LOB% is the percentage of baserunners allowed that didn't score a run. LOB% is one way to measure how good a pitcher is at getting out of jams or, how lucky he is. It does not take team defense into account.
2007 Season Stats for Select
Player | IP | ERA | ERA+ | WHIP | LOB% | K/BB | SV | BS | SV% |
J. Borowski | 56.7 | 5.40 | 82 | 1.46 | 65.2 | 3.4 | 40 | 6 | 87 |
F. Rodriguez | 59.3 | 3.03 | 143 | 1.26 | 76.6 | 2.68 | 34 | 6 | 85 |
M. Rivera | 62.7 | 3.02 | 144 | 1.06 | 76.5 | 8.12 | 25 | 3 | 89.3 |
J. Papelbon | 52.3 | 1.55 | 295 | .764 | 91.1 | 5.26 | 35 | 2 | 94.6 |
According to the save stats, Borowski is a top 5 closer this season. How can a guy who does his job so well still face such harsh criticism and doubt over the course of a season? Well, part of the problem is perception. 87% of the time, Borowski gets the job done, but when Borowski does blow a save, it’s often so spectacular and catastrophic that it becomes ingrained in his ERA and the fans’ minds for quite a while.
By now, Tribe fans are familiar with the peculiar situations manager Eric Wedge has called on his closer. For whatever reason, Borowski just can’t find success in non-save situations. He can even come in with more than 3 runs and still blow the lead; it’s utterly amazing. You would think the manager would stop putting Borowski in such volatile situations after a while right? Nah, where’s the fun in that? I knew Joe’s stats were inflated in large part to his forays into non-save territory, but had yet to look at the actual splits. Below are Borowski’s splits for 2007 in non-save situations:
IP | H | BB | ER | ERA | WHIP |
13 | 19 | 3 | 16 | 11.07 | 1.69 |
The above numbers were actually a lot worse than I thought they would be, but you can see right away how those 13 innings would really mess up Joe’s other stats. 13 innings is kind of a small sample size, but considering they make up 22.9% of his total IP, I’d say that’s a significant sample.
I realize Wedge has no choice but to go to Borowski in certain late inning situations (like extra innings or to stay sharp during long save droughts), but he seems to go out of his way to use Borowski in certain situations. I agree that a manager should put his best pitcher out there with the game on the line, but
Let’s go deeper into the splits. What’s the worst Borowski implosion that comes to mind? A lot of Tribe fans would probably point to the April 19 game at
IP | H | BB | ER | ERA | WHIP |
12.1 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 7.43 | 1.32 |
That’s still a pretty bad stat line, but that one blow-up in
IP | H | BB | ER | ERA | WHIP | SV | BS | SV% |
43.2 | 49 | 12 | 18 | 3.75 | 1.41 | 40 | 6 | 87 |
A 3.75 ERA and 40 saves still don’t seem to match up, but it’s not anywhere near as unusual as his raw ERA of 5.40. The fact that his WHIP overall and in saves is separated by just .05 points is curious. A high WHIP like that would imply Joe is either really good at holding baserunners once they’re on or just really lucky. The LOB% of 65 from earlier would imply he isn’t much of either, but no one’s been able to figure out how Wickman earns his saves either, so go figure.
My main point is that Borowski might not be a great pitcher (trust me, he knows), but he is still very, very good at what he does. Joe’s got decent stuff, but it’s his intelligence and closer mentality that allow him to walk the tightrope with as much success as he’s had. He may work the ugliest saves since, well…our last closer, but Borowski does his job and probably doesn’t care what you or I think anyway. Forty saves and counting: how much more can you ask from a closer?
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