Heroes of the Zeros: The Bullpen
As we continue our vote on the Reds All Decade Team, we look today at the bullpen. The Reds bullpen was a strength in the early aughts, but it also had some very lean periods in the middle of the decade before rebounding a bit the last two seasons. Below you will see the 28 relievers who managed to pitch 60 or more games out of the bullpen for the Reds between 2000 and 2009. The survey below will have you choose a closer, 2 right-handed relievers, 2 left-handed relievers, and 2 other relievers of your choice. Please be careful not to choose a pitcher for more than one spot as I will only count a single vote for that player.
One note before you vote, I didn't feel like doing the extra work it would take to separate a pitcher's relief appearances from his starts, so some of the stats below include starts as well as relief appearances. This mainly only affects Danny Graves (30 GS), Chris Reitsma (53 GS), and Matt Belisle (43 GS) with a couple other pitchers having a handful of starts in their numbers. Please try to take that into account when considering a player as best you can. Voting can be done after the jump.
Other ballots: Starting Rotation
| Years | G | W | L | W-L% | SV | IP | ERA | ERA+ | FIP | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SO/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Affeldt | 2008 | 74 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 78.1 | 3.33 | 133 | 3.72 | .260 | .323 | .410 | .733 | 9.19 | 2.87 | 1.03 |
| Matt Belisle | 2003-2008 | 132 | 16 | 22 | .421 | 1 | 341.2 | 5.06 | 89 | 4.54 |
.302 | .351 | .472 | .823 | 6.06 | 2.53 | 1.24 |
| Bill Bray | 2006-2008 | 111 | 7 | 6 | .538 | 3 | 89.0 | 3.84 | 118 | 3.40 |
.278 | .348 | .433 | .780 | 9.20 | 3.84 | 0.81 |
| Jim Brower | 2001-2002 | 68 | 9 | 10 | .474 | 1 | 168.2 | 3.95 | 114 | 4.49 |
.250 | .328 | .406 | .734 | 6.30 | 3.74 | 1.01 |
| Jared Burton | 2007-2009 | 154 | 10 | 3 | .769 | 0 | 161.0 | 3.47 | 128 | 3.73 |
.238 | .322 | .368 | .690 | 7.77 | 3.91 | 0.73 |
| Todd Coffey | 2005-2008 | 213 | 12 | 9 | .571 | 9 | 206.1 | 4.62 | 98 | 4.58 |
.311 | .366 | .476 | .842 | 5.98 | 2.75 | 1.22 |
| Francisco Cordero | 2008-2009 | 140 | 7 | 10 | .412 | 73 | 137.0 | 2.76 | 158 | 3.42 |
.238 | .329 | .327 | .656 | 8.93 | 4.47 | 0.53 |
| Jon Coutlangus | 2007 | 64 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 0 | 41.0 | 4.39 | 105 | 4.57 |
.250 | .373 | .362 | .735 | 8.34 | 5.93 | 0.66 |
| Danny Graves | 2000-2005 | 318 | 29 | 35 | .453 | 147 | 526.0 | 4.16 | 105 | 4.62 |
.279 | .331 | .451 | .782 | 4.59 | 2.58 | 1.16 |
| Daniel Ray Herrera | 2008-2009 | 77 | 4 | 4 | .500 | 0 | 69.0 | 3.52 | 122 | 4.00 |
.283 | .354 | .419 | .772 | 6.78 | 3.52 | 0.78 |
| Mike Lincoln | 2008-2009 | 83 | 3 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 93.1 | 5.40 | 81 | 5.66 |
.269 | .357 | .465 | .822 | 6.36 | 4.15 | 1.64 |
| Gary Majewski | 2006-2008 | 88 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 0 | 78.0 | 7.38 | 61 | 4.73 |
.388 | .429 | .562 | .992 | 5.31 | 2.54 | 1.15 |
| Nick Masset | 2008-2009 | 84 | 6 | 1 | .857 | 0 | 93.1 | 2.31 | 186 | 3.65 |
.213 | .276 | .334 | .610 | 7.81 | 2.80 | 0.87 |
| Hector Mercado | 2000-2001 | 68 | 3 | 2 | .600 | 0 | 67.0 | 4.16 | 111 | 4.26 |
.262 | .354 | .418 | .772 | 9.67 | 5.10 | 1.07 |
| Kent Mercker | 2003-2008 | 179 | 5 | 4 | .556 | 5 | 142.0 | 3.36 | 129 | 4.72 |
.256 | .336 | .447 | .783 | 6.91 | 3.99 | 1.27 |
| Phil Norton | 2003-2004 | 86 | 2 | 5 | .286 | 0 | 80.1 | 4.59 | 92 | 4.10 |
.263 | .359 | .380 | .740 | 6.16 | 4.93 | 0.56 |
| Brian Reith | 2001-2004 | 73 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 1 | 127.2 | 5.92 | 73 | 6.16 |
.292 | .381 | .542 | .923 | 5.99 | 5.01 | 1.83 |
| Chris Reitsma | 2001-2003 | 125 | 22 | 32 | .407 | 12 | 404.1 | 4.52 | 97 | 4.57 |
.280 | .329 | .456 | .785 | 5.19 | 2.52 | 1.20 |
| Dennys Reyes | 2000-2001 | 97 | 4 | 7 | .364 | 0 | 96.2 | 4.75 | 98 | 4.74 |
.254 | .363 | .395 | .757 | 8.19 | 5.96 | 0.93 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 2009 | 66 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 53.1 | 2.53 | 169 | 3.14 |
.198 | .276 | .299 | .576 | 8.10 | 3.38 | 0.51 |
| John Riedling | 2000-2004 | 200 | 13 | 12 | .520 | 3 | 274.1 | 4.13 | 104 | 4.37 |
.256 | .345 | .385 | .730 | 5.97 | 4.43 | 0.69 |
| Brian Shackelford | 2005-2006 | 63 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 46.0 | 4.11 | 107 | 5.20 |
.229 | .333 | .388 | .722 | 6.26 | 3.72 | 1.17 |
| Mike Stanton | 2007 | 69 | 1 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 57.2 | 5.93 | 78 | 4.26 |
.315 | .374 | .462 | .836 | 6.24 | 2.81 | 0.94 |
| Scott Sullivan | 2000-2003 | 279 | 22 | 12 | .647 | 4 | 338.0 | 4.05 | 111 | 4.21 |
.246 | .326 | .408 | .734 | 7.96 | 3.49 | 1.14 |
| Ryan Wagner | 2003-2005 | 108 | 8 | 4 | .667 | 0 | 119.0 | 4.69 | 90 | 4.38 |
.274 | .354 | .410 | .764 | 7.64 | 4.24 | 0.98 |
| David Weathers | 2005-2009 | 325 | 20 | 23 | .465 | 61 | 336.1 | 3.56 | 126 | 4.37 |
.239 | .317 | .390 | .707 | 6.21 | 3.67 | 0.96 |
| Gabe White | 2000-2004 | 137 | 10 | 3 | .769 | 1 | 128.2 | 4.34 | 98 | 4.25 |
.256 | .289 | .467 | .756 | 6.92 | 1.54 | 1.47 |
| Scott Williamson | 2000-2003 | 155 | 13 | 15 | .464 | 35 | 229.0 | 3.14 | 143 | 3.53 |
.209 | .326 | .329 | .655 | 10.73 | 5.42 | 0.71 |
0 recs |
29 comments
|
Comments
i hate coffey
why is he so fucking good with the brewers and horrible with us?
"strikeouts are a lot sexier than groundouts"
he would have made my list if he pitched for us like he is now
o well, still pretty good list.
Closer- CoCo
rh1- williamson
rh2-masset
lh1-bray
lh2-affeldt
random1-burton
random2-merker
"strikeouts are a lot sexier than groundouts"
Maybe Coffey got that pig-heart transplant, as suggested by the Reds Rocket.
I don’t know if it’s because they’ve been so terrible and now have some passable arms that stand out in comparison, or if it’s reason to be sort of optimistic— almost my whole bullpen (save Williamson and Sullivan— poor Williamson, the Reds just wrecked his career) are current pitchers, just as my starters were almost all current.
Hitters, it will probably be the exact opposite.
Back to Coffey, I still think that when the Reds trotted out the new unis, having Coffey— enormous boiler hanging over his belt and bulging buttons— as their ‘fashion model’ said a lot about the team.
yeah, I had a tough time with this one
I went with longevity over peak, giving Graves the nod over CoCo, Gabe White the nod over Rhodes/Affeldt. Weathers, Willliamson, Sullivan all got in there, too.
"And then there was the USAID guy in Kandahar who drove a giant pink Cadillac, which the locals set on fire one day. If you wanted to destroy something symbolic during a riot, you just could not do better than that. Good stuff." - Ghosts of Alexander
oh i had forgotten about him and the situation ....
"Some times you get lucky; some times you get Willy Taveras." - Teh Fay
by joshuar9476 on Dec 15, 2009 10:44 AM EST up reply actions
Love Shack is a legend
"We, as for me all seasons you are affected peculiarly in the edge of my seat and are happy concerning the fact that the Adam Dunn fan has been mixed up exactly." - Reynard-san
Tiiiiiiiin Roof! Rusted!
"Santa Claus doesn't use Craigslist." -- 'tHan
by jch24 on Dec 15, 2009 12:10 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
This retrospective is making me really fucking depressed
Can we stop before we have to vote on Buck Coats as the 5th best utility man of the decade?
RR: Proud home of the most mods in SBNation.
Tough choices
Only 1 lefty has as many as 90 IP in the decade (Bray (!) is 2nd at 89), and only 3 have as many as 70. On the other hand, the righties seemed obvious, the only question being whether Graves (many more G and IP) or Cordero (much better rate stats) should close; to be fair, though, Graves’ stats as a reliever are much better than as a starter.
"You never know how you look through other people's eyes"
yeah, I felt bad about docking Graves with his starting numbers
but then his ERA & FIP were only 3.73 and 4.14 as a reliever during the aughts. So, it’s not like he was lights out as a reliever this decade.
FWIW, it doesn’t appear to be hurting him in the ballot box.
Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter
Reply broken again
Where are you getting FIP? Because Graves’ time as a reliever is skewed by horrible time in Cleveland and NY (34 IP, 5.77 ERA); his ERA as a reliever in Cinci from ’00-05 is 3.61 (unless I made a math mistake).
"You never know how you look through other people's eyes"
I got it from BBRef
This report. And I actually mistyped his FIP. It’s really 4.24, not 4.14 (using the 3.20 constant formula)
Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter
Sullivan has to be on this list!
4 straight 100+ IP years (two in this decade), 0 GS. I’m sure that hasn’t been duplicated since.
i had him
ive always had a twinkle in my eye for Sully. dude was an ox.
"Everything you are doing is bad. I want you to know this."
by Charlie Scrabbles on Dec 15, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
dude was a sidearm freak ... gets my vote just for that
"Some times you get lucky; some times you get Willy Taveras." - Teh Fay
by joshuar9476 on Dec 15, 2009 11:31 PM EST up reply actions
Kent Tekulve asks for love
well, a tan moreso. But love, too.

"And then there was the USAID guy in Kandahar who drove a giant pink Cadillac, which the locals set on fire one day. If you wanted to destroy something symbolic during a riot, you just could not do better than that. Good stuff." - Ghosts of Alexander
I am ashamed and embarrassed
that I passed over Scott Sullivan. Scott, I’m sorry. You definitely deserved a spot on my ballot.
"If it wasn't this, it'd be something else."
Leaving Graves off the list
was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.
Closer: Coco
Righty 1: Williamson
Righty 2: Masset
Lefty 1: Affeldt
Lefty 2: Colossus
Extra special reliever 1: Merker
Extra special reliever 2: Burton
Set the gearshift to the high gear of your soul.
by Kevin Mitchell is Batman on Dec 15, 2009 2:09 PM EST reply actions
Reply broken again (still)
Slyde -
I see where I screwed up. Four starts in ’02 and four non-starts in ’03; I treated ’02 as all non-starts and ’03 as all starts.
"You never know how you look through other people's eyes"
reply is broken for some people in threads that have sortable tables
sorry for your crappy luck.
Red Reporter or follow on Twitter: @redreporter
It's been a sad decade
but there’s at least cold comfort in the fact that most of the best players are members of the present team. Even discounting Volquez, the 2010 squad has the best pitching in a decade, featuring two best prospects in a decade.
Yeah, those guys and the Cincinnati Reds. They're a terrible football team. / Because they're a baseball team? / Exactly. You know who's the worst football team? The Philadelphia Flyers. - Best Show
by RijoSaboCaseyWKRP on Dec 15, 2009 4:45 PM EST reply actions
I gave
the closer spot to Graves mostly because of time served.
If Coco is here another year or two he would likely get the nod.
Anyway,
Graves
Coco
Weathers
Affelt
Rhodes
Williamson
Sullivan
The righties were easy. The lefties were more difficult because the ones that have been good were not here long enough.

by 

























