[新聞] Pirates 'pen successful without Capps
08/21/2008 6:56 PM ET
Pirates 'pen successful without Capps
Relievers converted 11 of 13 save situations
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
==
The goal was to weather the storm. It was to make sure that the results
didn't take too hard of a dive.
Without closer Matt Capps as an anchor, the bullpen would surely falter. As
it turns out, though, it did anything but.
Capps will likely rejoin the club on Friday in Milwaukee and be activated off
the disabled list on Saturday. His expected eight-week recovery process took
just seven, and the expected struggles the rest of the 'pen would have in
Capps' absence would be thwarted by a resilient and revolving group of seven
that stood up to the challenge.
"Obviously you've seen teams lose a closer and next thing you know, it
becomes a little bit of a circus," manager John Russell said. "Guys filled in
when needed. I think it's pieced together more as we hoped it would. "
Russell refused to use the term "closer by committee" over the past two
months, but that's more or less what the ninth-inning duties became,
especially once the Pirates also lost Damaso Marte. Marte had taken the reins
of the closer role, recording four saves in July, before being traded to the
Yankees.
From there, the bullpen roles were once again shuffled and the duties were
dispersed.
In all, the Pirates saw five different relievers record saves after Capps
went on the DL with right shoulder bursitis. With seven relievers now picking
up at least one save this season for Pittsburgh, the club has had more
pitchers tally a save this year than in any season since 1996, when they had
eight.
And remember, this is a group that was supposed to be the team's weak spot
when Spring Training began.
"It's been a challenge," Russell said. "We've pieced it together with some
pretty good arms and some guys who know how to pitch a little bit. We've
mixed and matched pretty well this year to give ourselves a good chance to
hold leads or to keep us in games."
Without Capps, and without Marte to a lesser extent, the results were surely
expected to suffer. Surprisingly, though, the numbers show a different story.
Before Capps' injury, the Pirates 'pen had a 4.64 ERA. Keeping that number
stable would have been an adequate goal. Instead, it got better.
Since July 2, the day the Pirates announced Capps' ailment, the bullpen has
posted a 3.83 ERA in 145 2/3 innings of work. It has held opponents to a .248
batting average and combined for 96 strikeouts.
"We've still done the same job," said Denny Bautista, who joined the team
just days before Capps went down with an injury. "And now that we're going to
have Matt Capps in a couple of days, it's going to be a good boost for us."
Maybe the most impressive of all the stats, though, is the fact that the
Pirates converted 11 of the 13 save situations without their closer.
When Capps returned to the Pirates clubhouse on Monday to be examined, he
lauded his 'pen mates. The young right-hander also went so far as to say that
he would understand if he had to earn his closer's role back because of the
success his teammates, most notably John Grabow, have had in his place.
"These guys have done a fine job," said Capps, who has also shed about 15
pounds since going on the DL. "Every game I saw, everybody stepped up and did
a nice job. If there's a period where I have to earn it back, I understand
that."
That won't be necessary, however, as Russell has every intention of putting
Capps back into that ninth-inning role. No questions asked, Capps is still
the team's closer. His fellow relievers will tell you that as well.
And don't expect Capps to ease back into the role either.
"If I know Matt Capps, he's going to want to jump right back into the fire,"
Russell said. "If I know him and we have the lead in the ninth, I'm going to
look up and he's already going to be warming up.
"That's one of the reasons with the rehab program, that we make sure that
he's ready. If he had come back earlier and hadn't gotten all that, it would
have been tough to put him back in there in the ninth. We'll see how he's
feeling, but I don't see why we wouldn't."
Capps finished his rehab work on Wednesday with another one-inning appearance
for Double-A Altoona. Combining all six of his rehab starts, Capps tossed 6
2/3 scoreless innings, and he did so maintaining a velocity in the 90-94 mph
range.
While Capps' return has surely been anticipated, don't underestimate the
positive effect that his absence has had. In a weird sort of way, having to
battle without Capps for the last seven weeks may turn into a long-term
benefit for this club.
It forced someone like Sean Burnett to move from a less pressured middle
relief role to a critical late-inning role. Burnett has thrived. And in turn,
the Pirates have found themselves another left-handed option for the back-end
of the bullpen.
T.J. Beam joined the club and has solidified his spot on the Major League
roster. Craig Hansen, who was acquired via the three-team trade on July 31,
has been slotted right in. And Grabow, who the Pirates may be willing to
trade over the offseason, has increased his value by showing that he can
close. The lefty had four saves in Capps' place.
"Everybody has been doing good down there in the bullpen," Bautista said.
"Now, we just have to keep it going."
Fatigued arms are sure to present themselves during the final month of the
season. In fact, reliever Tyler Yates seems to have already run into some
problems there. But with Capps' return and some improved starting pitching,
those problems are hoped to be minimize.
Regardless, as the Pirates try to zero in on the positives during the final
six weeks of a season, they've discovered a core of relievers that should
ensure some instant stability out of the gate next season.
In other words, this group would find it offensive to be labeled a weakness
again next spring after its most recent seven-week showing.
"I think you've got to compliment [general manager] Neal [Huntington] a lot
for bringing a lot of these guys in," Russell said. "Neal and I throughout
Spring Training kept saying that we had a lot of good candidates for our
bullpen. It worked out."
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結果說完後..牛棚就大爆炸...~"~.....
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