[討論] Pacific Perspectives: Asian Closers
Pacific Perspectives: Asian Closers
Posted by Michael Street on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 3:19 pm
At the start of the year, no Asian ballplayers were appearing at the back end
of MLB bullpens, but now that September has dawned, no fewer than three
Eastern imports are finishing games for their teams. Their varied paths
emphasize the different ways that pitchers find themselves as the
ninth-inning man, and lend proof towards the sabermetric assertion that any
pitcher can close.
Of the three candidates, Taiwan’s Hong-Chih Kuo is the most conventional and
expected arm. Despite being a lefty, Kuo has long been considered a good
endgame option, and only health and the presence of more established options
have kept him away from that role.
This year, one of the many disappointments on Joe Torre’s Dodgers has been
the collapse of Jonathan Broxton, whose inability to slam the door on
opponents gave Kuo the chance he needed. Although Broxton’s 3.66 ERA, 1.31
WHIP, and 10.8 K/9 are all respectable numbers, they are all career worsts,
or at least lows not seen since his rookie season in 2005.
Ever since mid-August, Joe Torre has looked more and more to Kuo, who is
putting up the best primary numbers of his career: a 1.36 ERA and 0.81 WHIP
are eye-popping, though he’s done better than the 10.2 K/9 and 3.53 K/B
rates before. What he’s done particularly well is shut down opposing
lefties, who can only muster a .105/.161/.123 line against him—righties can’
t crow all that much with their .157/.241/.228 line, but it looks positively
Ruthian in comparison.
Kuo’s velocity is also at career highs, as his average fastball velocity of
94.2 MPH is equaled to last year’s all-time best for him, while he’s never
averaged 86.8 in his slider before. That’s the sort of repertoire you expect
from a closer, but it’s something his fellow Asian stoppers don’t share.
http://www.baseballdailydigest.com/2010/09/14/pacific-perspectives-asian-closers/
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