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Barry Svrluga's Notebook takes the bullpen to task for, among other things,
too many walks. Let's take a closer look at the numbers though. The ones
Barry passes along are correct, but they might not tell the full story.


Entering play yesterday, Majewski had walked 24 hitters in 47 1/3 innings of
work, the second most of any reliever in baseball.

Yep, Majewski's right here, second on the leaderboard. But take a look at the
IP column, and the values of those surrounding him. No one is close to
Majewski's 47.1 IP. In fact, that's also second in the league. Yeah, he's
walking more batters than he should, but he's also pitching more than he
should. Besides, what's distressing about Majewski is his inability to strike
anyone out, despite his 95-mph fastball. (He's only 23rd in the league in
relief Ks, despite the IP advantage, and he's tied with Chad Cordero, despite
throwing 12 more innings of relief)


Lefties Joey Eischen and Mike Stanton each have 19 walks -- tied for sixth in
the National League despite the fact that Eischen has been on the disabled
list since May 31

There's no denying that the Gruesome Twosome have been terrible. 19 walks!!?
But there's one stat missing from Barry's note: They're 1/2 in INTENTIONAL
walks. Eischen only IBBd 5, but of Mike Stanton's 19 walks, ELEVEN of them
have been intentional. Take away just half of them, and Stanton drops out of
the Top-40.

Besides, aren't the least of Stanton and Eischen's problems their walk rate?


right-hander Jon Rauch has 17, tied for 12th in the NL.
Rauch has intentionally walked 3 batters. Take away those three, and he drops
from 12th, all the way to a tie for 29th. Rauch, too, has pitched a ton of
innings. He's third in the league with 45.1, and his walk rate doesn't look
out of place with his arm-slagged compatriots.

Besides, shouldn't they be focusing on how dominant he is, with 42
strikeouts, good for 6th in the league? Doesn't a 42/17 K/BB ratio look damn
good? By golly, that puts him in a group with great bullpen pitchers like Dan
Wheeler, Billy Wagner, and Aaron Heilman. (Note Cordero's presence several
rankings below). Talk about missing the forest for the trees!


This year, with the team on pace for an astonishing 265 walks out of the
bullpen -- an average of 1.6 per game -- the relievers' ERA is nearly a run
worse at 4.52.
The Nats are second in the league in bullpen walks. If you drop out the
bullpen's league leading 28 intentional walks (as well as that of every other
team in baseball), the Nationals drop to 5th. Not great, but not the complete
disaster that it seems like.

Sure, the reliever's ERA stinks, but you'd think, given the horrors that
Barry presents, that they're worst, right? Nope. They're 10th, and as close
to 6th as they are to last.

Just for the hell of it, if the CIA were able to disappear Joey Eischen from
the recordbooks, the Nats bullpen ERA drops to 4.26 (9th place). Throw Felix
Rodriguez onto the disappeared pile and the bullpen ERA drops to 3.86, which
would be 4th in the league.

Obviously all teams could play that sort of game with their toastier
relievers, but the larger point is that Chad Cordero, Gary Majewski and Jon
Rauch HAVE pitched well. It's the dregs of the pen: Stanton, Eischen, FRodo
that have created many of these crappy numbers (and Frank's reliance on the
four-fingered waggle as a defensive strategy).

No, it's not humming along like it did last year, but it's important to not
let your cherrypicked memories forget that the damn thing didn't hum much
after July either. When you have three relievers who are as effective overall
as Cordero, Majewski and Rauch, you're close to a Championship-quality
bullpen. If Bill Bray can continue to make strides, that gives the Nats four
excellent arms, which is more than most teams have.