The secret of Zach Britton's unique dominance

[Spy Fox]

I think Buck could have allowed Britton the extra rest, but he only threw four pitches last night and three on Friday. I bet he'd be available if needed tonight, though it would be nice for him to get a break.

[Can_of_corn]

I think Buck could have allowed Britton the extra rest, but he only threw four pitches last night and three on Friday. I bet he'd be available if needed tonight, though it would be nice for him to get a break.

Haven't we been told that warming up is a big part of bullpen fatigue?

[Spy Fox]

Haven't we been told that warming up is a big part of bullpen fatigue?

I'm not sure how much weight to put on warm up pitches as compared to in-game pitches. They obviously count for something. How close to "100%" does a pitcher like Britton throw when he only has a few minutes to warm up? How many pitches does he throw at that full speed?

I agree in general that we shouldn't ignore the warm up process when measuring workload (and that Britton didn't really need to be in the game the last two nights) I'm just not sure in this case if that workload is going to preclude Britton from pitching today.

[Can_of_corn]

I'm not sure how much weight to put on warm up pitches as compared to in-game pitches. They obviously count for something. How close to "100%" does a pitcher like Britton throw when he only has a few minutes to warm up? How many pitches does he throw at that full speed?

I agree in general that we shouldn't ignore the warm up process when measuring workload (and that Britton didn't really need to be in the game the last two nights) I'm just not sure in this case if that workload is going to preclude Britton from pitching today.

He's more likely to get the day off now that O'Day is back.

[Frobby]

I knew Zach had a ridiculously low ERA, but it really hadn't occurred to me until I saw it in black and white today, that Zach has allowed only 3 earned runs all year, and none since April 30.

He did allow 3 unearned runs back on June 21 against the Padres, in a game we were already losing.

[OFFNY]

o

7 up, 6 down.

All 6 outs that Britton recorded came via the ground ball and the strikeout.

Britton is the only pitcher in the Majors Leagues with at least 30 saves with a 100% success rate.

6 OUTS: 4 Groundouts, 2 Strikeouts

ZACHARY GRANT BRITTON O (vs. BLUE JAYS, 7/31)

IP:l 2

H:;; 0 ll

R:l) 0

BB:)1

SO:)2

Pitches: 26 (16 Strikes, 10 Balls)

2016 ERA: 0.60

PITCHES BY INNING

****************

91 (61 Strikes, 3 Balls)

17 (10 Strikes, 7 Balls)

[O's84]

Lowest ERA for a season, F. Rodney with 0.60 ERA in 2012. No jinkxxxxxxx!

[OFFNY]

o

Showalter on Britton: "There's Nobody Out There Better than Him"

(By Roch Kubatko)

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2016/08/showalter-on-britton-theres-nobody-out-there-better-than-him.html

[OFFNY]

o

(vs. WHITE SOX, 8/05)

Britton recorded 4 outs in one inning.

3 strikeouts (a runner reached safely on a wild pitch 3rd strike) and a groundout.

18 Pitches (14 Strikes, 4 Balls.)

2016 ERA: OOl. 0.58

2016 WHIP: Oo 0.749

[Flash- bd]

I've always said, I'd still like to see him stretched out and in the rotation. The guy has a unique arm and it should be leveraged for more than just being a dominant closer.

[Can_of_corn]

Had lots of choices, decided to put this here.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/zach-brittons-2016-an-all-time-great-season/

To find an earned run that’s clearly attributable to Britton and not injury or strategic circumstances beyond his control, you have to go all the way back to April 11th, his fourth game of the season, when he allowed a home run to Mookie Betts to lead off the ninth.

Britton has built upon the extraordinarily successful formula he’s developed in recent years: destroying opponents with an entirely unfair mid-90s sinker. He’s using the pitch more than 90% of the time for the third consecutive season and the whiff and ground-ball rates illustrate why. According to the Baseball Prospectus PITCHf/x leaderboards, Britton’s sinker is generating a league-leading 40.3% whiff/swing rate — Jeurys Familia‘s sinker is a distant second at 28.3% whiff/swing — while the ground-ball rate on the pitch also leads the league at 80%. Of course he throws the pitch almost exclusively: why would he ever need to throw anything else? It’s a beautifully simplistic and effective approach: “Here’s my sinker, on the off-chance you can hit it, good luck getting it in the air.”

[OFFNY]

o

Sweet Relief: Can Zach Britton Win the AL Cy Young Award?

(By Eddie Matz)

http://www.espn.com/blog/baltimore-orioles/post/_/id/1189/sweet-relief-can-zach-britton-win-the-al-cy-young

[crissfan172]

As great as hes been..and he HAS been great..he usually puts runners on base in nearly every appearance. Thats one flaw he does have and it could come back to bite him.

He has a .81 WHIP. That's good for 6th among relievers with at least 30 IP.

[OFFNY]

o

Sweet Relief: Can Zach Britton Win the AL Cy Young Award?

(By Eddie Matz)

http://www.espn.com/blog/baltimore-orioles/post/_/id/1189/sweet-relief-can-zach-britton-win-the-al-cy-young

Zach Brtton now owns the MLB record with 39 straight relief appearances without allowing an earned run.

He passed both Craig Kimbrel and Brett Cecil, who each had 38.

https://twitter.com/masnRoch/status/764183712401534977

[SilverRocket]

As great as hes been..and he HAS been great..he usually puts runners on base in nearly every appearance. Thats one flaw he does have and it could come back to bite him.

He's pitched 48 innings and given up 39 baserunners (24 H, 15 BB, 0 HBP).

Andrew Miller has pitched 49 innings and given up 40 baserunners.