If the Reds had a bullpen.........

[ChatterRed]

......how many games WOULD THEY HAVE WON AND WHERE WOULD THEY BE IN THE STANDINGS?

This is ridiculous. This isn't a bad team. It's a good team with a bad bullpen.

[AmarilloRed]

It all depends on how much offense they would have shown. The offense has been a bit inconsistant. I think they could have been at .500

[nate]

We've blown 9 in 22 opportunities this year. League average is 8 in 25.

[reds1869]

Bullpens around the league are pretty weak, as nate's stat shows. Ours is bad, but not as much worse than the league average as one might think. Last night was lost 100% by our starter. Tonight might be lost by lack of offense and tomorrow by the pen. With this team it is a different problem every night. We are inconsistent, and that is the hallmark of a bad team.

[cincrazy]

There are actual 3 or 4 teams in the AL with a much worse bullpen (statistically) than us, which shocked me. As bad as our bullpen has pitched, the Detroit Tigers bullpen is more than a half a run per game worse, yet they find themselves in first place. Now that's insane.

[Reds Freak]

It is sad to think about where this team would be with a decent bullpen. But then I started to think about it and really this team might only be 5-7 games better than it is now. So instead of 16 games under .500 they would be 11 games under .500. I have no idea what it is but there is just something about this team that doesn't click this year. They have some talent but they just can't win games. If they pitch, they can't hit; if they hit, they can't pitch; if the starter does well, the bullpen sucks; if the starters suck, the bullpen does well. And if everything aligns, they find some way to screw it up. IMO even if they had a bullpen, they are a losing team anyway..

[Screwball]

Originally Posted by nate

We've blown 9 in 22 opportunities this year. League average is 8 in 25.

I doubt that stat takes into account the 7th or the evil 8th innings where the Reds bullpen has really done its damage.

[cincrazy]

Blown opportunities don't tell the whole story, however. It fails to take into account the countless number of games where the Reds were either tied, or only a run or two behind, but the bullpen came in and blew any chance we had of coming back.

[ChatterRed]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

Blown opportunities don't tell the whole story, however. It fails to take into account the countless number of games where the Reds were either tied, or only a run or two behind, but the bullpen came in and blew any chance we had of coming back.

Exactly. The bullpen has been much worse than the stats say. But some people on here use stats as the end all of all arguments.

[nate]

By no means was I trying to say the bullpen is some secret strength of the Reds. Just saying that _at least_ 9 games that could've been saved, haven't been.

Of the 42 losses, the starters have lost 26 - 28 (didn't look at two of the games Saarloos started) so the bullpen has lost 14 (which includes the 9 blown saves). So you can pin a little over a quarter of the losses on the bullpen.

Didn't we do this last year?

And the year before?

And...

[donnelly_31]

If my aunt had b@lls she'd be my uncle

[DannyB]

I think its a combination of the bad pen and Jerrys goofy lineups

[JLB5]

Originally Posted by nate

By no means was I trying to say the bullpen is some secret strength of the Reds. Just saying that _at least_ 9 games that could've been saved, haven't been.

Of the 42 losses, the starters have lost 26 - 28 (didn't look at two of the games Saarloos started) so the bullpen has lost 14 (which includes the 9 blown saves). So you can pin a little over a quarter of the losses on the bullpen.

Didn't we do this last year?

And the year before?

And...

They've also put a few close games out of reach. It's always hard to assign a loss to one component of a team. The bullpen has certainly blown some games in spectacular fashion thus drawing more attention to their contribution to this debacle of a season. There is plenty of blame to go around this year, I personally am most disappointed in the defense. They kick the ball around way tooo much.

[durl]

Originally Posted by DannyB

I think its a combination of the bad pen and Jerrys goofy lineups

Narron's lineup's product runs. We're in or near the top 10 in most offensive categories in the NL. Narron's lineups produce the offense needed to win most games but the pitching has wiped it out.

[NastyBoy]

Reds are 3rd in NL in runs scored and second to last in ERA and 2nd in errors. It is obvious why the reds are the worst team in the NL. We were told this team would win games based on better defense and better pitching. The pitching is worse, the defense no better and now we are left wondering if this team will lose 100 games.