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DIDEROT SEZ
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Wed 11:39am: diderot Diaz with 2K/inning.
Yep, only 26 innings.
But not one has ever done that--ever!
Wed 11:43am: diderot I should specify--with 20+ innings.
Maybe some guy pitched one career inning in 1944 and struck out three guys, I don't know.
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What a great stat. Had no idea.
Only a slight contextual add: Industry-wide, guys swing the bat harder, get more velocity off the bat, and are happy to trade strikeouts. So we can be confident in the accuracy of Diderot's stat.
No matter how you slice it, 2 whiffs per 3 outs, this being the MAJOR LEAGUES?!, is one whale of a stat. We are firmly into the discussion territory of "Who are the precedents for Edwin Diaz 2016?".
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GRIZZLE SEZ
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Wed 12:22pm: MtGrizzly Above average control of both a heater that will hit triple digits and an unfair breaking ball will do that.
Wed 12:24pm: MtGrizzly LOL - he's on everyone's mind, that's for sure. Larry Stone: "Mike Pelfrey: 52 strikeouts in 115.1 innings in 2016. Edwin Diaz: 52 strikeouts in 26 innings."
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Following on, Servais said in the TNT ... it's nice to have margin for error "when the heartbeat is up." He specifically called out Cishek's need to be hair-fine at all times, pointing out that is harder when your nerves are jumping.
In the NBA, down by 1 point in Game 7, you'd rather not be forced to a 20-foot jumper coming around a pick. You'd rather have a dunk, or an 8-foot turnaround by Hakeem Olajuwon. Jittery muscles are capable of handling the latter.
Which speaks to the meta-debate --- > whether there EXISTS such a thing as "pressure performance" in baseball.
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SLOPS
Every time this "closer" thing comes up, I get a little bit melancholy. In the 1970's, the Big Red Machine would bring in Clay Carroll or Tom Hall or Pedro Borbon ... and if they lost a game? Well, Clay Carroll went 8-and-8 on the year in 1973.
Sportswriters didn't shriek and point fingers after the game, because they kept perspective on the idea you could also lose the game on a shortstop bobble in the 4th, or your cleanup hitter striking out in the 5th with the bases loaded, or whatever. Why is it a moral failing for Steve Cishek to get beaten, and not Nelson Cruz?
The whole "closer" position has its origination in finger-pointing and blame, which is why I'll never feel good about them. You don't even want to Google Donnie Moore; you probably can't help googling Bill Buckner...
That said, Clay Carroll didn't make $7,000,000 per season and Steve Cishek knew what he was signing on for. Doesn't make it right. Sliding into Cishek's shin bone, studs up, "Another Cishek stumble, another wrenching loss" when he's got 24 saves.
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PROPS
Closers are worth a simoleon or two these days. The M's have Diaz club-controlled for 6 years after this one, right? Wouldn't it be a pretty short list, fireballing (97+) Rafael Sorianos who hammer-locked the closer position as rookies and gave their club so many years like this?
Huston Street came up and saved games as a rook in 1995, and it worked out. But he was more of a Steve Cishek than a Francisco Rodriguez; you wouldn't trade Street 1995 with Diaz 2016. (KRod started closing in year three.) But who were the other recent Scripted Rookie Closers (TM) who offered the "LOL, try and hit this" celebration 9th innings?
Back when Edwin Diaz made his first appearance in relief, Jerry DiPoto was the only man in the world who thought Diaz would be saving games during a 2016 pennant race. he saw further than we did, and we are the ones reaping the benefits. Which one of you mooks has Edwin Diaz in roto?
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It goes without saying that Diaz has one last psych test to ace. They're pretty sure he will pass. So is Dr. D. That's not the same thing as having passed it. We know, LrKrBoi29, we know.
Go to Fangraphs > Mariners > Pitching > Relievers > Split: Last 14 Days > sort by FIP. You will not believe what you see. Am trying to visualize how that would express itself on the green grass of AL baseball fields :- )
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TOP SALARIES, MLB RELIEF PITCHERS
Peavey, Buchholz and other converted starters make $13M, $15M, etc, and are considered relief.
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POWER RANKINGS, SETUP PITCHERS
1. Steve Cishek, two games from now (should be deployed against scads of RH)
2. NO. BLINKIN. IDEA.
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See you at the ballpark,
Dr D
Mwahahahahaaa
That's a very strange way to conceive odd the closer role...as birthed by blame and finger pointing. I think of it as being birthed by the gradual realization that the 9th inning is often the one moat likely to swing a game result (think leverage index) and Amy finger pointing you get is O'Day by the glory you earn when you succeed.
Craig Kimbrel (after a 20.2 IP cup the year before,with 40K) had 46 Saves/8BS, 127k, 77IP a full season of 1.64K/IP. I imagine it was probably Kimbrel that Diaz took the quickest to 50K record from, since he had 40 in just 20.2. #50 was @ 26IP vs Diaz @ 25.1IP. 2/3 of an inning is almost identical, so the precedent seems to be Kimbrel for starting out with basically 2k/IP in 20+ innings