SB Nation - Kent Mercker

Heroes of the Zeros: The Bullpen

Slyde — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:28 -0000

As we continue our vote on the Reds All Decade Team, we look today at the bullpen. The Reds bullpen was a strength in the early aughts, but it also had some very lean periods in the middle of the decade before rebounding a bit the last two seasons. Below you will see the 28 relievers who managed to pitch 60 or more games out of the bullpen for the Reds between 2000 and 2009. The survey below will have you choose a closer, 2 right-handed relievers, 2 left-handed relievers, and 2 other relievers of your choice. Please be careful not to choose a pitcher for more than one spot as I will only count a single vote for that player.

One note before you vote, I didn't feel like doing the extra work it would take to separate a pitcher's relief appearances from his starts, so some of the stats below include starts as well as relief appearances. This mainly only affects Danny Graves (30 GS), Chris Reitsma (53 GS), and Matt Belisle (43 GS) with a couple other pitchers having a handful of starts in their numbers. Please try to take that into account when considering a player as best you can. Voting can be done after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation

Click header to sort table by column
	Years	G	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP	ERA	ERA+	FIP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SO/9	BB/9	HR/9
Jeremy Affeldt	2008	74	1	1	.500	0	78.1	3.33	133	3.72	.260	.323	.410	.733	9.19	2.87	1.03
Matt Belisle	2003-2008	132	16	22	.421	1	341.2	5.06	89	4.54	.302	.351	.472	.823	6.06	2.53	1.24
Bill Bray	2006-2008	111	7	6	.538	3	89.0	3.84	118	3.40	.278	.348	.433	.780	9.20	3.84	0.81
Jim Brower	2001-2002	68	9	10	.474	1	168.2	3.95	114	4.49	.250	.328	.406	.734	6.30	3.74	1.01
Jared Burton	2007-2009	154	10	3	.769	0	161.0	3.47	128	3.73	.238	.322	.368	.690	7.77	3.91	0.73
Todd Coffey	2005-2008	213	12	9	.571	9	206.1	4.62	98	4.58	.311	.366	.476	.842	5.98	2.75	1.22
Francisco Cordero	2008-2009	140	7	10	.412	73	137.0	2.76	158	3.42	.238	.329	.327	.656	8.93	4.47	0.53
Jon Coutlangus	2007	64	4	2	.667	0	41.0	4.39	105	4.57	.250	.373	.362	.735	8.34	5.93	0.66
Danny Graves	2000-2005	318	29	35	.453	147	526.0	4.16	105	4.62	.279	.331	.451	.782	4.59	2.58	1.16
Daniel Ray Herrera	2008-2009	77	4	4	.500	0	69.0	3.52	122	4.00	.283	.354	.419	.772	6.78	3.52	0.78
Mike Lincoln	2008-2009	83	3	6	.333	0	93.1	5.40	81	5.66	.269	.357	.465	.822	6.36	4.15	1.64
Gary Majewski	2006-2008	88	2	6	.250	0	78.0	7.38	61	4.73	.388	.429	.562	.992	5.31	2.54	1.15
Nick Masset	2008-2009	84	6	1	.857	0	93.1	2.31	186	3.65	.213	.276	.334	.610	7.81	2.80	0.87
Hector Mercado	2000-2001	68	3	2	.600	0	67.0	4.16	111	4.26	.262	.354	.418	.772	9.67	5.10	1.07
Kent Mercker	2003-2008	179	5	4	.556	5	142.0	3.36	129	4.72	.256	.336	.447	.783	6.91	3.99	1.27
Phil Norton	2003-2004	86	2	5	.286	0	80.1	4.59	92	4.10	.263	.359	.380	.740	6.16	4.93	0.56
Brian Reith	2001-2004	73	4	12	.250	1	127.2	5.92	73	6.16	.292	.381	.542	.923	5.99	5.01	1.83
Chris Reitsma	2001-2003	125	22	32	.407	12	404.1	4.52	97	4.57	.280	.329	.456	.785	5.19	2.52	1.20
Dennys Reyes	2000-2001	97	4	7	.364	0	96.2	4.75	98	4.74	.254	.363	.395	.757	8.19	5.96	0.93
Arthur Rhodes	2009	66	1	1	.500	0	53.1	2.53	169	3.14	.198	.276	.299	.576	8.10	3.38	0.51
John Riedling	2000-2004	200	13	12	.520	3	274.1	4.13	104	4.37	.256	.345	.385	.730	5.97	4.43	0.69
Brian Shackelford	2005-2006	63	2	0	1.000	0	46.0	4.11	107	5.20	.229	.333	.388	.722	6.26	3.72	1.17
Mike Stanton	2007	69	1	3	.250	0	57.2	5.93	78	4.26	.315	.374	.462	.836	6.24	2.81	0.94
Scott Sullivan	2000-2003	279	22	12	.647	4	338.0	4.05	111	4.21	.246	.326	.408	.734	7.96	3.49	1.14
Ryan Wagner	2003-2005	108	8	4	.667	0	119.0	4.69	90	4.38	.274	.354	.410	.764	7.64	4.24	0.98
David Weathers	2005-2009	325	20	23	.465	61	336.1	3.56	126	4.37	.239	.317	.390	.707	6.21	3.67	0.96
Gabe White	2000-2004	137	10	3	.769	1	128.2	4.34	98	4.25	.256	.289	.467	.756	6.92	1.54	1.47
Scott Williamson	2000-2003	155	13	15	.464	35	229.0	3.14	143	3.53	.209	.326	.329	.655	10.73	5.42	0.71

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/14/2009.

That's a mistranslation of the Bible. Jesus actually wore a Carpenter jersey. Reds lose 13-0.

Brendanukkah — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:44:14 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Laugh it up, chucklehead. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Chris Carpenter. Not only did Carpenter pitch five innings of shutout ball, not only did he allow a mere three hits, not only did he strike out six, but he also went 2-3 with 6 RBI, including a grand slam. Albert who?!

Key Plays

Kip Wells pitched a scoreless first inning.
Chris Carpenter hit a grand slam in the second. That's about as key a play as there is. When you give up a home run to the pitcher, it's bad. When it's his first home run of his career, it's bad. When it's with the bases loaded, it's bad.
Kip Wells gave up five runs, Micah Owings gave up four runs, Carlos Fisher gave up three runs, and li'l Danny Ray Herrera only gave up the one.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

After some whinging by the Cardinals after their loss last night, a beanball fest seemed inevitable. Scott Rolen and Juan Francisco got plunked for the good guys, while Kip Wells hit Brendan Ryan, one of the few Cardinals not hitting Kip Wells.
The last Cardinals pitcher to hit a grand slam was Kent Mercker in 1998.
The Reds only had five hits, but Adam Rosales had two of them. Their only extra base hit came courtesy of Micah Owings.
El Nino Destructor has a .500 OBP. Sustainability, schmustainability, that's just fun!
Chris Carpenter is really good when it comes to facing the Reds. Entering this game, he had a 0.846 WHIP against them, the second lowest of any team he's faced more than once. And now, it's a little bit closer to the 0.838 he has against Tampa Bay.

"In conclusion, your skill as a smooth pitcher is the key element to the creation of our dominant brand of base knocks." Reds win 9-3.

Brendanukkah — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:04:45 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Nix rounds third, with the Gayteway Arch in the background. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Laynce Nix. Nix went 2-4 with two home runs, 2 R, and 4 RBI, as well as some nifty catches in LF. Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips both had great games too, but Nix had the coolest AP picture.

Key Plays

Nix hit his first home run in the second inning.
After Johnny Cueto reached base on a nice bunt in the third, Kyle Lohse left the game with a forearm injury. Jerry Hairston then reached on an error by Joe Thurston (THURSTON!!!) but was erased on Chris Dickerson's double play. Brandon Phillips blooped a single to score Cueto, then stole second and third base. Ramon Hernandez singled, and the Reds were up 3-0.
Paul Janish singled in the fourth, moved to second on Cueto's sacrifice, then scored on a Jerry Hairston single. Why did Dusty even play this guy?
By the seventh inning, Cueto was beginning to tire and gave up back to back doubles to Colby Rasmus and Brendan Ryan, leading to the only run he allowed all game.
The Reds put the game out of reach in the eighth and ninth with a three run homer from Nix (our Frisch's Big Boy Big Play of the Game) and a two run shot from Brandon Phillips, respectively.
Carlos Fisher came in to close out the proceedings, but looked a little shaky, giving up two runs before striking out Chris Duncan to end the game.

FanGraphs

Other Notes

This was the first time in seven games the Reds didn't allow a run in the first inning.
Laynce Nix last had a multihomer game on May 12, 2004. It was his fourth career multihomer game.
Despite drawing a walk, Jay Bruce is in a 1-24 slump.
Chris Welsh's son graduated today, hence the presence of Kent Mercker in the booth.
The Reds have had a disappointing road trip, but are still only 2.5 games out of first, and have, at worst, split this series with the Cardinals.

Final - 6.3.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati Reds	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	3	2	9	13	1
St. Louis Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	10	2
WP: Johnny Cueto (5 - 3) LP: Kyle Lohse (4 - 4)

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