Eck Award Standings!

We're past the trade deadline and heading into the home stretch of the 2009 season. Let's take a quick look at the leaders in the Dennis Eckersley Relief Pitcher of the Year Award race. As you know, this prestigious honor is bestowed not based on votes but rather based on a formula devised by the good people at Rolaids: relief wins times two plus saves times two, minus relief losses plus blown saves.

Newark rookie Joey Devine is the current leader with 59 relief points (2 W, 29 SV, 2 L, 1 BS). He also leads the league in saves and save percentage (.967), and has the lowest ERA (1.82) of any pitcher with at least 50 innings pitched this season. Right behind him is two-time former Eck Award winner Mariano Rivera, with 56 relief points (7 W, 24 SV, 2 L, 4 BS); he's also second in saves and third in save percentage (.857). Rivera's ridiculous 5.8 R/9 (27 H, 6 BB in 54.0 IP) is second-best in the league -- behind D.C.'s Jared Burton, who has pitched just 3 innings! Almost as impressive is Rivera's .114 IR% (35 runners inherited, just 4 scored), which is fourth-best in the league. As Newark and Marietta are battling it out for the best record in the league, the Eck winner could very well be decided by which team wins the Commissioner's Cup, and therefore provides more save opportunities to its closer.

With those two comfortably in front, the other DMBL closers are battling for third place. Arkansas's Joakim Soria has a slight edge with 41 relief points (5 W, 20 SV, 4 L, 5 BS), followed by Carolina's Brian Fuentes (3 W, 23 SV, 4 L, 9 BS), Hillsborough's Mike Gonzalez (2 W, 21 SV, 1 L, 6 BS), and D.C.'s Jonathan Papelbon (4 W, 19 SV, 5 L, 2 BS) all at 39. Papelbon, last year's winner, has the best numbers of the bunch, with a 2.42 ERA, 8.9 R/9 and the league's second-best SV% (.905), but the O-Bombers aren't providing many wins for him to save this season. Vancouver's Billy Wagner, in 7th place with 33 relief points (4 W, 20 SV, 7 L, 8 BS), hopes the defending World Champions will turn it on down the stretch to get him back into the Eck race.

Taylor Buchholz was Sardine City's closer but was traded last month to Las Vegas, where he's sharing the closing duties with Brian Shouse. Coincidentally, the two Rat Packers are tied for 8th with 29 relief points... New Jersey's Bobby Jenks rounds out the top 10 with 27 relief points and 16 saves.