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Chris
Chris

Thanks Mr. Lomez, Affeldt hasn't started a game since 2006 and has been relieving full-time over the last two seasons. I think it's possible that he could see a spot start but not very likely. He's excelled since going to a reliever and I'm not sure why they would monkey with his transition. I still like Misch a little, but maybe Yabu -- if he wins a spot -- could be the longman/spot-starter in next years bullpen.

MrLomez
MrLomez

Good post, good signing. Also, Affeldt was a starter in KC not too long ago, and fared decently if I remember correctly. I don't think he ever stated a game in Colorado but I wonder if he could be a spot-start guy if/when the rotation gets banged up. Certainly no worse an option than Misch.

Chris
Chris

One thing I forgot to mention that didn't make it to the article was that Affeldt was used in very low leveraged situations last year. If you ranked relievers by leverage who threw at least 50 innings last year, Affeldt's leverage score of 0.56 makes him the 6th lowest leveraged reliever in MLB. Pitchers like Kevin Bass, Boof Bonser, Aquilino Lopez, Joel Peralta, and Clay Condrey worked in similar, or even less leveraged situations. It's an interesting change for Affeldt since he was working in 1.0+ leveraged situations in 2007 with the Rockies. For example, the lowest leveraged reliever on the Giants -- with a minimum of 30 IP -- was Billy Salder at 0.62. I think we can all agree that Salder was handled with kid gloves by Bochy after he blew up a few times. It'll be interesting to see how Affeldt handles working in higher leveraged situations since, as of now, he's probably the setup man on the team.

MarkOC
MarkOC

Yeah, the circles are cool! It's great to get a picture of a guy before actually getting to watch him regularly. This kind of signing gives me hope that the Giants are trying to get more "value" out of their dollars. It ain't my money, of course, and I have no problem with spending. I just like to see smart spending. Woody's changeup was his pickoff move.

Chris
Chris

Thanks, OGC. I'm not sure about Rags because he was before my time (same with Tidrow) but whenever I've seen older highlights of him, he seemed to be a fastball / breaking ball pitcher. I'm sure Gardner threw a changeup but I doubt it was anything more than a 3rd or 4th pitch in his arsenal. Woody had a pretty good change, or was that his fastball?

obsessivegiantscompu
obsessivegiantscompu

Great analysis, keep up the great work! I love the circle graphic. And great comments on the changeup! Does anyone know if Righetti, Gardner, or Tidrow threw a good changeup? I agree, that seems to be a organizational strength. Did either Bumgarner or Alderson throw that in 2008?

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  1. [...] bullpen have already added LHP Jeremy Affeldt into the mix — you can find his PFX article here — but, not satisfied with just one reliever, the Giants added another. Yesterday the team [...]