Rise of the POOGY?

Was this pitcher the 2010 POOGY?

There has been much debate through the years over the value of each particular pitcher in a bullpen, although closers (and thanks to the Yankees now setup men) are getting the largest salaries, and through the specialization of particular pieces of the bullpen, such as LOOGY’s (Lefty Only One GuY) and even talk of ROOGY’s now.  But possibly the most valuable pitcher in the bullpen is someone else, we can call him a POOGY. (Power Of the Order GuY)

For this discussion, a POOGY is the bullpen guy who faces the toughest batters in the opponentss batting order regardless of inning, quite possibly a more important task than retiring the lower part of the batting order with a three-run lead in the ninth to record a save.  In looking at the Rays’ relievers last year there is possibly a contrast between those who recorded the money stats and those who did the toughest work.

Rafael Soriano faced the #3 batter in the opponents’ lineup the least number of times of any lineup position, (only 17 times) and the three lineup spots he faced the least were the 3,4, 5 positions, a total of only 61 at bats.  By  contrast, he faced the 7, 8, 9 batters in the order 80 times.  The #3 batters also had a very high OPS (.807) in those AB, second only to the #8 hitters (.858) He had a great year, no debate about that, but the flaws in the "save" as a statistic may be shown through the comparison to the other bullpen pitchers.

Randy Choate was predominantly a LOOGY last season, yet he faced the 1-3 hitters in the lineup 81 times, while facing the 7-9 spots only 20 times.  No matter your feelings regarding lineup construction, it has to get your attention that he was facing a tougher part of the order than Rafael.

Grant Balfour faced the 8, 9, 1, 2 spots the most at 101 times, probably the best idea for a guy who relies mostly on fastballs only.  He also faced the 3-6 spots only 77 times. Still more than Soriano, but not the bulk of his work.

Wheeler faced the numbers 6-9 batters 97 times and the 1-4 batters only 60 times.  (Interesting note, he did not give up a HR with men on base last year) Dan is another who "loaded up" on the weakest part of the lineup.

Joaquin Benoit’s stats are among the most balanced, he faced the 3-7 spots in the opponents’ order the most, which most definitely could be called the “power” of an order.  #4 hitters had an OPS of .241, #6 hitters an OPS of .070 (not a misprint). He faced the 8, 9, 1, 2 guys only 68 times, while facing 4-7 spots in the order 113 times. This is the guy who did the heavy lifting out of the bullpen last season.

Soriano may have gotten the most press and money after last season, but it seems clear that the POOGY of last season’s bullpen was Benoit, with Choate (who already has a title) possibly the runner up.