Hold My Log - 57.50 - 2057 Top Reliever Award

[7teen]

When I sat down to type this team news out, I had a name in mind as to who I felt was going to win the award. Then as I started looking at my bullpen, I realized I actually had some other options.

Edwin Harney actually led the relief corps in WAR with a bleh 0.6 WAR. I mean, he had a decent 1.33 WHIP, pitched in 57.0 innings, struck out 53 guys and recorded 6 saves. But I can't give the award to a guy that posted a 5.68 ERA on the season.

Then there were Christian Chavez and Jorge Avila. Both posted a 0.4 WARs and had ERAs of 4.29 and 4.26 respectively. Considerably better than Harney's ERA. They logged 65 and 69.2 innings but struck out just 49 and 59 batters this season and had WHIPs higher than that of Harney. So I didn't go with them either. For the record, all of these guys are gone at the end of the season and were brought in on one year deals this off-season.

No, I'm giving the award to the guy I had in mind all along and thats Kent Grange. Yeah, his WAR was lower than the previous three guys at just 0.3. That is likely in large part due to the whopping 16 homeruns he allowed in relief this season. But the reason I'm giving it to Kent is he pitched WAY more innings than any of the previous 3 guys. In all, he appeared in 90 contests and logged 111.1 innings on the season. During that span, he led the bullpen with 90 strikeouts, picked up a pen high 6 wins, as well as a tie for the team high in saves at 9 with Avila (we never used a closer all season). When you throw in the amount he pitched, his 4.04 ERA, and his 1.24 WHIP, we're going to ignore WAR here and give the honor to Grange.