Twins bullpen

[harvey lee]

Our starters as of late have been nothing short of awesome espically the last 2 days.

Cannot say the same for our bullpen.

Man a 6-0 lead in the 8th and its all gone.

[Quackaddict9]

Young can make things happen...we'll see!

[jwmiller33]

Our starters as of late have been nothing short of awesome espically the last 2 days.

Cannot say the same for our bullpen.

Man a 6-0 lead in the 8th and its all gone.

13 out of our last 15 games have been against the 4 worst teams in the league. i sure hope our starters can "lock down" and not look like minor leaguers out there like they have been (minus pavano and liriano).

[CRAZYEYES]

With our starters making it 7 or 8 innings every game our relievers should be nice and rested but they cant seem to ever hold the last couple innings. I dont actually recall any of them making much more than an inning all year. Nice break today with the ball hitting the roof though.

[PierBridge]

Yeah, it wasn't looking good after Bartlets Grand Salami!

But Capps showed he's the real deal striking out 3 of the 4 batters.

2 out 4 on the road against the BEST team in baseball is huge folks!

Go Twins!

[jwmiller33]

so you know capps is the real deal after just 4 appearances as a twin? where he has blown 1 save and has a whip of nearly 2.5?

im a huge capps fan (believe it or not) as i have had him on my fantasy team all year because he was getting a lot of save opps for the nats (important to note he was converting the same % of saves as Rauch was, although Rauch was in the AL and Capps NL). BUT, i think it is still a little early to label him the "real deal". i mean he has let just as many guys get on base as he has gotten out so far. im all for capps turning into a solid closer and leading out team to the playoffs, but i think its still a little early to label him the real deal

[Coach1310]

so you know capps is the real deal after just 4 appearances as a twin? where he has blown 1 save and has a whip of nearly 2.5?

The bottom line is Capps is more comfortable in the closers role than Rausch AND by adding him our bullpen has become deeper.... He is gonna blow some saves and the bullpen will struggle at times, BUT we are better team now than we were before we got him.

[jwmiller33]

The bottom line is Capps is more comfortable in the closers role than Rausch

how do you know? did you ask them both of their comfort levels after the last save each of them converted?

[Coach1310]

JW.... you are grasping at straws..... Capps is A CLOSER.... Rausch is a one inning/setup guy...... it is what it is and until you are right or proven completely wrong you won't let it go.... I know that...... but then again I didn't ask you, so.....

[jwmiller33]

i just laugh at your logic Coach and you just dont see that.... not that i asked you either but you always seem to chirp in. i have said many times, i completely agree, adding a good arm to our bullpen was a major plus (DUH). but, the difference between Rauch and Capps as our closer is nothing even close what you guys are making it sound like. they have identical career numbers [i have stats to prove this if you want] and Rauch was doing just as good closing games for us this year as Capps was doing for the Nats [i have stats to prove this as well if you want]. just because "capps IS a CLOSER" and rauch is a "set up guy" tarnishes nothing on eithers actual pitching talent and doesnt mean capps is a better closer than rauch simply because "capps is a closer". you seem to think because this guy spent 3 years in Pittsburg closing games that he is automatically better and more comfortable as a closer than Rauch [excuse me while i roll on the floor laughing]. our team is much better off with another good arm in the bullpen, but your making it sound like this trade was the best thing that ever happened to us and all of our problems are solved

[Coach1310]

Okay JW.... I'm not sure where you stats are coming from BUT.....

Career Stats

Saves Innings Pitched Whip SO/BB ration

Rauch J. 47 450.1 1.230 2.59

Capps, M. 94 320.1 1.205 4.08

So, I just grabbed a few stats, BUT in 130 less inning pitched Capps has TWICE as many saves, but yeah, I guess they are basically the same..... If Rauch had the stuff and the makeup to be a good closer, I have a feeling he would have been an established one for a long time, not just earning almost half of his career saves this year when thrust into the closers role due to injury.

[jwmiller33]

Coach, are you seriously comparing career saves numbers of these two guys and using that as your main argument? [face palm.... pause for 5 seconds... deep breath...] You have got to be kidding. You know this, as you just said it, but Capps has been a closer for the past 4 years, while Rauch has just been a set up man. Which effectively means Capps just goes into games with a lead for the 9th inning, while Rauch goes into games with leads, deficits, or tie games. You would be an [PoorWordUsage] to expect Rauch to have as many or even more saves than Capps. I guarantee you if Rauch had as many save opportunities as Capps did, they would be near identical in that respect. So your saying if Rauch was good enough, some team would have made him a closer somewhere along the line? That is flawed logic.. So yes, Rauch earned 44% (21 of 47) of his career saves this year, in his first year as a closer... While Capps on the other hand has 27 saves this year of 94 in his career, or 29%. The difference is not that big... Before Rauch lost closer duties this year, he was on pace for 31 saves, more than Capps EVER GOT IN A SINGLE SEASON. to make your conclusion on these two players by only analyzing save totals over their careers is just knee slapping hysterical. I suppose we should start comparing completely obscure numbers whenever we want to make our arguments. YES, Capps obviously has WAY MORE saves than Rauch, cuz he has had closing duties for several years. If Rauch finished the season as a closer this year, he was on pace to have more saves than Capps ever had in a season

So, I'll "just grab a few stats" too. These stats are all from the day the trade happened

Innings Pitched

Capps 317

Rauch 402

ERA

Capps 3.50

Rauch 3.54

FIP

Capps 3.80

Rauch 3.90

SO/9

Capps 7.0

Rauch 7.5

BB/9

Capps 1.7

Rauch 2.7

AVG

Capps .263

Rauch .242

OBP

Capps .302

Rauch .297

SLG

Capps .415

Rauch .390

OPS

Capps .717

Rauch .687

These pitchers are nearly identical when it comes to core stats. The only glaring difference you could point out was career save totals and innings pitched, which is not really comparable since your comparing a guy who has spent all his years in the majors closing compared to a guy who has been a set up guy.

Basically, Rauch strikes out and walks more batters per 9 innings than Capps does. Also, hitters hit for higher averages against Capps, AND those hits are dropping for more bases and more extra base hits than Rauch gives up. Keep in mind, Capps has spent all of his career in the NL, while Rauch has split time in both leagues

[Coach1310]

Coach, are you seriously comparing career saves numbers of these two guys and using that as your main argument?

[harvey lee]

Yeah, it wasn't looking good after Bartlets Grand Salami!

But Capps showed he's the real deal striking out 3 of the 4 batters.

2 out 4 on the road against the BEST team in baseball is huge folks!

Go Twins!

I really agree with you PB. But our bullpen almost threw away two great starts the last 2 days. Sad that they did not get the win.

Lets remember PB, the players won the games at the end as the relief pitchers tried to give them away. I agree 2 out of 4 is great against a TB team.

I am not blaming the poor performances on just Capps or Rausch as Rausch is out at thisa time. The rest of the bullpen has been poor to say the least the last 2 days or maybe 3.

[jwmiller33]

If Raush is the closer you portray him to be, why has he never gotten much of a shot, yet, as you put it Capps has spend all his years in the majors closing??

[Coach1310]

Hey JW.... just curious where you are pulling your stats from as I'm not finding the same numbers....

You have Rauch having a 3.54 ERA the day the trade happened. His career ERA is 3.72 according to baseballreference, and he has pitched one scoreless inning since Capps has arrived.... just curious as to how there can be so much disparity?? I'm not saying your stats are wrong, just curious to where they are coming from and how they can be so different...

[blue_healer_guy]

I would say capps is a gamer going out there day after day like he has the last week. Not sure if anybody else on this staff would do that.

[jwmiller33]

Hey JW.... just curious where you are pulling your stats from as I'm not finding the same numbers....

You have Rauch having a 3.54 ERA the day the trade happened. His career ERA is 3.72 according to baseballreference, and he has pitched one scoreless inning since Capps has arrived.... just curious as to how there can be so much disparity?? I'm not saying your stats are wrong, just curious to where they are coming from and how they can be so different...

the 3.54 ERA for Rauch and the 3.47 for Capps are their career numbers as relievers, referenced from baseball reference dot com. just comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges