Offseason Awards: Reliever of the Year

Award season continues at J's Dodger Blog, as we move on to Reliever of the Year. There are four big candidates for this prestigious award.

And the nominees are:


George Sherrill
-Ok, granted, Sherrill only pitched in 27.2 innings for the Dodgers. But what a fantastic 27.2 innings those were. A 0.65 ERA! That's two runs. Two runs spread out over thirty games, while holding opponents to a .192 BAA. He also picked up 11 Holds over that span, putting him fourth on the team behind only Hong-Chih Kuo, Troncoso, and Belisario.


Jonathan Broxton
-The big man in his first full season as the Dodgers' closer wasn't bad. He picked up 36 saves over the course of the season, but more impressive are some of his other numbers. Just look at this stuff: 2.61 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a .165 BAA. Plus: 114 strikeouts in 76.0 innings. Broxton's 114 strikeouts was good for fourth place on the entire team, and he did it in less than half the innings the starters did it in. That's just impressive.


Ramon Troncoso
-Where'd this guy come from?! He debuted in 2008 and posted a 4.26 ERA over 38 innings. It was unimpressive to say the least. Then, suddenly, this year, Troncoso appears in 73 games, pitching 82.2 innings, and posting a 2.72 ERA over that span. That, my friends, is a nice turn around.


Ronald Belisario
-Remember when I asked where Troncoso came from? Remember how I pointed out that he seemingly appeared from nowhere, the depths of mediocrity to become one of our best relievers this season? (I just wrote those things, you better have not forgotten by now.) Anyway, Ronald Belisario looks at Troncoso's surprising rise, and scoffs. MSTI wrote a pretty good piece summarizing the main question people had coming into the season: who the hell is Ronald Belisario?! He's had a sketchy baseball past to say the least, and his career stats weren't promising, so, it really is quite odd that Belisario posted a 2.04 ERA in 69 games for us this season. I mean, come on, those are some pretty great stats for a guy who almost literally came from nowhere.



...and the winner is...

Jonathan Broxton.

Sherrill was good, but didn't make enough impact over the full season. Belisario and Troncoso were both surprisingly excellent, but both suffered from fatigue late in the season, and saw their stats start to slide.

That's not to say Broxton didn't have his own struggles as well, but darn if I can't ignore how good his numbers are. 114 strikeouts?! A 0.96 WHIP?! Those numbers ain't right!

Unfortunately for Broxton, most people choose to ignore how great he was this year and focus on the blown saves. And yes, a closer's job is to get saves, but I think Broxton suffers for people's selective memories.

I mean, Broxton did pick up two big saves this postseason, but in the end, all people will remember is the one blown one.

Ultimately, that is part of being a closer. You are the easiest person to blame because your failures are so memorable and take place with you positioned on center stage.

That's why, I propose this to all Dodger fans, or baseball fans in general. Don't make any decisions on the team after a blown save. Those blown saves are the hardest to take, and you are often so emotionally charged after the game that your opinions and views are skewed. Take a couple of deep breaths, wait a couple days, then revisit it.

...that's why I'm rewarding Broxton with this award. Because if you step back from the emotion of the blown save and just look at Broxton's numbers, you realize how very good he was this year.

So, for all that, Jonathan Broxton is the "J's Dodger Blog 2009 Reliever of the Year."