Post by Fish Troll on Apr 30, 2007 22:00:03 GMT -5
Bullpen looks forward to proving itself
Relievers have allowed 38 runs over 74 innings thus far
By Matt Smith / MLB.com
OAKLAND -- The Oakland A's players and managers have a lot of confidence in their bullpen, and why not?
When you look down the third-base line at McAfee Coliseum you see guys like Huston Street, Alan Embree, Justin Duchscherer and Kiko Calero sitting on the bench and they are all guys who have an excellent track record.
Throw in other solid arms like Jay Witasick, Jay Marshall and Lenny DiNardo and you can see why A's manager Bob Geren would be happy turning to any of these guys at any time.
But baseball is one of those funny games, and as a reliever, if you have a bad couple of outings it can make your entire first month, or more, look bad. A bad month in turn can make the appearance of your statistics seem worse than they are.
"It's a long season," said Street, the A's closer. "You have a rough day early and the numbers won't reflect how good your stuff is. Don't let the numbers fool you about how good the guys are."
Street has an ERA of 2.77 through his first 13 outings and the A's bullpen as a whole has an ERA of 4.62 this year, allowing 38 earned runs in 74 innings. The bullpen has struck out 59 batters, averaging eight strikeouts per nine innings.
Calero, who came into this season with a career earned run average of 3.10, has seen his ERA shoot up to 8.00 after nine appearances this year and all it took was a couple of rough outings.
He made two mistake pitches, both against Seattle, and those pitches have been responsible for four of the eight earned runs he has allowed this season. Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez both hit two-run home runs off of him, Betancourt's in Seattle on April 3 and Lopez' in Oakland on April 26.
"Calero's stats are skewed by a couple of pitches," Geren said. "When you don't have a lot of innings, it makes your stats look bad. I like to judge it more on stuff and quality of pitches."
His ERA may look high, but Calero has not been scored upon in eight of his 12 appearances this season. He saw his ERA fall to 6.75 after a perfect 1 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
"I think when it's all said and done our bullpen will be a strength, without a doubt. I always thought it would be the strength of our team coming out of Spring Training."
"I think we're fine," Embree said. "It hasn't started the way we wanted it to, but everyone down there is capable of doing the job."
Embree entered Saturday's game with Tampa Bay with an ERA of 2.79, but all it took were two runs to make it jump it to 4.22.
"Being a reliever, it can ruin your whole month," Embree said of having a bad outing. "At the end of the season, if you're healthy and everything, your numbers will be where they should be. You just have to have confidence in your stuff."
"We have one of the best bullpens in the league in my opinion, National or American, especially if you look at the matchups we can create," Street said.
Side-arming lefties Marshall and DiNardo have shown the ability to be tough on left-handed hitters as has the hard-throwing Embree. DiNardo has been a pleasant surprise with a 1.93 ERA in the early going
"We have a lot of guys that can fill a lot of roles and we feel comfortable bringing them in the game at anytime," A's pitching coach Curt Young said. "When guys have experience in the bullpen, they all know what they mean to the team. When we have a chance to win games, we're going to turn to them."
Calero and Duchscherer, the former All-Star, are particularly tough on right-handed hitters while Street has shown the ability to close a game against anybody. The 23-year old Texan has 66 saves in just over two seasons to go with a 2.50 ERA.
"It's real tricky, you have to trust your stuff," Street said of being a reliever. "At the end of the season the numbers will show how good we are."
Matt Smith is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Relievers have allowed 38 runs over 74 innings thus far
By Matt Smith / MLB.com
OAKLAND -- The Oakland A's players and managers have a lot of confidence in their bullpen, and why not?
When you look down the third-base line at McAfee Coliseum you see guys like Huston Street, Alan Embree, Justin Duchscherer and Kiko Calero sitting on the bench and they are all guys who have an excellent track record.
Throw in other solid arms like Jay Witasick, Jay Marshall and Lenny DiNardo and you can see why A's manager Bob Geren would be happy turning to any of these guys at any time.
But baseball is one of those funny games, and as a reliever, if you have a bad couple of outings it can make your entire first month, or more, look bad. A bad month in turn can make the appearance of your statistics seem worse than they are.
"It's a long season," said Street, the A's closer. "You have a rough day early and the numbers won't reflect how good your stuff is. Don't let the numbers fool you about how good the guys are."
Street has an ERA of 2.77 through his first 13 outings and the A's bullpen as a whole has an ERA of 4.62 this year, allowing 38 earned runs in 74 innings. The bullpen has struck out 59 batters, averaging eight strikeouts per nine innings.
Calero, who came into this season with a career earned run average of 3.10, has seen his ERA shoot up to 8.00 after nine appearances this year and all it took was a couple of rough outings.
He made two mistake pitches, both against Seattle, and those pitches have been responsible for four of the eight earned runs he has allowed this season. Yuniesky Betancourt and Jose Lopez both hit two-run home runs off of him, Betancourt's in Seattle on April 3 and Lopez' in Oakland on April 26.
"Calero's stats are skewed by a couple of pitches," Geren said. "When you don't have a lot of innings, it makes your stats look bad. I like to judge it more on stuff and quality of pitches."
His ERA may look high, but Calero has not been scored upon in eight of his 12 appearances this season. He saw his ERA fall to 6.75 after a perfect 1 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
"I think when it's all said and done our bullpen will be a strength, without a doubt. I always thought it would be the strength of our team coming out of Spring Training."
"I think we're fine," Embree said. "It hasn't started the way we wanted it to, but everyone down there is capable of doing the job."
Embree entered Saturday's game with Tampa Bay with an ERA of 2.79, but all it took were two runs to make it jump it to 4.22.
"Being a reliever, it can ruin your whole month," Embree said of having a bad outing. "At the end of the season, if you're healthy and everything, your numbers will be where they should be. You just have to have confidence in your stuff."
"We have one of the best bullpens in the league in my opinion, National or American, especially if you look at the matchups we can create," Street said.
Side-arming lefties Marshall and DiNardo have shown the ability to be tough on left-handed hitters as has the hard-throwing Embree. DiNardo has been a pleasant surprise with a 1.93 ERA in the early going
"We have a lot of guys that can fill a lot of roles and we feel comfortable bringing them in the game at anytime," A's pitching coach Curt Young said. "When guys have experience in the bullpen, they all know what they mean to the team. When we have a chance to win games, we're going to turn to them."
Calero and Duchscherer, the former All-Star, are particularly tough on right-handed hitters while Street has shown the ability to close a game against anybody. The 23-year old Texan has 66 saves in just over two seasons to go with a 2.50 ERA.
"It's real tricky, you have to trust your stuff," Street said of being a reliever. "At the end of the season the numbers will show how good we are."
Matt Smith is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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