Written by Amit Lal
| 10 May 2010
After two more tough outings on Saturday and Sunday against the Brewers, the Diamondbacks' bullpen ERA is now up to 6.95. That puts them over 1.5 runs worse than any other team in the National League, and over 2.5 runs worse than the 2009 crew.
The 2009 bullpen was a major problem, but that group was more than two runs better, with an ERA of 4.61. In fact, the Diamondbacks' bullpen ERA has risen each season since the division winning team of 2007.
Diamondbacks' Bullpen ERA
| Year |
ERA |
WHIP |
| 2007 |
3.95 |
1.337 |
| 2008 |
4.09 |
1.331 |
| 2009 |
4.61 |
1.438 |
| 2010 |
6.95 |
1.665 |
Compared to the rest of the National League, the Diamondbacks' bullpen is over 1.5 runs worse than every other team. The Rockies' pen leads the league at 2.43, with the Mets, Padres, and Cardinals also below 3.00. On the other end of the list, the Cubs are at 5.34 and the Pirates are at 5.40. Way behind these two are Diamondbacks at 6.95. The team's WHIP of 1.665 is also well below the Cubs' 1.517.
The average ERA for a National League bullpen is currently 4.15. The Diamondbacks don't have a single pitcher at that level right now; the closest is
Aaron Heilman at 4.26, while every other member of the pen is over 6.00. Closer
Chad Qualls has an ERA of 6.94, and set-up man
Juan Gutierrez is at 6.75. There is not much help available from the
farm system - only Daniel Urquidez,
Billy Buckner and
recently acquired Carlos Rosa are
options at AAA, and
Roque Mercedes from AA.
Clay Zavada, who pitched well for the Diamondbacks in 2009, has been battling injuries and currently has an ERA of 30.00 at AAA. It looks like the Diamondbacks only hope is for the existing group to start pitching better - they can hardly do any worse.
| Bullpen |
ERA |
WHIP |
IP |
H |
ER |
BB |
K |
K/BB |
| COL |
2.43 |
1.186 |
103.7 |
83 |
28 |
40 |
83 |
2.08 |
| NYM |
2.69 |
1.293 |
113.7 |
87 |
34 |
60 |
106 |
1.77 |
| SDP |
2.86 |
1.042 |
103.7 |
72 |
33 |
36 |
109 |
3.03 |
| STL |
2.93 |
1.313 |
83.0 |
76 |
27 |
33 |
64 |
1.94 |
| ATL |
3.28 |
1.229 |
96.0 |
75 |
35 |
43 |
93 |
2.16 |
| SFG |
3.76 |
1.414 |
81.3 |
78 |
34 |
37 |
75 |
2.03 |
| HOU |
3.84 |
1.249 |
93.7 |
90 |
40 |
27 |
66 |
2.44 |
| WAS |
3.87 |
1.390 |
109.3 |
94 |
47 |
58 |
97 |
1.67 |
| PHI |
3.95 |
1.331 |
79.7 |
74 |
35 |
32 |
62 |
1.94 |
| FLA |
4.55 |
1.440 |
91.0 |
89 |
46 |
42 |
96 |
2.29 |
| MIL |
4.85 |
1.490 |
104.0 |
112 |
56 |
43 |
93 |
2.16 |
| LAD |
4.86 |
1.500 |
109.3 |
112 |
59 |
52 |
84 |
1.62 |
| CIN |
4.95 |
1.495 |
96.3 |
102 |
53 |
42 |
97 |
2.31 |
| CHC |
5.34 |
1.517 |
87.7 |
90 |
52 |
43 |
85 |
1.98 |
| PIT |
5.40 |
1.500 |
116.7 |
116 |
70 |
59 |
110 |
1.86 |
| ARI |
6.95 |
1.665 |
90.7 |
101 |
70 |
50 |
72 |
1.44 |
| NL |
4.15 |
1.377 |
1559.7 |
1451 |
719 |
697 |
1392 |
2.00 |
