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The Angels had the best bullpen in baseball last month and I’m the only one who noticed

By Jessica DeLine
MLB: Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Did you notice? Probably not. Maybe Josh did. But did anyone else? You didn’t even hear anyone talking about it on the radio or ESPN or wherever you get your news. But I noticed. Just me. The Angels bullpen was AMAZING in August. Let me count the ways...

  1. Their 2.18 ERA was the best in baseball and ahead of the second best (Brewers @ 2.45) by a significant amount.
  2. If you want to argue that FIP is a better stat, the Angels were #1 there as well with a 2.39. The next best Brewers were almost 1 whole run worse at 3.33.
  3. The best bullpen WAR in baseball last month? You guessed it - the Angels who at 2.6 were a full point ahead of the second best Rockies.
  4. Most wins by a bullpen? Yep. The Angels had 10 in August.
  5. Fewest walks by a bullpen? Yep. The Angels were tied with the Indians at just 21 walks.
  6. Most strikeouts? Of course! The Angels bullpen had 117 (Yankees were second at 114).

August Bullpen Stats

Name W L SV IP BAA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP LOB% GB% ERA FIP WHIP WAR
Name W L SV IP BAA K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP LOB% GB% ERA FIP WHIP WAR
Jose Alvarez 0 0 0 7.2 0.241 8.22 0 0 0.318 100.0 % 45.5 % 0.00 1.31 0.91 0.3
Andrew Bailey 0 0 0 1 0.250 0 0 0 0.250 100.0 % 25.0 % 0.00 3.14 1.00 0
Troy Scribner 0 0 0 1 0.000 0 9 0 0.000 100.0 % 50.0 % 0.00 6.14 1.00 0
Jesse Chavez 2 0 0 15 0.180 12 1.2 0 0.300 90.9 % 43.3 % 0.60 0.87 0.73 0.5
Yusmeiro Petit 1 0 1 15.1 0.218 10.57 2.35 0.59 0.306 89.0 % 32.4 % 1.76 2.42 1.04 0.6
Cam Bedrosian 2 1 3 13 0.180 11.08 4.15 0 0.265 66.7 % 45.5 % 2.08 2.06 1.15 0.4
Blake Parker 0 0 3 12.2 0.119 9.95 2.13 0.71 0.148 75.8 % 42.9 % 2.13 2.66 0.63 0.3
Blake Wood 1 0 0 4 0.143 11.25 0 0 0.222 50.0 % 66.7 % 2.25 0.64 0.50 0.1
Eduardo Paredes 0 1 0 10.1 0.211 6.97 2.61 0 0.267 72.7 % 33.3 % 2.61 2.46 1.06 0.2
Keynan Middleton 3 1 2 13.2 0.317 11.85 0.66 1.32 0.425 93.0 % 40.5 % 2.63 2.62 1.46 0.4
Bud Norris 1 1 3 9.1 0.326 10.61 0.96 2.89 0.379 76.3 % 28.1 % 6.75 5.60 1.61 -0.1
Data from FanGraphs

Just look at how beautiful (most of) those stats are! I challenge you to find another bullpen who has THAT MANY pitchers playing so well. Every single dude but one on this list had an ERA below 2.64. Every single one of them (except for Norris again) had a positive WAR.

This bullpen also ranks near the top of the list if you look at full season stats, second half stats, or however you want to break it down. They’ve helped keep this team in the playoff hunt for sure - and in August? No bullpen was even close to what the Angels did.

Was the bullpen perfect in August? Nope. Was it the best? I think the numbers above speak for themselves.

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