A short while ago, I decided to release the secret recipes of Leverage Index, which you can read about here: Crucial Situations . I also generated the Leverage Index Chart . Then, just a few days ago, I licenced (for free) Fangraphs to use my WE and LI data, and here's how the Blue Jays look so far. Here is a recent see-saw Blue Jays game, which you can tell by the Leverage Index indicator. An LI of 1.0 means average, so you can see that this game was pretty stressful throughout, especially near the end. I think this is an exciting development, and we're fortunate that David has spent so much of his time in producing such quality work.
Thanks, Tango. It's very helpful to see, for instance, that Ryan's LI so far this season is 1.14 which is very low for an ace reliever/closer. Gibbons has improved his usage patterns for Ryan over the last couple of weeks, so I expect that number to rise.
There are two interesting details to the LI of the Jays relievers: one is that McGowan is used in higher leverage situations than Ryan. The other is that the overall LI of the Jays relievers is 0.7. The average is 1.0, meaning that the Jays relievers simply haven't had the opportunity to face many fires.
Of course with only 3 IP. Should have looked closer.
Gibbons has improved his usage patterns for Ryan over the last couple of weeks, so I expect that number to rise.
With the Jays scoring a lot of runs there haven't been too many games that have been close late, especially in April where there were only 2 games that the Jays won by either 1 or 2 runs. There's already been that many this month.
One of the things I've noticed this year is Gibbons' willingness to bring in Ryan in non-traditional situations (i.e. not just starting the 9th with the bases loaded and nobody on).
Yesterday vs. the Angels, he didn't mess around with Schoenweis in the 8th---the Jays went straight to Ryan for 1 2/3 innings, resulting in the save.
As Tango notes above, the low leverage is more the result of a lack of opportunity than a conscious decision by Gibby to shelter Ryan or save him for the 9th. I seem to recall Ryan being brought in in the 7th or 8th vs. the Red Sox earlier this year to face Manny and Ortiz...
I think Gibby gets the principle of leverage, and we'll see the numbers start to reflect that as the season goes on.
That's true, but Gibbons has also begun to call on Ryan in the 8th inning.
I seem to recall Ryan being brought in in the 7th or 8th vs. the Red Sox earlier this year to face Manny and Ortiz...
I believe that was the 8th, with the intention that Ryan would finish the game.
We'll see evidence of some truly revolutionary thinking when Ryan, or any of the league's other anointed closers, is brought in to get out of a 7th inning jam, with the save ultimately going to someone lower on the totem pole.
I believe that was the 8th, with the intention that Ryan would finish the game.
We'll see evidence of some truly revolutionary thinking when Ryan, or any of the league's other anointed closers, is brought in to get out of a 7th inning jam, with the save ultimately going to someone lower on the totem pole.