The Compleat Midseason Grades

First, thanks to everyone for their cards and letters concerning the Brave-O-Matic Midseason Grades. While a few were a tad churlish (bunch of slaves to the now, if you ask me), most confessed that the extended rollout of the MG served to heighten their anticipation, thus making the eventual payoff ever more sweet. This was our hope.

On to the bullpen -- and since there haven't been any consistently defined roles to create a pecking order, we'll go alphabetical:

Kevin Barry

This will double as an introduction. The newest member of the 'pen, and seems to have been slotted in Chuck James' April role -- multiple inning eater for an ineffective starter. His first three appearances were brilliant, last night not so much. He's not young (almost 28) -- after matriculating at Rider University (by the way, the Baseball Cube now has some college stats in addition to all minor league player stats -- it's really an invaluable tool), he's resolutely made his way up the ladder, usually as a setup guy/secondary closer, then converted to starter in 2005. Generally good ERA and K numbers, struggles with control at times.

Isn't that a strange career pattern? First, his slow ascent is more indicative of a high school pitcher than a college pitcher (I think). Second, there are probably 5 pitchers who begin as starters and then convert to relievers for every one that goes the other way, especially considering his success as a reliever. He's done well in both roles, and Piazza's HR last night may prove to be an aberration -- since 2000, Barry has given up a grand total of 19 HR in over 450 IP, which is fairly astounding. Sosa gave up 20 in the first half of this season, by way of comparison.

Grade: Inc.


Lance Cormier

Half of the Estrada Booty, he pitched well for a few weeks, then completely fell apart. He made a couple of emergency starts that resulted in emergency bullpen cattle calls, and sports a gaudy 13/25 K/BB ratio (yes, that's backwards). July 4 marked his Independence Day from the major league roster, as he was optioned to Richmond.

Grade: F


Macay McBride

Another guy whose K/BB is underwater (16/20), but he hasn't given up a gopher ball in 34 appearances. As the sole bullpen lefty, his job is secure, but he inspires neither confidence nor ire.

Grade: C-


Chad Paronto

I have an old friend who likes to tinker with cars, and one of his favorite pastimes is to go junking -- he'll find a salvage yard and poke around, looking for something he can use. Most everything there is garbage, but once in a while he'll come across a ditributor cap or headlight rim that happens to fit. In the salvage yard that is the Braves bullpen, Paronto is the headlight rim.

Grade: B


Ken Ray

Meet the distributor cap. We all know how slow Cox can be to adjust player roles, but maybe Sosa's blowing TWO leads last night will land Death Ray back into the closer role. Obviously, that's no guarantee of success, but I'm heartened by his recent return to dominance after a bit of a rough patch. His motion is fairly unstable -- he falls to the first base side of the mound, not unlike Reitsma, so McDowell should keep a close eye on his mechanics.

Grade: A


Chris Reitsma

Was reportedly hiding an injury -- though as A Brett reports, the nature of the injury and what to do about it isn't clear to anyone. He'll spend the remainder of the year scouring the New England Journal of Medicine for possible solutions. Maybe a copy of the DSM-IV would be helpful at getting his head straight while he's at it. Suggested off-season reading material for his agent: the Baseball GM phone book....

Grade: F


Oscar Villarreal

Still the staff leader in victories (by two, no less), the Vulture specializes in blowing leads for Smoltz, interspersed with occasional bouts of effectiveness. Oscar's season can be best described by examining the "hold" rule. From the MLB official site:

The hold is not an official statistic, but it was created as a way to credit middle relief pitchers for a job well done. Starting pitchers get wins, and closers -- the relief pitchers who come in at the end of the game -- get saves, but the guys who pitch in between the two rarely get either statistic. So what's the most important thing one of these middle relievers can do? "Hold" a lead. If a reliever comes into a game to protect a lead, gets at least one out and leaves without giving up that lead, he gets a hold.

Pretty basic, no? Not for the Vulture -- in 39 appearances thus far, he's managed to perform this minimal task exactly zero times.

Grade: D-


Tyler Yates

He's been okay, given his role. Since the Braves are 4-15 in games in which he appears, it's pretty clear what his role is.

Grade: C


The Detritus

You know the names, and you know what they've done. Stockman is the only guy who may reappear, and Devine appears to be trade bait.