A Bullpen Dilemma

Don’t really agree with your assessment on Augenstein; it’s an extremely small sample size with poor results based on batted ball luck, with good peripherals, to boot.

I would also argue that it is Gagne’s changeup/fastball combo, Wilson’s fastball, and Heath Bell’s changeup that make opposing fans/players fear them, and not their personality

is the sort of quiet, ’I’m just gonna go out and do my business and not show anybody my emotions’ type of character. Perhaps this is a result of the team leaders (I assume Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter, and Molina are the leaders in the clubhouse) that are the type of personalities who have quiet off-field lives and don’t excite the fans with outward showing of what they are feeling when they are on the field. We have very few guys (maybe Motte and perhaps Sanchez) like Brian Wilson, Carlos Zambrano, or Brandon Phillips that have loud personalities that bleed through onto the field, for better and for worse. It might make the team somewhat less interesting to follow but perhaps more steady in their production. I have no idea. But it does appear that there has been an effort to collect players that match a certain model. I think I believe that the personality of the player affects his performance, especially in clutch and high-leverage situations, but assume that their successes would be capture in the stats.

Is it just a general complaint that our bullpen needs more character or personality? Seems like an odd complaint given people like Motte, Tallet and Batista.

Florida has had perhaps the best bullpen in the NL so far, with the lowest bullpen WHIP and lowest OBA against. Looking at the composition of their bullpen doesn’t make me think “character,” “charisma,” or “personality.”

The bottom line is that the Cards have a decent bullpen. The Cards are 10th in the ML in bullpen ERA (5th in the NL, and better than the 9th place SF Giants, which you used as an example to prove your point), 14th in avg., 13th in K/BB, and 13th in WHIP. They are average or just a bit above it. What they are worst at is successful save percentage. Which can be laid overwhelmingly at Franklin’s feet. In other words, but for Franklin, the bullpen is fine.

Basically, all of the hand-wringing about the bullpen is the result of a recent series of bad performances by one guy - Franklin.

Frankly, in an element of the game, the bullpen, that is all about confidence and character

I’d probably add “pitching baseballs really well” to that list. Maybe even to the top of it.

San Diego has arguably the best pen in baseball. Their 7th inning guy Mike Adams is a fireball totin’ (95+ fastball) strike out machine. 8th inning man Luke Gregerson (former Cardinal draft pick) is a game-face sportin’ slider/fastball combo user, and also a strike out machine. Yes, they lack a go to lefty

They’ve got Joe Thatcher, who might be pretty much the best LOOGY in baseball. He’s been injured but likely to be back soon.

Well-written post btw, although I don’t really buy into your opinion on bullpen make-up particularly.

but “flimsier than overcooked spaghetti” is a bit too harsh. Franklin is the only one I would classify as such, and he’s already been demoted. I think the bullpen will at the least be average or middle of the pack. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s the main weakness of the team. this is a ’pen that has already survived two injuries (although that, arguably, improved the bullpen) and a closer implosion… and as WMT mentioned, they are still 10th in MLB

when he is on he definitely hits his spots. You can see the catchers glove barely has to move and he consistently paints the bottom of the strike zone.

I don’t think Franklin is anything special, but he does have some useful talents.

And yes, the bullpen is not looking so bad with Salas, Sanchez, Boggs doing their thing (but hey, thats a formidable 7th inning, 8th inning, and closer line up right there, is it not?).

Can we agree not to be sold on Miggy Batista though?

All the bullpens you mention were built from the club’s farm system. There were few free agent signings to add to any of those bullpens, and I think you’re now seeing a similar situation with the Cardinals as Sanchez, Salas, and Boggs have taken the top three spots in the pen.

Atlanta has been doing this for the better part of two decades. It’s about time our club did the same.

He believes in not spending big dollars in the bullpen and building that area through the draft. In recent years, it seems like a team can take a college closer and quickly move him up the ranks and into a useful bullpen arm (Huston Street, Chris Perez, Drew Storen, Chad Cordero – the pre-injury one). I think the biggest cost in doing this is the value in the draft that could be obtained for a higher ceiling level player. I also believe that there is a lower risk for this type of planner to not pan out, which also has its benefits.

I would rather save the 5-10M from the pen and use it to upgrade the everyday players that will provide the lead for the bullpen to protect. A loogy (1-1.5M), setup (2-3M), closer (5-12M), 2nd loogy (1-1.5M) is 9-18M in cost, plus you still have 2-3 more spots to fill. That’s part of the reason why the Cardinals were content with Franklin and his lower salary because it enabled the team to re-sign a guy like Westbrook. If you have a closer that is being paid 10M per year, that really limits your abilities to acquire a more reliable 4th-5th starter. Fortunately, the arms that have been developed in the system recently are covering up a massive hole that would have been costly to fill (in terms of prospects midseason).