Nick had a terrible year, in my opinion. It seemed like each time he needed to hold a runner, prevent a big run, whatever Dusty called him to do in favor of Bray or the starter, he failed. The leverage stats indicate he wasn't good in high leverage:
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableCode:Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO SO/BB BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ High Lvrge 36 104 89 21 33 6 0 3 0 0 13 14 1.08 .371 .451 .539 .990 48 2 0 2 0 5 0 .417 166 177 Medium Lvrge 33 58 49 4 13 2 0 0 0 0 8 13 1.63 .265 .362 .306 .668 15 1 0 0 1 1 0 .351 81 87 Low Lvrge 43 145 134 12 30 7 0 2 0 0 10 32 3.20 .224 .283 .321 .604 43 1 1 0 0 0 1 .280 62 71
Generated 9/26/2011.
This year he took a major step backwards statistically. His K/9 dropped from 10 to 7.8, his walks are a bit higher than last year, and are high in general, at 4.1. His WHIP is 1.56. I know relievers can have fluctuating years, but he about wore me out this year and I won't mind if he's replaced next year somehow if it means we can get a guy with more deceptive stuff and a high K rate. He is definitely upgradable.
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableCode:Year ERA G IP HR BB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB 2009 2.37 74 76.0 6 24 70 178 1.026 6.4 0.7 2.8 8.3 2.92 2010 3.40 82 76.2 7 33 85 120 1.265 7.5 0.8 3.9 10.0 2.58 2011 3.82 73 68.1 5 31 59 102 1.566 10.0 0.7 4.1 7.8 1.90
Generated 9/26/2011.
Who knows, next year could be a bounce back year for him. But I'd rather see the Reds find an 8th inning guy with a better track record.