by evan brunell | Apr 2, 2009 | Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine, B.J. Upton, Ben Zobrist, Brian Shouse, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jason Isringhausen, Jeff Niemann, Joe Nelson, Lance Cormier, Matt Joyce, Pat Burrell, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar
The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off their first successful season in the history of the franchise. Finally, they’re not considered doormats with no vision of the future. Now the Pirates stand alone there. (Even the Royals are much improved!) This club is scary in...
by evan brunell | Feb 15, 2008 | Al Reyes, Alan Embree, B.J. Ryan, Billy Wagner, Bob Wickman, Bobby Jenks, Brad Hennessey, Brett Myers, Brian Fuentes, Chad Cordero, Chris Ray, David Weathers, Eric Gagne, Francisco Cordero, Francisco Rodriguez, J.J. Putz, Jason Isringhausen, Jeremy Accardo, Joakim Soria, Joe Borowski, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg, Mariano Rivera, Matt Capps, Ryan Dempster, Takashi Saito, Todd Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival
Every year, I run a feature here at Fire Brand called Saves per Inning Pitched (SIP). It’s a little statistic I made up that in the general scheme of things, probably means nothing. But I like doing it because it tells me what teams utilize their closer as a...
by evan brunell | Aug 24, 2007 | Billy Wagner, J.J. Putz, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Takashi Saito
Three days ago, Jonathan Papelbon became just the fourth pitcher in major league history to save 30 games in his first two full seasons. He joins Billy Koch, Kaz Sasaki and Todd Worrell in this group. This begs the question: Is Jonathan Papelbon the best closer in the...