 .311 .434 .745 97 5 Francisco Cordero 1.284 49 2004 29 TEX AL 67 0 0 0 63 3 4 .429 71.2 60 19 17 32 79 2.13 237 1 304 265 12 0 2 1 5 1 4 5 2 2 2 3 .226 .311 .283 .594 51 1285 827 6 Francisco Rodrigu 1.270 49 2008 26 LAA AL 60 0 0 0 54 2 2 .500 54.1 40 18 16 29 60 2.65 162 4 228 198 12 0 4 0 1 0 3 6 0 0 0 6 .202 .304 .323 .627 67 942 556 7 Bob Wickman 1.258 45 2005 36 CLE AL 64 0 0 0 55 0 4 .000 62 57 17 17 21 41 2.47 170 9 257 231 8 0 3 1 2 2 11 11 0 0 1 0 .247 .310 .398 .708 90 933 582 8 Mike Williams 1.223 46 2002 32 PIT NL 59 0 0 0 59 2 6 .250 61.1 54 24 20 21 43 2.93 144 6 258 232 8 1 3 1 4 0 3 6 0 0 0 2 .233 .299 .353 .652 74 975 601 9 Randy Myers 1.208 53 1993 30 CHC NL 73 0 0 0 69 2 4 .333 75.1 65 26 26 26 86 3.11 128 7 313 283 15 1 2 1 1 2 8 1 1 0 0 3 .230 .295 .364 .659 83 10 Randy Myers 1.156 45 1997 34 BAL AL 61 0 0 0 57 2 3 .400 59.2 47 12 10 22 56 1.51 291 2 241 217 7 1 2 0 2 0 6 0 1 2 0 3 .217 .289 .286 .575 53 11 Lee Smith 1.155 46 1993 35 TOT ML 63 0 0 0 56 2 4 .333 58 53 25 25 14 60 3.88 103 11 239 222 9 3 2 0 0 3 1 12 2 0 0 1 .239 .280 .455 .735 101 12 Dave Righetti 1.153 46 1986 27 NYY AL 74 0 0 0 68 8 8 .500 106.2 88 31 29 35 83 2.45 168 4 435 389 15 0 7 2 5 4 13 4 3 0 0 1 .226 .291 .296 .587 60 13 Francisco Rodrigu 1.144 45 2005 23 LAA AL 66 0 0 0 58 2 5 .286 67.1 45 20 20 32 91 2.67 158 7 279 245 7 2 3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 8 .184 .277 .314 .591 59 1107 677 14 Lee Smith 1.137 47 1991 33 STL NL 67 0 0 0 61 6 3 .667 73 70 19 19 13 67 2.34 157 5 300 281 8 3 5 0 5 1 3 10 2 0 0 1 .249 .281 .352 .633 82 15 Jose Valverde 1.119 47 2007 27 ARI NL 65 0 0 0 59 1 4 .200 64.1 46 21 19 26 78 2.66 177 7 265 235 8 1 1 3 0 1 5 4 2 0 0 1 .196 .283 .328 .611 58 1065 701 16 Jeff Shaw 1.106 48 1998 31 TOT NL 73 0 0 0 69 3 8 .273 85 75 22 20 19 55 2.12 198 8 339 312 8 0 5 1 5 2 10 7 0 1 0 0 .240 .284 .343 .627 69 17 Francisco Rodrigu 1.096 47 2006 24 LAA AL 69 0 0 0 58 2 3 .400 73 52 16 14 28 98 1.73 264 6 296 264 18 0 5 1 3 0 4 2 1 1 0 10 .197 .276 .333 .609 57 1209 769 18 Mariano Rivera 1.081 53 2004 34 NYY AL 74 0 0 0 69 4 2 .667 78.2 65 17 17 20 66 1.94 231 3 316 289 7 0 3 5 2 0 11 5 1 0 0 0 .225 .287 .280 .567 50 1141 781 19 Bruce Sutter 1.076 45 1984 31 STL NL 71 0 0 0 63 5 7 .417 122.2 109 26 21 23 77 1.54 229 9 477 445 15 1 4 1 4 4 18 9 3 0 0 2 .245 .281 .344 .625 82 20 Eddie Guardado 1.049 45 2002 31 MIN AL 68 0 0 0 62 1 3 .250 67.2 53 22 22 18 70 2.93 153 9 270 247 11 0 2 1 2 2 3 4 2 2 0 0 .215 .269 .368 .637 67 1052 735 21 Bobby Thigpen 1.038 57 1990 26 CHW AL 77 0 0 0 73 4 6 .400 88.2 60 20 18 32 70 1.83 210 5 347 307 8 2 3 1 4 3 12 3 0 0 0 2 .195 .271 .283 .554 56 22 Jason Isringhause 1.035 47 2004 31 STL NL 74 0 0 0 66 4 2 .667 75.1 55 27 24 23 71 2.87 149 5 308 276 16 1 4 2 6 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 .199 .265 .319 .584 53 1177 734 23 John Smoltz 1.033 55 2002 35 ATL NL 75 0 0 0 68 3 2 .600 80.1 59 30 29 24 85 3.25 128 4 314 287 12 2 1 0 2 1 9 2 1 0 1 1 .206 .266 .303 .569 52 1169 793 24 Duane Ward 1.033 45 1993 29 TOR AL 71 0 0 0 70 2 3 .400 71.2 49 17 17 25 97 2.13 203 4 282 254 6 0 2 1 0 2 7 3 0 0 0 7 .193 .266 .264 .530 43 25 Jose Mesa 1.031 46 1995 29 CLE AL 62 0 0 0 57 3 0 1.000 64 49 9 8 17 58 1.12 415 3 250 227 4 0 2 0 4 2 8 3 1 0 0 5 .216 .268 .273 .541 40 +----+-----------------+---------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ Cnt Player **WHIP** SV Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 26 Robb Nen 1.030 45 2001 31 SFG NL 79 0 0 0 71 4 5 .444 77.2 58 28 26 22 93 3.01 133 6 312 286 8 2 6 1 0 3 3 17 1 0 0 2 .203 .260 .308 .568 55 1173 801 27 Tom Gordon 1.008 46 1998 30 BOS AL 73 0 0 0 69 7 4 .636 79.1 55 24 24 25 78 2.72 173 2 317 288 8 1 1 0 2 2 4 7 0 0 0 9 .191 .254 .247 .501 30 28 Jeff Montgomery 1.008 45 1993 31 KCR AL 69 0 0 0 63 7 5 .583 87.1 65 22 22 23 66 2.27 203 3 347 316 14 2 4 2 5 1 3 7 1 0 0 3 .206 .263 .291 .554 45 29 Chad Cordero 0.969 47 2005 23 WSN NL 74 0 0 0 62 2 4 .333 74.1 55 24 15 17 61 1.82 224 9 300 278 3 0 2 2 2 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 .198 .248 .306 .554 52 1206 805 30 Trevor Hoffman 0.968 46 2006 38 SDP NL 65 0 0 0 50 0 2 .000 63 48 16 15 13 50 2.14 189 6 248 234 8 0 1 1 0 0 5 2 0 0 0 2 .205 .250 .316 .566 55 922 629 31 Dan Quisenberry 0.928 45 1983 30 KCR AL 69 0 0 0 62 5 3 .625 139 118 35 30 11 48 1.94 210 6 536 515 18 4 2 0 6 4 19 3 1 1 0 0 .229 .243 .315 .558 52 32 Dennis Eckersley 0.913 51 1992 37 OAK AL 69 0 0 0 65 7 1 .875 80 62 17 17 11 93 1.91 196 5 309 294 11 1 6 1 3 0 3 9 1 0 0 0 .211 .242 .306 .548 57 33 Eric Gagne 0.911 45 2004 28 LAD NL 70 0 0 0 59 7 3 .700 82.1 53 24 20 22 114 2.19 187 5 326 293 9 0 3 5 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 .181 .248 .263 .511 39 1264 867 34 Mariano Rivera 0.905 50 2001 31 NYY AL 71 0 0 0 66 4 6 .400 80.2 61 24 21 12 83 2.34 191 5 310 292 4 0 2 1 4 1 5 3 3 0 0 1 .209 .242 .274 .516 34 1160 836 35 Kazuhiro Sasaki 0.885 45 2001 33 SEA AL 69 0 0 0 63 0 4 .000 66.2 48 24 24 11 62 3.24 129 6 261 246 16 1 2 4 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 4 .195 .241 .341 .582 56 987 669 36 Mariano Rivera 0.884 45 1999 29 NYY AL 66 0 0 0 63 4 3 .571 69 43 15 14 18 52 1.83 259 2 268 245 7 1 3 3 0 2 5 4 0 0 1 2 .176 .239 .237 .476 24 37 Rod Beck 0.882 48 1993 24 SFG NL 76 0 0 0 71 3 1 .750 79.1 57 20 19 13 86 2.16 180 11 309 284 5 0 4 3 6 3 3 1 0 0 0 4 .201 .241 .335 .576 58 38 John Smoltz 0.870 45 2003 36 ATL NL 62 0 0 0 55 0 2 .000 64.1 48 9 8 8 73 1.12 383 2 244 235 12 0 1 0 0 1 6 1 1 0 0 2 .204 .230 .281 .511 36 893 648 39 Dennis Eckersley 0.867 45 1988 33 OAK AL 60 0 0 0 53 4 2 .667 72.2 52 20 19 11 70 2.35 162 5 279 263 4 0 2 1 1 3 3 3 1 0 2 0 .198 .230 .270 .500 42 40 Bryan Harvey 0.864 46 1991 28 CAL AL 67 0 0 0 63 2 4 .333 78.2 51 20 14 17 101 1.60 256 6 309 286 7 0 3 1 3 2 3 12 0 0 2 2 .178 .225 .266 .491 36 41 Eric Gagne 0.862 52 2002 26 LAD NL 77 0 0 0 68 4 1 .800 82.1 55 18 18 16 114 1.97 192 6 314 291 11 2 4 2 3 2 4 2 3 0 0 1 .189 .235 .302 .537 49 1235 864 42 Trevor Hoffman 0.849 53 1998 30 SDP NL 66 0 0 0 61 4 2 .667 73 41 12 12 21 86 1.48 263 2 274 249 6 2 2 1 3 0 7 7 0 0 0 8 .165 .232 .229 .461 30 43 Bryan Harvey 0.841 45 1993 30 FLA NL 59 0 0 0 54 1 5 .167 69 45 14 13 13 73 1.70 253 4 264 242 1 0 2 0 3 6 3 15 0 0 1 0 .186 .222 .240 .462 25 44 Armando Benitez 0.818 47 2004 31 FLA NL 64 0 0 0 59 2 2 .500 69.2 36 11 10 21 62 1.29 317 6 262 237 7 0 4 0 3 1 3 9 0 0 0 0 .152 .220 .257 .477 29 1032 696 45 Eric Gagne 0.692 55 2003 27 LAD NL 77 0 0 0 67 2 3 .400 82.1 37 12 11 20 137 1.20 335 2 306 279 6 0 2 3 4 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 .133 .199 .176 .375 4 1187 824 46 Dennis Eckersley 0.614 48 1990 35 OAK AL 63 0 0 0 61 4 2 .667 73.1 41 9 5 4 73 0.61 606 2 262 257 9 1 1 0 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 .160 .172 .226 .398 13
August 25th, 2008 at 9:56 am
His so-so WHIP is largely the result of Walks, he has allowed more BB/9 than anyone else on this list. His OBA is about the median of this elite group.
I don't have time to cont everyone's blown saves, but he has only appeared in 11 games where he has NOT gotten a save. The next lowest total on the list is 13. Granted I am comaprig his season-to-date with complete seasons, but stillhe should finish with one of the lowest totals.
By and large, the walks haven't come back to bite him in the a$$ like one would expect.
--Yet
August 25th, 2008 at 11:05 am
One player with only 13 non-save games was Mike Williams in 2002. He alone on the list finished every game he entered - 46 saves, 2 wins, 6 losses out of 59 appearances. In the 5 games he didn't get a W, L or S,
he came in with a 4-run lead 3 times and Pittsburgh was way behind in the other two. In those two games the Pirates had 5 game losing streaks going in, so I guess he just needed the work.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
And the man that K-Rod is chasing, Mr. Thigpen is in the middle of the pack.
If I remember correctly, Thigpen blew 8 or 9 save opportunities, which worked out to a rather modest save rate. I wish BBref would add blown save data so we could compare closers in that regard too. No matter how many saves K-Rod ends up with this season, his overall performance will probably not be regarded as one of the more dominating seasons by a closer by most objective measures.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Thigpen blew 8 saves. He was 3-4 in those games and the Sox were 4-4. Did you know Blwon Saves are in the B-R Game Log so you can retrieve that data manually. I too wish it was tabulated as a regular stat. K-Rod has 5 BS to this point, 1 of them he vultured a W out of, and 2 he lost. The rest went into extras where the Angels were 1-1.
One big difference is that the Sox were 65-12 in the games Thigpen pitched in. The Angels are 50-5. The difference might be attribitab;e to the Angels being in so many close games, Sciosia doesnt see a need to throw a garbage time IP at K-Rod to keep him sharp.
August 25th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
As an Angel fan, I'm worried by the numbers that the top five guys on this list put up the year after their 45+ season. Outside of Cordero, they all lost significant production, most notably Beck and Borowski, whose following seasons could only be described as pathetic. (Even Cordero experienced a somewhat of a drop-off.)
Just one more reason the Angels absolutely cannot afford to re-sign Francisco after this season, literally and figuratively.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I was a little surprised that Roberto Hernandez wasn't near the top of this list, but checking his stats showed that he topped out at 43 saves (in '99). He would have been third on this list for WHIP, with 1.377 that season, if he'd made it.