{"id":36979,"date":"2020-08-18T17:17:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T21:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=36979"},"modified":"2020-08-18T17:17:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T21:17:10","slug":"archie-bradley-top-closer-arizona-diamondbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/08\/18\/archie-bradley-top-closer-arizona-diamondbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Archie Bradley Has Become a Top Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archie Bradley Has Become a Top Closer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

(Author\u2019s Note: This article uses the Goose Egg statistic. Nate Silver invented the statistic for clutch late-inning performance, explaining it here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

In June of 2019, Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> reliever Archie Bradley<\/a><\/strong> was in one of the toughest stretches of his career. He had pitched well in 2017, posting a 1.73 ERA (38 ERA-) as a set-up man for Fernando Rodney<\/a><\/strong>. During the Wild Card Game against the Colorado Rockies<\/a>, he made up for a so-so pitching outing by cracking a crucial two-run triple, the only postseason triple ever hit by a reliever. He battled a split fingernail<\/a> on his right index finger in 2018, a devastating injury for a pitcher whose top off-speed pitch is a knucklecurve. He started well in 2019, posting a 1.93 ERA (44 ERA-) as a set-up man for Greg Holland<\/a><\/strong> in the first six weeks of the season.<\/p>\n

Then May hit.<\/p>\n

The six weeks from May 4 to June 22 were a nightmare for Bradley as he gave up 19 earned runs in 21 innings for an 8.14 ERA (185 ERA-). He also gave up 28 hits and 14 walks \u2013 a 2.000 WHIP. His command had gone out the window, and his confidence was fading fast. \u201cNot that I was the worst pitcher ever, but I was pretty bad,\u201d Bradley told reporters in August of 2019. \u201cI really did not have any clue where the ball was going.\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned it around over the next month. From June 26 to July 26, he dazzled, allowing six hits and six walks over 11 innings for a 1.091 WHIP. Most importantly, his ERA was 0.00. This became even more important when Holland fell apart and lost his job.<\/p>\n

Archie Bradley Becomes the Closer \u2013 and a Darn Good One<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although manager Torey Lovullo<\/a><\/strong> did not officially give Bradley the title of \u201ccloser\u201d until much later, Bradley took over as the go-to guy in late innings on July 30 in Yankee Stadium. He pitched 1 1\/3 perfect innings to close out a 4-2 victory and earn a save.<\/p>\n

During his slump, he worked with the coaches, catchers, and analytics expert on his mechanics, sequencing, and location. This included Lovullo, bullpen coach Mike Fetters<\/a><\/strong>, then-pitching coach Mike Butcher<\/a><\/strong>, then-catcher Alex Avila<\/a><\/strong>, catcher Carson Kelly<\/a><\/strong>, and analytics head Mike Fitzgerald<\/a><\/strong>. He credited all of them with helping him both get back into form and regain his confidence.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has been magnificent. He has pitched 33 games, finishing 31 of them. In 34 2\/3 innings, he has converted 24 of 26 save opportunities (92%). His Goose Egg statistics were just as, if not even more, impressive, as he notched 21 Goose Eggs (GE) to go against one Broken Egg (BE) and six Mehs (M). The historical average ratio (back to 1921) of GE to BE is 3-to-1. Bradley\u2019s ratio is 21-to-1. In addition, he has a solid 1.154 WHIP, a 2.60 ERA (58 ERA-), 7.27 hits per nine (H\/9), 0.52 homers per nine (HR\/9), 3.12 walks per nine (BB\/9), 8.83 strikeouts per nine (K\/9), and 2.34 extra-base hits per nine (XBH\/9).<\/p>\n

Comparing Bradley to the League\u2019s Best<\/strong><\/h3>\n

These numbers are all good and well, but numbers mean little without context, so let\u2019s compare them to the top closers in the game. For this study, we\u2019ll use the stats from July 30, 2019 to the present for six of the best closers in the majors: Aroldis Chapman<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a>, Josh Hader<\/a><\/strong> of the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>, Liam Hendriks<\/a><\/strong> of the Oakland Athletics<\/a>, Raisel Iglesias<\/a><\/strong> of the Cincinnati Reds<\/a>, Kenley Jansen<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, and Mark Melancon<\/a><\/strong> of the Atlanta Braves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Author\u2019s Note: Don\u2019t \u201cWhere\u2019s (name of closer not on the list)?\u201d me. I\u2019m not playing that game. These are the six I picked, and I picked them because they have been toward the top on all of the leaderboards for closers over this span. Moving on.)<\/em><\/p>\n