Joe Borowski for Cy Young---Buck Martinez said on XM 175

On Friday morning's (8/31) show on XM 175, Buck Martinez suggests names to consider for AL Cy Young this year, and Joe Borowski was on the list. He says Joe has given the Indians a great edge this year with "saves" in many tight games (this is true), acknowledges that in stats other than "saves," he doesn't look good, but...

• "OH, THOSE "SAVES." (Buck Martinez' words).
• (P.S. The Cy Young Award can mean millions of dollars and immortality). sm

Borowski had definitely pitched his heart out for the Indians the night before, and although he "blew the save," he got the "win" in the end (v Seattle) in a game Seattle needed more than the Indians. The guy's been out there doing a great job, no question. An Indian fan then emailed the XM show begging to differ with Buck's idea for Joe Borowski for Cy Young. They read the email on the air with the Indian fan saying he gets acute stomach pains every time Borowski comes in the game. Buck says, well, I know he looks bad in other stats, but...

• "OH, THOSE "SAVES." (says Buck Martinez again.).

Selling the "total saves" stat (which can only begin with "opportunities" supplied by a willing manager, team, and owner) to the exclusion of everything else has been job #1 for years by the centralized baseball media, ESPN/MLB/internet platforms, for several reasons. Which should be obvious, but if not, I've explained them here numerous times.

• If Buck and Baseball want to focus only on the "total save" stat, then certainly run a contest or create an award for this every year. Buck Martinez has completely lost his credibility for selling out in this way, and I used to enjoy listening to him. He's saying someone is the best pitcher only because of saves, a joke to begin with. The 2nd problem is Buck, who has more credibility than your average guy, uses it to wax poetic and romantic about the save stat itself, and repeatedly.

I looked up Borowski's performance on Baseball-Reference. What happens if your closer NEVER can pitch more than 1 inning?

• Answer: You need an entire other human being to pitch in the game. Is that a small thing? If it's a small thing, why doesn't Borowski ever pitch more than 1 inning if his team needs him?

Other closers do the work of 2 Joe Borowski's on occasion, but Buck has shown he wants to hide this fact, to cheat or ignore the extra, often more difficult work done by relievers with more skill and flexibility and more value to their team. He does the same in the case of closers "entering with runners on base"---doesn't mention it. Well, it's an official stat, so why not? Because then you might look at the many other stats that go into a closer's performance.

• I checked Borowski's 2006 record: It offers clues to Borowski's limited use: He had 3 occasions in 2006 when he pitched more than 1 inning, and none went well. On 5/16/06, he went 1.1IP and got a Loss; on 7/4/06, he went 1.1IP and got a Blown Save and Loss; and on 9/9/06, he went 1.2 IP and got a Blown Save and Win (3BB, 1H, 1 ER).

Baseball-Reference

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