100 Sim Results - Long Relievers

These are the results of 100 baseline resims (ended up being 95 seasons due to a silly mistake on my part, though I will continue to call it the 100 sim baseline). Each season was run in neutral parks. Injuries were turned on, each team had a strict 5 man rotation, and the schedule was set for 154 games. To date, we've completed the reviews for all of the batters, here is the link to the review section of the blog and another for the full detail for each position.

Reviewing 180 or so pitchers in a single blog post would get pretty boring very quickly and I thought a review "by position" would be more appropriate. Position is relative however, as ATB Owners typically pick from a player pool of elite #1 starters. Traditionally, only the ATB setup and closer roles roles utilize real life relievers, and even then lines can be blurred a la Gabe White acting in an ATB closer role.

In order to account for this, I used the manufactured draft positions as the basis for the writeup categories. The draft positions were based upon my personal high level formula, all which simply means take the "#1 Sp vs #2 Sp" categorization with a grain of salt. If I have a player in the LR role, for example, he could be used as a starter next season (assuming he meets the 20 real life start minimum qualification).

One other item before we get to the long relievers. As we all know by now, defense is a critical aspect of DMB. I deliberately chose not to normalize each fielder to an average defensive rating, but only because it is an incredible amount of work. This leaves us with the following disparity (as an example):

Assigning an average defensive score based upon Infield, Outfield, and Catcher positions (where Ex = 5, Vg = 4, Av = 3, Fr = 2, Pr = 1)

Team 6: 5.0 OF / 4.0 IF / 5.0 C
Team 4: 3.7 OF / 3.8 IF / 4.0 C

This is a large disparity and undoubtedly will cause Team 6 to have a better ERA than Team 4, all else being equal. To account for this, I adjusted the final rankings for each player accordingly. However, all displayed statistics are not adjusted.

On to the long relievers.

These players are generally real life starting pitchers coming in a cut below those ATB starters we've all grown accustomed to. However, there are a few exceptions (Bobby Shantz, Mike Mussina come to mind) were the player is routinely used as a starter.

The best of this crew looks to be 1970 Fergie Jenkins. In 95 seasons he averaged a 3.79 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and almost a 2:1 K/BB ratio in 44 IP. The 44 IP seems extremely low as sample size concerns immediately come to mind, but please remember this is his average over 4,200 simmed innings and it's safe to assume this as Jenkins true level of talent.

Behind Jenkins is 2009 Danny Haren and 2001 Roy Oswalt, both with ERA's around 4.00 and H/9 around 10.0. 1921 Red Faber and 1993 Kevin Appier had ERA's under 4.00 too.

The biggest disappointment is likely the aforementioned 1995 Mike Mussina who had an ERA over 4.50 and a WHIP of 1.50.


The Long Relievers
01)44 IP, 3.79 ERA, 1.36 WHIP - Fergie Jenkins 1970
02)47 IP, 3.93 ERA, 1.38 WHIP - Danny Haren 2009
02)48 IP, 4.05 ERA, 1.44 WHIP - Roy Oswalt 2001
04)43 IP, 3.97 ERA, 1.40 WHIP - Red Faber 1921
05)41 IP, 3.96 ERA, 1.53 WHIP - Kevin Appier 1993
06)40 IP, 4.64 ERA, 1.53 WHIP - Juan Guzman 1996
07)49 IP, 4.41 ERA, 1.43 WHIP - Tiny Bonham 1942
08)42 IP, 4.43 ERA, 1.50 WHIP - Vean Gregg 1911
09)43 IP, 4.39 ERA, 1.47 WHIP - Justin Duchscherer 2008
10)44 IP, 4.44 ERA, 1.48 WHIP - Tommy Bond 1876
11)42 IP, 4.51 ERA, 1.50 WHIP - Mike Mussina 1995
12)47 IP, 5.08 ERA, 1.60 WHIP - Denny McLain 1968
13)39 IP, 4.92 ERA, 1.58 WHIP - Jim Palmer 1975
14)41 IP, 4.52 ERA, 1.54 WHIP - Warren Spahn 1953
15)47 IP, 5.30 ERA, 1.76 WHIP - Ewell Blackwell 1947