Gas Can Relievers of 2011

In earlier posts, I used Shutdowns and Meltdowns to identify some of the best relievers in the American and National leagues in 2011.  Remember that a pitcher gets credit for a shutdown (SD) whenever he substantially enhances his teams chance of winning a game (sum of Win Probability Added for the game is 6% or better).  He is charged with a Meltdown (MD) if he significantly hampers his team's chance of winning  (sum of Win Probaility Added for the game is less than -6%).

Today, I'm going to find the worst relievers of the year.  Table 1 list the pitchers who were most prone to Meltdowns; the pitchers most likely to pour gas on the fire.  When Washington Nationals reliever Doug Slaten came into a game in 2011, there was a good chance something bad was going to happen.  Slaten pitched in only 31 games, but had 11 MDs for an MD% of 35.5%.

The only Tiger on the list was Phil Coke with 8 SDs in 34 games (23.5%).  In the American League, Orioles fans got nervous when Jeremy Accardo entered a game.  The Baltimore right hander  had 9 MDs in 31 games for a 29.0 MD%.  The only Tiger on the list was lefty Phil Coke with a 23.5 MD%.

Table 1: MLB Worst Meltdown Percentages

Player	Team	G	MD	MD%
Doug Slaten	WSN	31	11	35.5
Jeremy Accardo	BAL	31	9	29.0
J.P. Howell	TBR	46	13	28.3
Jason Berken	BAL	40	11	27.5
Aaron Crow	KCR	57	15	26.3
Matt Guerrier	LAD	70	18	25.7
Scott Proctor	MLB	39	10	25.6
Marco Estrada	MIL	36	9	25.0
Bobby Parnell	NYM	60	15	25.0
Blake Hawksworth	LAD	49	12	24.5
Kerry Wood	CHC	55	13	23.6
Mike Dunn	FLA	72	17	23.6
Phil Coke	DET	34	8	23.5
Wilton Lopez	HOU	73	17	23.3
Fernando Rodney	LAA	39	9	23.1

Not only did Slaten have 11 MDs, he also had just one SD.  As seen in Table 2, this combination gave him a major-league worst 0.1 SD/MD Ratio.  The worst AL pitcher in this category was Oriole reliever Jason Berken with a Ratio of 0.3 (3/11).  The Tigers had no pitchers anywhere near this list.  Fortunately, Coke made up for his propensity for Meltdowns somewhat with 12 Shutdowns and a 1.5 SD/MD Ratio.

Table 2: MLB Worst Shutdown/Meltdown Ratios   
 

Player	Team	G	SD	MD	SD/MD
Doug Slaten	WSN	31	1	11	0.1
J.C. Romero	NL	36	1	5	0.2
Jason Berken	BAL	40	3	11	0.3
John Grabow	CHC	58	2	6	0.3
Hong-Chih Kuo	LAD	40	3	8	0.4
Marco Estrada	MIL	36	4	9	0.4
Trever Miller	MLB	48	4	9	0.4
J.P. Howell	TBR	46	6	13	0.5
David Purcey	AL	33	3	6	0.5
Burke Badenhop	FLA	50	6	11	0.5
D.J. Carrasco	NYM	41	4	7	0.6
Tim Byrdak	NYM	72	8	13	0.6
Cristhian Martinez	ATL	46	5	8	0.6
Jeremy Accardo	BAL	31	6	9	0.7
Blake Hawksworth	LAD	49	8	12	0.7