interesting article on relief pitchers

[gunnarthor]

Because of the haul the Phillies got, ESPN's sweetspot had a nice little piece on the value of relief pitchers.  Here's a very interesting closing part.

 

"In 2015, 59 relievers pitched at least 50 innings with an ERA of 3.00 or under.

In 2014, there were 67 such relievers.

In 2013, there were 65 such relievers.

The number of relievers who did this in two of those three seasons? Forty.

The number who did this in all three? Just 12. Relievers burn quickly; very few are dominant year after year after year. The Astros believe they've acquired one of those few in Giles, preferring to bet on him rather than Velasquez's less-known future."

 

 

The three Twins that would be on that list are Perkins, Boyer and Swarzak.  

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Jepsen's in the group that did it in 2 of those 3 seasons, albeit only partially for the Twins.

 

I don't like looking at such things with a hard cut-off, though -- Jepsen would have just missed on both accounts for 2012, but still was a useful and leveraged reliever for the Angels that season.

 

Also having a fixed 3 year window leaves out guys like Giles, who didn't debut until halfway through that window.  Should be looking at 3 year stretches over a longer sample.