I was watching the Tigers game the other day when Mario and Rod proudly proclaimed that Fernando Rodney was 13 for 13 in save opportunities. He is now officially 14 for 14. Meaning he has not blown any saves this year. Meaning every time he has come into a game with a save opportunity, he got it. At least that is what I thought the statistic meant.
As soon as FSD's dynamic duo made this statement, I was puzzled because I remembered F-Rod messing up one save. I'm getting older, so I decided to delay any immediate objection to the statement. However, upon looking back and finding the game, I am convinced that he should be 14 for 15 with 1 blown save.
The game in question was Game #58. It was a 7-6 extra inning win versus the Chicago White Sox on June 9, 2009.
In this game, Fernando entered to start the ninth inning with a 6-3 lead. He faced 3 batters, walked all 3 and recorded no outs. Brandon Lyon came in to replace him and allowed all 3 of Fernando's runners to score. So, when Fernando's line was finished, the game was tied 6-6. How is this NOT a blown save? If he gets three outs, the Tigers win and he gets a save. If he gives up 3 or more runs, the Tigers either lose or to go extra innings and this should be a save opportunity blown. Just because the Tigers won in extra innings should not matter.
I do not believe that blown saves are an official MLB statistic, but the stat is listed everywhere and talked about. I would like for somebody to explain how F-Rod is still "perfect" in save opportunities despite having let this one get away.
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1) You are correct that the blown save is not an official statistic so there are no actual guidelines.
ReplyDelete2) According to Wikipedia: A blown save (abbreviated BS or B) is charged to a pitcher who enters a game in a situation which permits him to earn a save (a save situation or save opportunity), but who instead allows the tying run to score. Note that if the tying run was scored by a runner who was already on base when the new pitcher entered the game, that new pitcher will be charged with a blown save even though the run will not be charged to the new pitcher, but rather to the pitcher who allowed that runner to reach base.
3) In the game in question, Brandon Lyon got the blown save, and ironically the win. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200906090.shtml
4) Officially, only one save can be credited per game, so the same might be said of the unofficial blown save statistic.
If that is how it is calculated, that is stupid. I always take anything from WikiPedia with a large grain of salt because anybody can write anything. But that could be the answer. Lyon got the blown save because he allowed the tying run even though that run was charged to Fernando.
ReplyDeleteIt was F-Rod's runner but he gets off free of the BS. That in my opinion is very much BS.
Thanks for the answer, but I think that is pretty stupid.