Gregerson is having an All World year for the Padres.

I was watching the New York Mets-San Diego Padres series last week, and in two games of that series, Padres’ manager Bud Black summoned Luke Gregerson out of the bullpen. In those two appearances, Gregerson faced six Met batters and struck them all out.

He went through them like a hot knife through butter.

I thought to myself, “Wow, Gregerson is having himself a pretty good year.”

Then I looked at his stats and realized, he is having a GREAT year. Have you seen what Gregerson is doing to batters this year?

In his first 32.1 IP, Gregerson has a 1.39 ERA with 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.43 WHIP. That is one incredible start to the season. So it got me thinking once again. How do Gregerson’s stats compare to some of the all time great seasons by some closers?

Here is how Gregerson compares through roughly 32 innings against Eric Gagne’s 2003 season, Mariano Rivera’s 2008 season, Dennis Eckersly’s 1990 season, and John Smoltz’s 2003 season. It’s pretty interesting.

 

10′ Luke Gregerson – 32.1 IP, 1.39 ERA, 3.3 H/9, 0.6 BB/9, 10.9 K/9, 0.43 WHIP

03′ Eric Gagne – 32 IP, 1.97 ERA, 3.7 H/9, 1.7 BB/9, 16 K/9, 0.59 WHIP

08′ Mariano Rivera – 32 IP, 0.84 ERA, 3.9 H/9, 0.8 BB/9, 9.8 K/9, 0.53 WHIP

90′ Dennis Eckersley – 32.1 IP, 0.56 ERA, 6.2 H/9, 0.6 BB/9, 8.7 K/9, 0.70 WHIP

03′ John Smoltz – 32.1, 0.84 ERA, 6.7 H/9, 1.1 BB/9, 11.8 K/9, 0.87 WHIP

So as you can see, anyway you want to slice it, Gregerson’s 2010 season is comparing favorably to some of the best seasons by some all time great closers. Through 32 innings, Gregerson has given up less hits per nine innings and has a lower WHIP than any of the above mentioned pitchers. That is extremely impressive.

The only thing separating Gregerson from these closers is that he is not a closer. Unfortunately for Gregerson, Heath Bell is closing games in San Diego, so he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

With the Padres having success as a team in 2010, they should have more than one representative in this year’s All Star Game. After Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell, I think Gregerson should get the recognition he deserves and be the Padres’ third All Star.

Without much fanfare, Gregerson is having an all time great season. It’s time for it to be recognized.

 

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