The Key to Wagering on Major League Baseball: Quality Bullpens

In an era of strict pitch counts and the prevalence of injuries due to fatigue, the importance of a team’s bullpen is paramount to the sports investor.  That importance is highlighted best by the Milwaukee Brewers as their bullpen has already blown five save opportunities in the first fifteen days of the baseball season.  Overall, 38.5% of the save opportunities have been blown in the first two weeks of the 2010 season (62 of 161 chances).  Sports investors need to be cognizant of which teams have quality bullpens as opposed to those teams that have suspect relievers waiting to blow a lead.  To this end, please find below a list of the five best and worst bullpens through the first two weeks of the 2010 Major League Baseball season:

FIVE BEST BULLPENS                                     ERA                         WHIP                   

1. Chicago White Sox                                  1.67                          1.116
2. New York Mets                                        2.19                          1.331
3.  Colorado Rockies                                   2.23                          1.263
4. Minnesota Twins                                     2.52                          1.068
5. San Francisco Giants                               3.05                          1.382

The five teams with the highest save percentages are as follows: Minnesota Twins (1.000), St. Louis Cardinals (1.000), Oakland Athletics (1.000), Washington Nationals (0.857) and the New York Yankees (0.833).  

FIVE WORST BULLPENS                                 ERA                          WHIP

1. Kansas City Royals                                  7.62                          2.206
2. Arizona Diamondbacks                            6.81                          1.765 
3. Chicago Cubs                                          6.00                          1.410
4. Los Angeles Dodgers                              5.93                          1.536
5. Milwaukee Brewers                                 5.77                          1.590

The five teams with the worst save percentages are as follows: Arizona Diamondbacks (0.200), New York Mets (0.250), Los Angeles Dodgers (0.333), Baltimore Orioles (0.333) and the Milwaukee Brewers (0.375).

As we progress through the baseball season, I will do my best to keep you informed of the best and worst performing bullpens so that you can invest your money accordingly.  As a sports investor, I can tell you that losing a wager on account of a blown save is a terrible feeling, especially when you were only a few outs away from cashing a nice ticket.  Rather than being preoccupied with the starting pitchers, spend some quality time handicapping the teams’ bullpens so that your investment is on solid ground in the final innings of the game.