Robert Tagorda, who writes a blog called Priorities & Frivolities, has an interesting comparison between Braves closer John Smoltz and Dodger closer Eric Gagne. Smoltz is being celebrated for the Braves having won a whopping 72 straight games in which he’s appeared, dating back to last June 3. It’s an impressive stat, to be sure, but it’s also one which reminds us just how rigidly defined the job of a closer is. In a more rational universe a team’s best reliever would be called upon in all kinds of situations, not just when the team’s ahead, and not just for the last three outs. Bill James did a study in the New Bill James Historical Abstract in which he concluded that the optimal times to use your relief ace were:

• two innings in a game when the game is tied

• two innings in a game when you have a one-run lead

• one inning at a time in other games when the game is close at the end and the relief ace hasn’t been used for a day or two.

Anyway, we’re nowhere near that kind of usage pattern for the modern-day closer, but that’s a problem for another day. Tagorda was simply interested in pointing out that if we’re talking dominant one-inning closers, Gagne has the numbers over Smoltz. The bespectacled one is limiting opponents to a microscopic .339 OPS (.191 OBP/.141 SLG) compared to Smoltz at .574 (.265 OBP/.309 SLG). This isn’t exactly a fluke; last year Gagne held opponents to a .535 OPS (.232 OBP/.302 SLG). Tagorda’s eye-popping numbers also show Gagne to be more efficient than Smoltz, and more valuable in terms of saves in 1-run games. Good stuff that I wish I had more time to dig into.

That Dodger staff is putting up some astounding numbers; they’re on pace to allow fewer than 500 runs, which hasn’t been done over a 162-game season since the Year of the Pitcher, 1968. Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheehan has a good piece about how the Dodger pitchers and hitters are faring this season.