ASG Candidates: Relief pitchers

Relief pitchers in DMBL can sometimes have such eye-popping numbers that it's hard to make sense of it all.

Like your All-Star Game ballot for starting pitchers, there are five choices for the relievers. With some three dozen relief pitchers who have compiled sub-1.00 WHIPs in the first half, it can be a daunting task to whittle down your ballot to just five candidates. But there's more to RPs than WHIP.

Micro Relievers

The Micro Conference is comprised of Livingston, Erie, Allentown, El Paso, Blue Ridge, Hillsborough, Marietta, Poovey Farms, Rockland, and Philadelphia.

Allentown's Jordan Romano tops Micro relievers with 16 saves, followed by Hillsborough's David Robertson with 14, Emmanuel Clase of Erie with 13, followed by three hurlers with 10 saves each: El Paso rookie Andres Munoz, Edwin Diaz of Blue Ridge and Poovey Farms lefty Brooks Raley. All but Raley (1.14) have WHIPs around or less than 1.00. Diaz also has a ridiculous 17.3 K/9, which leads all DMBL relievers.

If you really want to dig deep when looking at a reliever, you ignore the saves and holds and made up stats and examine what they're really are made of: Inherited Runners Scored. Erie's Clay Holmes has inherited 12 runners and none have scored; he also can point to his 0.87 WHIP and 1.65 ERA in 38 appearances to make his case. Marietta's Raisel Iglesias has inherited more runners (21) but let just 1 get past him for a stellar .048 IRS% over 50+ innings in 49 appearances. Despite his lofty WHIP, Raley has allowed just 3 of 26 inherited runners to score (.115). In addition to Munoz (.111, 2/18), El Paso has Dillon Tate among the leaders in IRS%, allowing just 2 of 20 (.100).

Relievers are more than just saves. Erie rookie Chase De Jong may not have the saves but he's been a workhorse for the Snowwolves, logging 68 1/3 innings in 40 appearances and still showing off a 2.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.

The ballot has 3 RPs per team to choose from but owners also have the option of writing in their own candidate. A budding write-in campaign coming out of Poovey Farms might get Jose Quijada into the Midsummer Classic. The lefty leads all Micro relievers with a 0.72 WHIP and his 13.1 K/9 stands up with anyone else in the conference.

Diamond Relievers

The Diamond Conference includes Tucson, Sardine City, Hoboken, Vancouver, Hopatcong, Empire City, Arkansas, San Francisco, Green Lake, and Newark.

If saves are your thing, your ballot could read: Jimmy Herget of Hopatcong (his 19 leads the league at the break), Scott Barlow of Arkansas (16), Daniel Bard of Sardine City (15), Ryan Helsley of Hoboken (14) and Josh Hader of Empire City (13). Those are the top saves compiled among the Diamond Conference. But that also would leave out Liam Hendriks (also 13) and San Francisco's Scott Effross (11). Of course, Effross would be a questionable selection too given his 1.36 WHIP and 4.15 ERA but Barlow (.045, 1/22) and Effross (.053, 1/19) do boast the best IRS% in the Diamond Conference.

Herget and Helsley match one another in IRS, with just 3 of 23 (.130) but Herget has a ghastly 1.31 WHIP and 3.40 ERA while Helsley is 2nd in WHIP (0.70). Sardine City rookie Evan Phillips leads all relievers with an absurd 0.61 WHIP and also has only allowed of 1 of 17 Inherited Runners to score (.059). Right behind Phillips and Helsley in WHIP is Empire City's Jorge Lopez (0.72).

Teammate Clarke Schmidt might fly under the radar with just 2 saves. But in 74+ innings, he's compiled a 2.05 ERA and 0.98 WHIP while inheriting a Diamond Conference-high 38 runners, though he's allowed 13 to cross the plate (.342). Better IRS% scores can be found among Newark lefty Jose Alvarado (.120, 3/25), Hopatcong's Matt Bush (.160, 4/25), but they also have their warts, with ERAs over 3.00 while Alvarado also has a 1.17 WHIP.

If you're looking beyond saves, Hoboken's Reynaldo Lopez has nary a one but his 0.91 ERA and 0.89 are elite especially considering he's done it over 59 1/3 innings in 35 appearances. If you like K/9, look elsewhere but Vancouver's Yancy Almonte might warrant consideration for his 0.83 WHIP (4th among Diamond RPs) across 54 innings.

Those desperate to represent each team on their ballot might want to look at Green Lake's Ryan Pressly, who has a 2.01 ERA and 1.02 WHIP while allowing just 0.067 IRS% (1/15) to go with 12.9 K/9.