Pirates, Phillies, Tigers, Reds, and Orioles pens

This week, the bullpens of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Baltimore Orioles to see if the closer skill sets are tracking and whether a change is needed.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have David Bednar (RHP, PIT) closing and he has six saves despite a 9.69 ERA and 1.46 WHIP to-date:

PIT	SV	HD	IP	ERA	xERA	WHIP	K%	K-BB%	HR/9
Bednar, David	6	0	13.0	9.69	3.59	1.46	29%	22%	2.1
Chapman, Aroldis L	1	7	12.0	4.50	3.99	1.58	41%	14%	0.8
Stratton, Hunter	1	1	17.1	2.60	3.12	0.87	27%	24%	1.1
Holderman, Colin	0	3	9.2	0.93	3.61	0.83	32%	23%	1.0
Ryan, Ryder	0	3	12.0	3.00	4.06	1.08	26%	15%	0.0

Bednar is typically better than a 9.69 ERA, and we can see his xERA is 3.59, and the K% is 29% with a 22% K%-BB%. All good. So what is with the bloated ERA and WHIP? Part of it has...

More From Relief Pitchers