Who Were the Best Relief Pitchers in 2005?
By
John Dewan
November 15, 2005
Mariano Rivera stood head and shoulders above eveyone else, but looking at the top ten pitchers in relief ERA you find three pitchers from the World Champion Chicago White Sox.
Name
Team
ERA
Saves
Holds
Rivera, Mariano
NYY
1.38
43
0
Wagner, Billy
Phi
1.51
38
0
Street, Huston
Oak
1.72
23
0
Turnbow, Derrick
Mil
1.74
39
2
Cordero, Chad
Was
1.82
47
0
Linebrink, Scott
SD
1.83
1
26
Dempster, Ryan
ChC
1.85
33
0
Cotts, Neal
CWS
1.94
0
13
Politte, Cliff
CWS
2.00
1
23
Hermanson, Dustin
CWS
2.04
34
5
*Note: Pitchers with 50+ innings in relief in 2005
The first chart was ranked by ERA, but what if we look at opponent on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS)? Here's the ranking by OPS:
Name
Team
ERA
Saves
Holds
OPS
Rivera, Mariano
NYY
1.38
43
0
0.465
Wagner, Billy
Phi
1.51
38
0
0.494
Howry, Bob
Cle
2.47
3
29
0.515
Cotts, Neal
CWS
1.94
0
13
0.527
Wise, Matt
Mil
3.36
1
10
0.530
Nathan, Joe
Min
2.70
43
0
0.534
Street, Huston
Oak
1.72
23
0
0.535
Heilman, Aaron
NYM
2.18
5
5
0.542
Farnsworth, Kyle
Atl
2.19
16
19
0.544
Reyes, Al
StL
2.15
3
16
0.550
It's still Mariano Rivera, with Billy Wagner number two again. Bobby Howry's superb season comes to light in this chart. His 29 holds were third in the American League (behind the 33 turned in by Tom Gordon with the Yankees and Scot Shields with the Angels).
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