Suicide Now: J.P. Howell Edition

by Freneau on Jul 15, 2009 11:55 PM EDT

With Scott Downs down and out on the disabled list, the best reliever in the American League East is…

Nope, not Mariano Rivera or Jonathan Papelbon. It’s J.P. Howell of the Rays. A pseudo-relief ace, Howell’s usage is dictated based on the situation. Since closer Troy Percival fell to injury, Howell has been the highest leveraged reliever on staff with an average pLI of 1.88. During that time, Howell has been involved in 15 games, with only three saves coming from it. Howell’s batting line against during the run is a measly .154/.267/.440.

Howell is striking out nearly 11 batters per nine despite possessing a fastball that tops out in the high-80s. An average fastball from him measures at 86 miles per hour. With velocity against Howell, he relies on a slurve and change-up combination to get most of his outs. Howell’s walks and homers allowed have also taken a step in the right direction, and even though it’s unlikely that Howell continues to allow such a low homerun/fly ball ratio, his xFIP is 2.90.

Too bad his stuff/tools weren't good enough to help the Royals way back when. Dayton knows pitching.

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I don't fully understand xFip,

but I have JP pitch. And no way can he succeed in the show.

If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=129

by Warden11 on Jul 16, 2009 12:10 AM EDT reply actions

^ "have seen JP pitch."

fixed

by Fernando Vina School of Linguistics on Jul 16, 2009 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions

thanks.

If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=129

by Warden11 on Jul 16, 2009 8:17 AM EDT up reply actions

I thnk

xFIP is what the player’s FIP except with the HR rate regressed (perhaps all the way?) to league average.

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by Matt Klaassen on Jul 16, 2009 2:02 AM EDT up reply actions

xFIPs takes the pitcher's FB's and for every 11 (league average) the pitcher is credited with a HR

Helps to not punish pitchers in HR friendly parks like FIPS does. It is a good stat, but flyball rate is not always know.

Jeff Zimmerman - Protecting the world from RBI's and Wins from my mom's guest house.

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jul 16, 2009 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions

so all the way to average, then?

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by Matt Klaassen on Jul 16, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions

I am shocked that Maddon didn't give him an All-Star bid...

maybe a situation where he didn’t get to choose that many guys after the fan vote/player vote/getting one rep from each team,etc………but Howell definitely deserved it.

by Fernando Vina School of Linguistics on Jul 16, 2009 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

theyve come a long way since

lance painter awhile back.

by wildthang on Jul 16, 2009 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions

yet at the same time they tried Izzy out this year

ugh.

by Fernando Vina School of Linguistics on Jul 16, 2009 1:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Pretty much the definition of low risk high reward

by Soria's Unibrow on Jul 16, 2009 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Long live Joey G!!!!

We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan

by Royal Kingdom on Jul 16, 2009 8:41 AM EDT reply actions

.330/.393/.387 in AAA

He will redeem Dayton one day.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jul 16, 2009 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Looking forward to the Dan Cortes Edition

to appear sometime in 2012…~~~~

…~~~~~Cortes, the most dominant closer in the American league finishes off the National league with a perfect ninth in the all star game at the K. Meanwhile, the Royals finally decide to give up on Yuniesky Betancourt after inexplicably picking up the $6MM option on the perpetual underperformer. They sign the corpse of Rafael Furcal in the hopes of reviving the one time all star’s career. He has been sitting anxiously by the phone after the Dodgers decline to pick up his contract option for 2012…

We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan

by Royal Kingdom on Jul 16, 2009 9:09 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs

pwned

http://www.royalsreview.com/2009/6/25/925559/j-p-howell-is-mocking-you

my poor little timely fanshot sits at the cafeteria table all by itself

The life of a (Royals) fan must be lived forward but can only be understood backward -- Kierkegaard (more or less)

by benfunke on Jul 16, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions

I actually read that fanshot last month

I was going to say something about that, but, sorry, I didn’t (plus you don’t want to show up Will by saying he stole your thunder). But it’s always nice to get credit. I’m still convinced Rany got “The Epic” from me.

Yeah, it was a stupid screen name.

by CentralChamps2009 on Jul 16, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions