One of the joys of baseball is the statistics. Growing up, there were a limited number of statistics, but each had import. Sabermetrics hadn’t been invented yet. My gosh, slugging percentage and on-base percentage weren’t popular back then. I actually recall when the stat, Quality Start, was introduced. Sacrilege! How dare they come up with a new statistic, especially one that didn’t describe quality?
Numbers meant something. 714, 61, 2130, 511. I doubt I have to tell you what each number represents. Then in the 1980’s new statistics were identified. For years, middle relievers didn’t have their own statistic. That all changed in 1986 when the “Hold” statistic was invented.
To earn a Hold, a pitcher must enter into the game in a Save situation, not be credited with the win or a save, record at least one out, and leave the game before it has ended and his team has not relinquished the lead.
While not an official MLB statistic, holds are identified in box scores and an increasing number of fantasy leagues use the hold or the blended SHold (Saves/Hold) statistic. My question is, “Why?”
Of all the useless statistics out there (and there are a myriad of useless statistics), the Hold has to be at or near the top. Don’t agree?
Fine, let’s look at the Dodger/Nationals game this past Saturday. The Dodgers led 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Yimi Garcia was on the mound, and after allowed a Trea Turner double he then retired Wilmer Difo on a grounder, sending Turner to third.
Tony Cingrani came on to replace Garcia. This was a hold situation.
Cingrani went on to hit Bryce Harper, retire Anthony Rendon, then allowed a double to Mark Reynolds, scoring inherited runner Turner, and sending Harper to third. After walking Michael Taylor to load the bases, Cingrani got the hook. Cingrani went 1/3 of an inning, allowed his only inherited runner to score and left the bases loaded and the Dodgers clinging to a 2-1 lead.
Daniel Hudson relieved the ineffective Cingrani and two singles later, the inning was over, with the Nationals leading 4-2. Cingrani ’s final line looked like this:
IP H R ER BB SO HBP
0.1 1 3 3 1 0 1
Cingrani entered the game with the Dodgers ahead, but by the time his damage was accounted for, the Dodgers trailed by two. For his miserable efforts, Tony Cingrani earned a Hold. Incidentally, Cingrani is 13th in the NL in this deceiving and utterly useless statistic. Hudson deservedly received a blown save.
On to starting pitching. We witnessed something this weekend that hasn’t happened in six years, and has only happened five times in the past 40 years. Sergio Romo was the starting pitcher on consecutive days.
This last happened in 2012 when Zach Grienke threw four pitchers before getting ejected. Grienke came back to pitch the next game. The last time a starting pitcher started on consecutive days not due to weather or ejection was in 1980 when Steve McCatty went 1.6 innings on April 14, giving up five runs on five hits and three walks. Figuring that he had more in him, the A’s brought him back the very next day. McCatty went 8.6 innings on April 15, earning the win. Obviously, he did have something left.
If your league counts games starts as a positive category (and why not, if Holds can be one, so can game starts), then Sergio Romo was a stud this weekend. Romo went 2 innings, walked a batter, and got all six of his outs via strikeouts. The Rays were off on Monday, ending Romo’s consecutive days starting at two. Jacob Faria is schedule to pitch Tuesday, so Romo will now go back to middle relief and aim for Holds (he has four thus far this season).
On to the fantasy front, my NFBC main event team currently sits in the top 100 overall, and in a six team logjam with 11 points separating first from sixth. Considering its not yet Memorial Day and the standings mean very little, I’m not terribly upset. This week’s FAAB posed a challenge. Historically, I’ve made runs at the newest closer du jour, only to watch him crash and burn within days or weeks of my pickup. Names like Joaquin Benoit, Daniel Hudson, Sergio Santos and Jon Rauch still cause involuntary convulsions.
This week, I had the opportunity to bid on the newest shiny toy, potential closer Seranthony Dominguez. He’s looked amazing thus far, and Hector Neris hasn’t, so Dominguez very well might be the Phillies next closer. I’m sitting on Brandon Morrow and Felipe Vazquez, but as closers go, anything might happen. As I wasn’t among the top five in FAAB remaining, I don’t reasonably believe that I will have enough to get Juan Soto next week, or Vlad Guerrero Jr., if he comes up later, so I went big on Dominguez.
Apparently, I was in the minority in my league as my $221 bid (I had $567 remaining prior to the bid) easily eclipsed the $89 runner-up bid. Last week, a team went $301 on Tyler Clippard (jury still out), and another went $107 on Jim Johnson (cut by that very same team seven days later), so recent, and not too recent, history isn’t on my side. If Dominguez pans out, I will have the option of utilizing three closers for the time being. If Dominguez doesn’t get the job, I’m $221 poorer, and the search will continue. The only saving grace is that I’m not alone as 90% of the teams in virtually every league have room for another closer.
Best of luck,
Buster
Follow Buster @BusterH_Esq.
