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We move on, in our project to crowd-source the top 50 all-time players for the Arizona Diamondbacks, as they completed the franchise’s first two decades. This is the final batch, with the position players and starting pitchers already having been selected. We therefore finish with the bullpen. Just so we’re clear, these are defined as all pitchers with at least twice as many relief appearances as starts. Below, you will find some selected statistics for the nineteen relief pitchers to have posted at least one bWAR as a Diamondback. However, the value and stats above are for ALL appearances, whether starting or relieving.
Diamondbacks relievers, 1998-2017
Rk | Player | WAR | G | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | FIP | ERA+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Player | WAR | G | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | FIP | ERA+ |
1 | Byung-Hyun Kim | 8.4 | 245 | 325.2 | 239 | 132 | 124 | 153 | 383 | 3.43 | 3.73 | 136 |
2 | Brad Ziegler | 7.3 | 348 | 335.2 | 279 | 107 | 93 | 105 | 218 | 2.49 | 3.37 | 161 |
3 | Jose Valverde | 5.6 | 253 | 260.0 | 194 | 105 | 95 | 111 | 331 | 3.29 | 3.40 | 141 |
4 | Greg Swindell | 4.1 | 225 | 227.1 | 214 | 98 | 95 | 54 | 180 | 3.76 | 4.30 | 124 |
5 | Juan Cruz | 3.7 | 141 | 207.1 | 159 | 90 | 80 | 110 | 246 | 3.47 | 3.86 | 136 |
6 | Daniel Hudson | 3.5 | 190 | 477.2 | 463 | 228 | 206 | 125 | 407 | 3.88 | 3.51 | 106 |
7 | J.J. Putz | 3.5 | 175 | 160.1 | 129 | 52 | 50 | 46 | 178 | 2.81 | 2.85 | 142 |
8 | Mike Koplove | 3.5 | 217 | 248.2 | 225 | 116 | 104 | 101 | 171 | 3.76 | 4.07 | 122 |
9 | Matt Mantei | 2.7 | 178 | 173.2 | 139 | 83 | 78 | 94 | 221 | 4.04 | 3.86 | 116 |
10 | Andrew Chafin | 2.4 | 172 | 163.0 | 139 | 68 | 66 | 70 | 157 | 3.64 | 3.31 | 120 |
11 | Brandon Lyon | 2.1 | 234 | 232.0 | 257 | 116 | 104 | 67 | 147 | 4.03 | 4.03 | 116 |
12 | Gregg Olson | 2.0 | 125 | 129.1 | 110 | 53 | 48 | 50 | 100 | 3.34 | 4.13 | 132 |
13 | Brandon Medders | 1.8 | 135 | 151.0 | 144 | 70 | 59 | 66 | 109 | 3.52 | 4.67 | 133 |
14 | Oscar Villarreal | 1.7 | 114 | 129.2 | 116 | 62 | 50 | 59 | 102 | 3.47 | 4.04 | 134 |
15 | Randall Delgado | 1.6 | 236 | 403.2 | 387 | 201 | 185 | 141 | 366 | 4.12 | 4.04 | 101 |
16 | Tony Pena | 1.5 | 209 | 222.2 | 220 | 115 | 101 | 67 | 162 | 4.08 | 4.02 | 115 |
17 | David Hernandez | 1.4 | 274 | 252.1 | 199 | 109 | 102 | 88 | 289 | 3.64 | 3.41 | 112 |
18 | Luis Vizcaino | 1.4 | 70 | 65.1 | 51 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 72 | 3.58 | 4.05 | 132 |
19 | Doug Slaten | 1.1 | 126 | 80.2 | 87 | 40 | 33 | 31 | 55 | 3.68 | 4.57 | 129 |
Below, you’ll find a link to a Google form, listing the players, and for this stage, a straight yes/no question: should they be included in the all-time top 50? The 8 who receive the highest percentage of votes will proceed on to the second, ranking stage. [#9 may be included as a wild-card, if he gets a higher percentage than the top non-qualifying starter] You shouldn’t worry too much about voting yes for exactly 8. It would make sense to approve about half of them, but if you have 7 or 9, I’m not going to disqualify you. To prevent ballot-box stuffing - for example by douchebag Dodger fans (not that such a thing could possibly exist) - a username is requested, but as long as your ballot makes sense, I’m not going to agonize if you don’t provide one.
It’s entirely up to you on what criteria you judge whether or not a player should advance, and what process you adopt. Personally, I’d do three sweeps and triage the candidates. The first would involve voting yes on the “obvious” qualifiers. The second, voting no on the obvious non-qualifiers. The final sweep will involve a more detailed look at the remaining candidates. The form lists the candidates in random order, so there should be no bias resulting from a player’s position on the list. I’ve also added a wild-card box, so you can write-in any other relief pitchers, not listed. Responses will close at 5pm on Thursday, with the results being published later that day.
Feel free to explain selections - especially for or against the candidates you consider to be borderline choices - in the comments below.