Rox Talk - Holds

The Rox seem to be playing better, of course they couldn't have played much worse! Throw the cliches out, but real baseball starts in less than a month.

Couple of items...

PECOTA (77 - 86), CHONE (78 - 84), Vegas O/U (77.5). Gee think Vegas as gotten hip to the ways of baseball projection statistics! I have to wonder still about these numbers. I mean I looked at the offense numbers and we should score runs. Of course with the loss of Francis and an injured Buchholz, we are probably going to give up our fair share as well. So playing .500 baseball isn't out of the question but does a healthy Tulo, a full time Iannetta, injury free Helton, and a lineup without Holliday really going to score more runs than the team did last year? Guess that is the million dollar question...

Think Holliday will make the trip down to Tuscon tomorrow?

Further statistification of baseball...I present the Hold. Wikipedia's definition is as follows:

A hold is awarded to a relief pitcher who:

1. Enters the game in a save situation;

2. Records at least one out;

3. Leaves the game without his team having relinquished the lead at any point.

Note that since the hold is not an official MLB statistic, the definition above can vary. One noticeable difference is that while STATS, Inc. requires the pitcher to record at least one out for a hold, SportsTicker does not have this requirement. This can result in discrepancies in hold totals between different sources. Rox hold leaders over the past 7 seasons (according to ESPN stats).

When historians look back, Fuentes will be one of O'Dowd's greatest steals. Obtaining Fuentes from Seattle in 2001 for Cirillo was a great deal. Seven years of service and 115 saves later he has to be one of our greatest pitcher. Especially his class in 2007 when Corpas took over and he served as set up man through the playoff push. Hope he continues to do well in LA.