The Bull Pen is a Disaster

[mimontero88]

You guys are ignoring the obvious.  That homer was clearly Harper's fault.  Don't see how you can blame the pen, especially Soriano.  That's just lunacy.

[TigerFan]

I would resemble BHNatural for Bryce fanboi status if Bryce were to rip Soriano for this loss.  It would be epic and I seldomly use that word. 

[varoadking]

7.84 ERA over last 13 for Soriano. Yikes.

A 27 today didn't help much...

[sportsfan882]

Soriano's K/9 per season over last seven seasons:

2013: 6.57
2012: 9.18
2011: 8.24
2010: 8.23
2009: 12.13
2008: 10.29
2007: 8.75

What the freak. He's cut his walks down this season (2013: 2.01 BB/9; 2012: 3.19 BB/9) and the rest of his numbers all look similar except for the strikeouts. How does going from the powerhouse AL East to the crappy NL East knock down your K numbers by 2.5 K/9.

His fastball velocity is down 1 MPH this year per Fangraphs. Does that make that much of a difference?

[zimm_da_kid]

we should fast track Johanson as a closer.

[sportsfan882]

freak Soriano! For $28 million we should have a Kimbrel/Chapman-like closer who strikes a ton of batters and dominates the 9th inning.

He's a freaking douche that throws 90 mph cut fastballs thinking he is Mariano Rivera and can get away with leaving pitches down the middle and having no notable secondary pitch to speak of.

How could Mike Rizzo ever think signing him to this contract was a great deal? freak, Storen is a choking dog but Rafael Soriano was the best you could do for that price??!!

[comish4lif]

7.84 ERA over last 13 for Soriano. Yikes.

Rough month for closers. Papelbon, Jim Johnson and Soriano all going thru a rough patch.

[mmzznnxx]

I'm happy that I had an engagement that kept me from the game 5th inning on. Holy freak Soriano's such a loser, can we get rid of him?

I honestly don't want to go to the playoffs at all because I think any lead we have Soriano would blow. There's no doubt in my mind. At least with Storen it was more out of the blue. Soriano is just smoking a cigarette next to a barrel of gasoline and hoping it doesn't blow up. I'm too lazy to look up his WHIP but it must be near the top for closers.

[PC]

I'm too lazy to look up his WHIP but it must be near the top for closers.

He's, shockingly, just 6th.  Fernando Rodney's "leads" at 1.49.  Soriano's is 1.23.

[WhiteWhale]

Werth gave up on that ball way too soon, Soriano's son would have leaped up and pull that thing back from the upper deck.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Werth gave up on that ball way too soon, Soriano's son would have leaped up and pull that thing back from the upper deck.

We should have subbed out Werth for a defensive replacement in the 9th.  I hear Geoffrey the Giraffe from Toys 'R Us is looking for work now.  Great range.  Can cover a whole savanah without getting eaten.

Oh, and

"Closer" is a title, right?  Shouldn't it be capitalized? It is sort of like "Sir" for a Knight.  Lord Soriano of Get Ahead in the Count and then Give Up the Hit.

Lord Soriano of GACGUH

[houston-nat]

Nationals Bullpen Overall Stats
3.81 ERA, 3.57 FIP
7.68 K/9
1.9 WAR (20th)

[JCA-CrystalCity]

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/bullpen-report-august-15-2013/

It took Rafael Soriano just 22 pitches tonight to allow three earned runs on two hits and a walk for his fifth blown save of the season. Thanks to a three-run jack off the bat of Hector Sanchez, Soriano’s ERA spiked to 3.40 on the season, the highest it’s been since April 27th (3.60). But despite the fact that Soriano has allowed four earned runs in the past two nights and fans seem to be looking for the skip to yank him from ninth-inning duties, his job appears to be safe for the time being. The beneficiary of Soriano’s blow up, Sergio Romo, faced the minimum and needed just ten tosses from the hill to notch his 29th save of the year.

Quick Hitters: Casey Janssen (22) and Gonzalez German (1) each earned saves this evening. Twelve middle relievers earned holds tonight, including but not limited to Randy Choate, Fernando Abad and Seth Maness. Over the past week, Matt Belisle and Tim Collins have each earned a league-best three holds. Do you stream relievers? If so, Fernando Abad could be a save candidate on Friday with both Rafael Soriano and Tyler Clippard appearing in a few consecutive games

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Nationals Bullpen Overall Stats
3.81 ERA, 3.57 FIP
7.68 K/9
1.9 WAR (20th)

That's 20th in FIP, 21st in ERA.

Another fun stat for relievers is win probability added. 21st again, at -0.22.  A quick eyeball of the WPA leaders and laggards shows that, among the top 10 teams, 5 are in playoff position, 2 others ( NYY, and D-backs) are in contention.  Among the bottom 10 teams, only 1 is in playoff position - the Rays - while and the Os and Nats are the next best positioned.   None of the bottom 6 are in playoff contention, while only the Twins of the top 9 are out of it.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

That was the loudest I've ever heard the boobirds at Nats Park. 

[Tim Cullen]

I glanced at the title to this thread and for a moment I thought it read: The Beer Pen is a Disaster.  To be honest, both our bullpen and that dump across the street from the park are disasters.

[Baseball is Life]

I glanced at the title to this thread and for a moment I thought it read: The Beer Pen is a Disaster.  To be honest, both our bullpen and that dump across the street from the park are disasters.

I don't care for the place across the street myself but I can't believe how popular it is with the twenty something crowd. Place has got to be a gold mine.

And thanks for spelling bullpen correctly, unlike in the thread title. #OCD.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

The Beerpen is indeed a major den of douchery, however it is an OK place to perch for a while when waiting for the Metro station to swallow up it's first 18,000 victims. 

[Baseball is Life]

The Beerpen is indeed a major den of douchery, however it is an OK place to perch for a while when waiting for the Metro station to swallow up it's first 18,000 victims. 

Any place holding hundreds of twenty somethings drinking beer is bound to be a den of douchery.
 

[Smithian]

The Beerpen is indeed a major den of douchery, however it is an OK place to perch for a while when waiting for the Metro station to swallow up it's first 18,000 victims. 

My opinion is to just walk up to Capitol Hill for a bar visit and then jump Cap South Metro.

The beer pen doesn't look like a fun place to go unless forced.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

One can create one's own microclimate by sharting in the face of every dick with a popped collar and girl in a sundress. 

My opinion is to just walk up to Capitol Hill for a bar visit and then jump Cap South Metro.

The beer pen doesn't look like a fun place to go unless forced.

[imref]

tonight is going to be interesting given Clippard and Soriano are most likely not available.

[mitlen]

The beerpen is a convenient stop to go to the bathroom for the long trip home or the walk to Capitol Hill.   Unlike the stadium after a game, the cans are empty in the pen and there are some nice sun dresses to check out.    To be fair though, there's a lot of douchery at the bars on the Hill as well.    The best part  of that trek is the ability to catch the OL without the CF at L'Enfant.

[shoeshineboy]

Soriano has a few mental qualities that you want in a closer - a) he's fearless; b) he is not afraid to fail; c) he has a short memory regarding the last batter/game, etc.

The best reliever isn't needed to be the closer, because closing games is more a matter of simple math most of the time. A closer with mediocre stuff will get a bulk of his saves simply because the odds are in his favor, especially with more than a one run lead, and will probably blow a few here and there when the first guy gets on base in a one-run lead -- assuming he has the courage to throw strikes. Pitching behind and walking guys is the sin, and that's what really cost him.

Unfortanately, Soriano doesn't have the stuff to match the swagger, but just by attacking guys has gotten him by. It's the same reason Capps was successful here while a spaz like Hanrahan was not.

If only we could perform a brain transplant and put Soriano's head on Storen's body, the team would be so much better off. Last night's game was like watching Game 5 all over again with the 0-2 counts with two outs wasted. And when it comes to wasting money, 28M on Soriano comes to mind. The guy certainly gets by with a decent Save % when he's pounding the zone, but he isn't worth that money, because he simply isn't a guy you would feel confident winning a title with. You need the mind and the stuff. To me, he's a really expensive Matt Capps, except Soriano's a dick. 

[Optics]

Soriano has a few mental qualities that you want in a closer - a) he's fearless; b) he is not afraid to fail; c) he has a short memory regarding the last batter/game, etc.

The best reliever isn't needed to be the closer, because closing games is more a matter of simple math most of the time. A closer with mediocre stuff will get a bulk of his saves simply because the odds are in his favor, especially with more than a one run lead, and will probably blow a few here and there when the first guy gets on base in a one-run lead -- assuming he has the courage to throw strikes. Pitching behind and walking guys is the sin, and that's what really cost him.

Unfortanately, Soriano doesn't have the stuff to match the swagger, but just by attacking guys has gotten him by. It's the same reason Capps was successful here while a spaz like Hanrahan was not.

If only we could perform a brain transplant and put Soriano's head on Storen's body, the team would be so much better off. Last night's game was like watching Game 5 all over again with the 0-2 counts with two outs wasted. And when it comes to wasting money, 28M on Soriano comes to mind. The guy certainly gets by with a decent Save % when he's pounding the zone, but he isn't worth that money, because he simply isn't a guy you would feel confident winning a title with. You need the mind and the stuff. To me, he's a really expensive Matt Capps, except Soriano's a dick.

Good post, and I agree. For years Billy Beane fleeced teams by padding an average closer's save stats and then trading them.

Soriano does go after guys, but unfortunately his average at best stuff means he always gives up hits and is always more vulnerable to blowing games. Guys like Kimbrel/Rivera only really blow saves if they happen to have an off day or get unlucky. If they show up with their A stuff, forget it. Soriano though even with his A stuff is still vulnerable.

A real forward thinking team would use their "closer" in high leverage situations, like when the meat of the opposing order is up late in a 1 run game or if there are multiple base runners on with fewer than 2 outs.