Team-Building Amusement Exercise - Part 2

So, the bullpen this time. I'm going to try and describe the role they'll fill as I go along, though it may be a bit vague in some cases. I ended up with 7 relievers, which wasn't my preference. I would rather have six bench players and six relievers, but when I was down to my last few seasons, there weren't many bench players I thought were viable options, not compared to the available relievers. I'll go through them chronologically, from the oldest to the most recent.

1) Ricky Horton (Long Relief/Spot Starter), 1986 - 42 games, 9 starts, 100.3 IP, 4-3, 49 K, 26 BB, 1 CG, 3 SV, 2.24 ERA.

Other stats: 17 Pitching Runs Above Average (PRAA), 4.2 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 1.027 WHIP, 3.5 WARP3

I always think it's kind of cool when a pitcher has saves and a complete game. I'm a sucker for versatility, and Horton has that. He's good against lefties (their OPS was .564), and righties (.612). He was actually better on the road (.572) than at home (.639). He pitched in every inning at some point or the other. He was, simply put, really good that year.

2) Ken Dayley (Lefty Reliever/7th or 8th Inning Guy), 1990 - 58 games, 73.3 IP, 4-4, 51 K, 30 BB, 2 SV, 3.56 ERA.

Other stats: 5 PRAA, 6.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 1.268 WHIP, 1.5 WARP3

It isn't one of Dayley's better seasons, but it's still pretty good. He's still better than average, and I didn't feel like I could have a bullpen from the last 25 years and not have the guy who was the #1 lefty in the pen for a quarter of that time. Oddly, Dayley was much better against righties (.588 OPS) than lefties (.727), which is why I also listed him as a 7th or 8th inning guy. Lefties still aren't hitting that well against him, and Dayley's no one-out pitcher, so no reason I couldn't use him for entire innings.

3) Mike Perez (8th Inning Guy/Backup Closer), 1993 - 64 games, 72.7 IP, 7-2, 58 K, 20 BB, 7 SV, 2.48 ERA.

Other stats: 15 PRAA, 7.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 1.170 WHIP, 3.0 WARP3

Perez was a guy I wasn't sure I would add. I considered Gerald Perry as the sixth bench guy, essentially just a pinch-hitter. Eventually, I figured I had a guy who could fill Perry's role, and Perez was worth two more wins over replacement than Gerald, so higher value. Perez is a righty that's stronger against righties, but neither side hits particularly well against him. He did almost all his work in the 8th or 9th innings (of 297 batters he faced, 216 were in those two innings).

4) Rob Murphy (#2 Lefty Reliever/LOOGY), 1994 - 50 games, 40.3 IP, 4-3, 25 K, 13 BB, 3.79 ERA.

Other stats: 8 PRAA, 5.0 K/9 2.8 BB/9, 1.190 WHIP, 2.0 WARP3

Picking up lots of relievers in the mid-90s, which I imagine says something about the state of the team at that time. As you could tell from his number of games and innings, Murphy frequently pitched less than an inning at a time. What's interesting about that is he doesn't show much of a platoon difference that would suggest he should be a Lefty One Out GuY. Righties posted a .754 OPS, lefties a .729. What's even stranger is he faced more righties than lefties, so I really have no idea what Torre was thinking, but that's true of many of his bullpen decisions during his StL stint (taking Omar Olivares and Rheal Cormier out of the rotation and slotting them into the 'pen, like the team had dozens of viable starters lined up. Yeah, Allen Watson was a much better option).

5) Tom Henke (Closer), 1995 - 52 games, 54.3 IP, 1-1, 48 K, 18 BB, 36 SV, 1.82 ERA.

Other stats: 35 PRAA, 7.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.104 WHIP, 6.3 WARP3

The Cardinals have had several good closers the last 25 years (Worrell, Lee Smith, late career Eckersley, Izzy in a good year), but rarely have they pitched for such a lousy team. The '95 Cardinals are probably the worst squad of the last 25 years, and so it was pretty easy to select their rep. This was Henke's last year, and his only season in the NL, and it's a pretty good one. So the 9th ought to be locked down, by a pitcher with thick Coke bottle glasses, no less.

6) Rich Croushore (Mop-Up Pitcher), 1999 - 59 games, 71.7 IP, 3-7, 88 K, 43 BB, 3 SV, 4.14 ERA.

Other stats: 11.1 K/9, 5.4 BB/9, 1.549 WHIP

Croushore's not a pick that has any statistical justification, as you can tell by his high walk rate and less than impressive ERA. I picked him for one reason: He threw a screwball. In all my time as a fan up to then, I had never known of a Cardinal pitcher that threw a screwball, and that seemed really cool and unique. So Croushore gets in, and hey, I need a guy to pitch when the game is out of hand, so between him and probably Murphy, I'm covered. It should work out, Rich never settled into a consistent role under LaRussa, so why not mop-up guy?

7) Dave Veres (What Do You Need Done?), 2002 - 71 games, 82.7 IP, 5-8, 68 K, 39 BB, 4 SV, 3.48 ERA.

Other stats: 5 PRAA, 6.4 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.282 WHIP, 1.4 WARP3

I always liked Dave Veres. Maybe it was because his 2000 season demonstrated a competence that had been sorely lacking at the closer spot the previous two years under Jeff Brantley and Rickey Bottalicco. Maybe it was that he was effective without being overpowering (his success was heavily reliant on his splitfinger doing its thing, but not having too much movement). This season was part of it. Veres had sort of lost his closing job at the end of 2001, as Steve Kline took some of the save opportunities, and then the Cardinals signed Izzy in the offseason. Veres simply accepted the change in role, and did what the Cardinals asked. If they needed him to be 8th innings set-up guy, he was. If they needed him to pitch the 7th and 8th, he would. If the starter the next day bombed out, and they needed him to pitch the 4th through the 6th, sure, he'd do that. Whatever you needed. So here he is.

Next time, the bench guys. I know, I said I'd do the starters first, but I changed my mind.