Jansen and Kimbrel: Order is Restored

The most amazing relief pitcher in baseball is Kenley Jansen.

The most valuable relief pitcher in baseball is Craig Kimbrel.

 
All is right with the world.

In 30 frames Jansen and his all-World cutter have whiffed 50 batters and walked, hey, where did the walks go? I can't find any walks. Did you see his walks?

No one has ever fanned 36 batters without issuing a free pass. Jansen has blown by that by 33%. He has a K/BB rate of . . . infinity.

Jansen's 0.91 ERA is fueled by a very low Z-contact rate (rate of contact on balls in the strike zone) and a very high O-swing rate (rate of swings at balls outside the strike zone.) Put them together and you get a finisher who is flummoxing the National League. He has allowed 17 hits and recorded 15 saves. 

Whew!

Kimbrel, now in his second season in Boston, might be even more dominating. He leads all relievers in WAR with 2.2 after just 70 games. He's on pace for the best season by WAR of his illustrious career, better than any season as a closer by Mariano Rivera.

In 32 innings, only nine batsmen have hit safely against him. With five walks and 59 strikeouts -- nearly two an inning, Kimbrel is simply overpowering AL batters. His 0.85 ERA and 0.44 WHIP outshine everyone, including Jansen.

For his career, Jansen has a lifetime 2.11 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP and 682 Ks in 438 IP. 

For his career, Kimbrel has a lifetime 1.79 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP and 705 Ks in 433 IP.  After 2017, he will have Cy Young votes in five of his nine seasons. Coming out of the bullpen!

For both pitchers, none of that includes the last 60% of their best year so far.

It's nice to see these two performing at their peak. It makes it fun to think about what would happen if they kept it up for a bunch more years.