Our pen is mightier than other AL pens. At least according to newest addition to the SportsBlogs Family, Beyond the Boxscore.
This is excellent analysis as Beyond the Boxscore is our new stats-driven baseball site. The site will revolve around statistical analysis and I imagine will satiate the hungry stat-fiends out there.
A key note from the piece:
59 G, 65 IP, 51 H, 11 ER, 3 HR, 22 BB, 65 K, 1.52 ERA.
So, essentially, in the early going, the A's have had 5 relievers pitching like bona fida relief aces.
What interests me most about this is that EVERYONE else is having bullpen trouble. Beane stocked up on relievers in the offseason, adding Yabu, Calero, and Cruz, and the A's have an absolute strength. Imagine how many teams will be calling the A's trying to get a reliever for the stretch run come July. The A's can afford to spare one... they definitely should be able to get that offensive part they need to boost them to the division win. How about Dubois from the Cubs? (Just speculation. I have no idea.)
The rest of the league's bullpen pitchers: 4.14 ERA, 6.93 K/9, 4.06 BB/9.
So Beane has once again found the undervalued part of a baseball team, and it's currently the bullpen.
Plus, this helps A's fans get some perspective that many do in fact think this team will eventually turn around the offensive woes, whether that's through a deal or just some of our players returning to their statistical norm.
Also, for those of you that are also fans of other teams, we've added many new team blogs to the family, under the SportsBlogs Family heading.
Oh, and you have to check out this photo from Crawfish Boxes, our new Astros blog. It's called Looking for Dusty Baker.
