The Eckersley Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award is named for former Vancouver and Toledo reliever Dennis Eckersley, who dominated the early 1990s and made the modern-day closer what it is today.
The Eck is not voted on by owners but instead uses a formula to determine the winner. Pitchers earn 2 points for each save and each victory and get deducted 1 point for each blown save and each loss. Holds don't come into play for all you middle relief fans.
It wasn't a historic year by any means but it was enough to garner The Eck, beating out Tucson's Ken Giles -- who was saddled with a league-high 8 blown saves -- and Miller:
- Melancon (HBK): 31 Sv, 1 BSv, 4-0 ---> 69 points
- Giles (TUC): 28 Sv, 8 BSv, 6-3 ---> 63 points
- MillerA (VAN): 27 Sv, 1 BSv, 2-5 ---> 62 points
- RamosAJ (HIL): 26 Sv, 5 BSv, 6-1 ---> 60 points
- Britton (ARK): 24 Sv, 2 BSv, 5-3 ---> 59 points
- Familia (EC): 22 Sv, 5 BSv, 7-5 ---> 58 points
- Chapman (HPG): 24 Sv, 6 BSv, 3-6 ---> 54 points
- RondonH (BR): 22 Sv, 6 BSv, 5-6 ---> 54 points
- DavisW (LIV): 22 Sv, 3 BSv, 4-4 ---> 53 points
- Ziegler (MAR): 20 Sv, 3 BSv, 4-6 ---> 51 points
Finishing just outside the top 10 were San Francisco teammates Francisco Rodriguez (50 points) and Kenley Jansen (47 points). The two combined for 36 saves against 2 blown saves, with a 9-9 mark.
Giving some love to middle relievers, we'll also recognize Chad Allen of Hillsborough who led the league with 23 holds. And we all know ERA can be a peculiar stat for relievers but it's inherited runners scored (IRS) that's really brass tacks for bullpens. Hillsborough's A.J. Ramos, who finished 4th for The Eck, had an impressive .107 rate (3/28), good for 3rd in the league, to go with 26 saves. Wade Davis of Livingston inherited the most runners of any closer (11/45, .244).
After the deal, Tanner Roark became the anchor of the El Paso bullpen, going 10-15 to lead all DMBL relievers in both wins and losses, along with 9 saves against 7 blown saves. He also racked up 153 innings in 82 appearances.
Veteran left-hander Tony Watson of Tucson also deserves some recognition for a sterling .098 IRS% (4/41), second only to McGee. He also went 9-2 with a 1.62 ERA.
Roark was among five relievers who inherited 50 or more runners last season (13/50, .260). Topping the list was Trevor Rosenthal of Poovey Farms (20/57, .320), followed by Vancouver's Brandon Maurer (23/55, .418), Joaquin Benoit (19/53, .358), and Allentown's Joakim Soria (12/55, .218).
2 comments :
I wonder if we should give a point for a hold starting next year. Not as valuable as a save, but still get some recognition for it.
That crossed my mind too. I don't know if a hold is worth a full point though, if a save and win are also 1 point. Then again, RPs don't usually have more than 20 or so holds.
Post a Comment