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/ --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 114.35.128.207