With a couple of exceptions, the bullpen is off to an amazing start. Some numbers for consideration:
69.2 IP
59 H
16 BB
63 K
18 R (17 ER)
2.20 ERA
Bullpen ERA- of 56
It's also notable that 15 of the 18 runs have been given up by Badenhop and Mujica.
Back them out and you've got 50 innings of 0.54 ERA (ERA- of 12, which is sorta crazy).
Currently, the bullpen ERA (a somewhat dodgy stat, but fine for the comparison I'm making) puts them 4th in all of MLB and 1st in the AL.
The AL average is 3.90 over 63 innings.
So, the bullpen is pitching more than average at a drastically better performance level. If you back them down to average, you've got 9 more runs allowed, which would give them 79 runs scored vs. 100 runs allowed instead of the current 91. By Pythag, those 9 runs don't quite make a difference, but when you look at the fact that 7 of the 9 wins have been by either 2 or 1 runs, those 9 runs look like a lot.
So, is the excellent bullpen performance actually something of a cause for concern? Is it realistic to think Taz, Koji, Capuano, and Miller will continue their runs? One of Koji, Taz, and Cap have to give up some runs at SOME point...
69.2 IP
59 H
16 BB
63 K
18 R (17 ER)
2.20 ERA
Bullpen ERA- of 56
It's also notable that 15 of the 18 runs have been given up by Badenhop and Mujica.
Back them out and you've got 50 innings of 0.54 ERA (ERA- of 12, which is sorta crazy).
Currently, the bullpen ERA (a somewhat dodgy stat, but fine for the comparison I'm making) puts them 4th in all of MLB and 1st in the AL.
The AL average is 3.90 over 63 innings.
So, the bullpen is pitching more than average at a drastically better performance level. If you back them down to average, you've got 9 more runs allowed, which would give them 79 runs scored vs. 100 runs allowed instead of the current 91. By Pythag, those 9 runs don't quite make a difference, but when you look at the fact that 7 of the 9 wins have been by either 2 or 1 runs, those 9 runs look like a lot.
So, is the excellent bullpen performance actually something of a cause for concern? Is it realistic to think Taz, Koji, Capuano, and Miller will continue their runs? One of Koji, Taz, and Cap have to give up some runs at SOME point...