Mitchell Boggs and Other Pen Randoms

Mitchell Boggs STL

With his next inning pitched, Boggs will record his 100th MLB inning. That should be an exciting, if ultimately irrelevant round number achievement. Boggs was previously a starter within the Cards’ system, but after 200 innings in Triple-A and a mediocre 1.78 SO/BB ratio, he was placed into the bullpen last season. Boggs made seven appearances, striking out 11 batters in 9 and two-thirds innings while walking eight. In 2010 he’s spent the entire season in the pen, and something expected is happening — well, besides his average fastball velocity increasing; to 95 from 92 MPH – he’s showing better control as a reliever than he did as a starter. He’s only walked three batters in seven innings, and while it’s far too early to say whether that’s going to be his ratio all season, we should expect an improvement on control simply from Boggs becoming a full-time reliever.

Jesse Chavez ATL

Few middle relievers received more attention last winter than Chavez. He began the off-season with the Pirates and was sent packing to the Rays in exchange for Akinori Iwamura. Weeks later, the Rays would turn around and trade him to the Braves for Rafael Soriano. Not too shabby of company for the guy with a career FIP over 4.5. Atlanta has used Chavez in low-leverage spots so far, and he’s responded strikingly well by posting 1.29 FIP in six innings with a 16.3% whiff rate. Obviously that kind of success is highly unlikely to sustain, still though, not a bad way to keep his name in the public consciousness.

The Diamondbacks’ Pen

It’s never a good sign when you have this many relievers with negative WPA this early in the season:

Chad Qualls -1.11
Blaine Boyer -0.74
Juan Gutierrez -0.66
Aaron Heilman -0.47

It might not come as a surprise that the D-Backs’ relief corps has the worst unit ERA and FIP in the league (7.21 and 5.98 respectively). There’s plenty of season left guys, save some of those blown leads for then too.

Carlos Monasterios LAD

Actually, there’s nothing in Monasterios’ performance worth pointing out. He’s just got a great name.