The Stat "HOLD" for pitchers

[Southwest Brewer]

Could someone give me a guess of how they would project holds?

 

I really have no idea how to predict a good "hold guy." Anyone?

 

Definition of Hold - This pitching term was created by the people at USA Today and awards a relief pitcher who preserves the lead by not allowing any runs (earned or unearned) and passes it on to another pitcher for a save opportunity.

 

I guess that would mean a guy who comes in for 1-3 batters right before the closer would be good. How the heck do I get a list of these guys??? I always think of a setup man as someone who pitches at least a couple innings and would expect that they often give up 1 run, "blowing the hold." So what do you guys think?

 

Is this a stat that repeats itself? Or would a good hold pitcher last year likely get a shot for more innings for doing such a good job, maybe a promotion to closer/long relief?

 

Please do discuss and throw your 2 cents in on this one.

 

Hey Russ....how about a hold post on "another baseball blog" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[pogokat]

i think the easy ones would be guys that could close, except there's a better closer in front of them...like dustin hermanson, danys baez, kyle farnsworth..

 

other than that, you just kind of have to gauge it as the season goes one

[rluzinski]

I would think any good relief pitcher on a good team would work. Team wins alot of games and their staff will rack up the holds.

[brettac1]

Yeah, those Twins guys like Rincon, maybe Crain. Obviously Scot Shields.

[Southwest Brewer]

So do you think holds are more affected by management style?

 

For instance, maybe some managers are more prone to bringing in a specific pitcher to face a lefty batter and then take him out right after 1 batter.

 

For some reason I keep thinking JDLR might be the kind of guy, but probably not the best option. The way he came in and K'd Griffey and then faced maybe 1 more batter seems like a hold kind of a guy.

[brettac1]

Here's the leaders in the category last year:

 

sports.espn.go.com/mlb/st...=a&pos=all

[Southwest Brewer]

Brett - I've looked at that list a couple times. I'm just not able to make sense of it to guess who will have a lot of holds this year. My being a newbie to paying attention to stats is showing today.

 

T. Gordon - was behind a good closer last year, but this year he'll be a closer. Right?

 

Julian Tavarez - had a lot of holds last, does that mean he'll be in the same role this year?

 

Guess I'll just have to pay attention as the season unfolds and see how this works out.

[brettac1]

LaRussa guys would seem to be a real good idea - Tavarez in Boston probably won't rack up the same total, because they manage the pen a little unorthadox. I'd pencil in Looper for Tavarez's holds.

[Southwest Brewer]

Thanks for that stat page and the LaRussa tip.

 

Looking back a few years Lidge was around 25 holds in '04 and now he's a closer. Just a little tidbit I found interesting.

 

NY Yanks seem to have solid hold guys over the last 5 years....behind a good closer.

 

Maybe my best chance at identifying a good hold guy is to first find who has the best closer....followed by, the pitcher that would be a closer on most other teams..... i.e. Gordon the last couple years.

 

Thanks for the input on this. I think I'm getting sucked into the stats.