A few days ago, I read an article about a reliever’s story. He’s been one of the most reliable pitchers in the majors. Most of the time, he’s called from the bullpen to pitch in high leverage situations.
Simply put, high leverage situations are the situations with higher pressure. The outcome of the situation would reflect the outcome of the game. After reading the article, I’m just wondering who were the most reliable pitchers to call in the high leverage situations over the last several seasons.
To understand a little bit more, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.
Firstly, let’s take a look at innings pitched. Jordan Romano and Devin Williams each tossed 80+ innings in high leverage situations over the last 4 seasons. From 2020 to 2023, Romano faced 355 batters in high leverage situations and opponents only hit .197 against him. Meanwhile, Devin Williams faced 329 batters in high leverage situations over the last 4 seasons and opponents only batted.154 against him. They were each selected to the All-Star game 2 times over the last 4 seasons. Without doubt, the teams believe that they can get the job done in high leverage situations. Moreover, 10 other pitchers each tossed 70+ innings in high leverage situations over the last 4 seasons.
In addition, let’s look at BAA. Matt Moore didn’t pitch in the majors in 2020. Back then, he pitched for the SoftBank Hawks, which are a Japanese professional baseball team. Moore was back to the majors in 2021 and has become a reliever. From 2021 to 2023, Moore faced 142 batters in high leverage situations and opponents only hit .112 against him. Well, we might not see Felix Bautista pitch in 2024. Nonetheless, over the last 2 seasons, he was one of the best relievers in the majors. In particular, he faced 180 batters in high leverage situations in the last 2 seasons and opponents’ batting average was below .140 against him.
Furthermore, Josh Hader and Liam Hendriks each handled high leverage situations well. Opponents hit below .150 against those 2 pitchers in high leverage situations over the last 4 seasons.
Finally, in high leverage situations, giving up a hit could have a dramatic impact. Hence, freezing opponents sounds like a great idea. From 2020 to 2023, Devin Williams punched out 126 batters in high leverage situations. Moreover, Josh Hader and Jordan Romano each threw 100+ strikeouts in high leverage situations over the last 4 seasons.
Looking back at the last 4 seasons, Jordan Romano, without doubt, is a good choice for the Blue Jays to call from the bullpen. He collected 30+ saves in each of the last 2 seasons because he knew how to handle high leverage situations. Additionally, the Brewers were certainly satisfied with Devin Williams and Josh Hader in the team because those 2 pitchers were great at pitching in high leverage situations. However, the Brewers traded Hader to the Padres in 2022. And Devin Williams hasn’t pitched any games so far in 2024 due to an injury.
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