Blue Jays: Tyler Clippard’s Crazy Amount of Relief Wins

Blue Jays reliever Tyler Clippard has been lights out so far this season, shutting down opposing lineups with ease and efficiency. Clippard has also had some fantastic luck, appearing in games where the Jays just happen to take the lead, leading to a particularly fascinating statistic.

This season, Tyler Clippard has a 1.76 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP and 15 strikeouts over 15.1 innings of work. He has been outstanding coming out of the pen for the Toronto Blue Jays. His WAR currently stands at 0.6, sixth on the team and second among Blue Jay relievers. Oh yeah, he also has a record of 4-0.

For reasons unknown to even the most devoted baseball fans, Tyler Clippard has appeared in games that the Blue Jays end up winning. This incredible stroke of luck has led to an astounding win total. Entering play on Thursday, Clippard sits tied for first on the team in wins with J.A. Happ (a starter) and tied for first in the majors among qualified relievers.

As most fans will know, the win statistic has been gradually becoming irrelevant over the past ten years or so. In reality, the stat doesn’t really measure much except the context in which a pitcher appears. Although it can sometimes be valuable, wins are surely not an accurate representation of a pitcher’s performance.

In Clippard’s case, however, they certainly are. He’s been terrific coming out of the pen and deserves every one of his wins. He’s pitched in several tough spots and, for all intents and purposes, has been their most versatile relief pitcher in the early going. Still, many pitchers strongly disagree with the emphasis being put on the stat by uninformed baseball fans.

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Three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw says that “there are a lot of other stats that will tell you your worth as a pitcher more than the win. But at the same time, if you’re a starting pitcher, it’s hard not to look at your record every single time you go out there.”

He’s right. Often times, the record is an identifier for pitchers when they appear on the boxscore, or in online summaries of games. It’s not fair to say that Chris Archer was bad in 2017 because he had a record of 10-12. He was actually quite good, pitching to a 4.07 ERA over 201 innings, striking out 249 and walking just 60, good enough for a WAR of 1.3. It’s clear that he was pretty decent on the mount, he just got next to no run support from his offense, leaving critics to view him as a liability on the mound.

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In all likelihood, Clippard will not be evaluated based on his record, but it’s certainly an interesting statistic that hasn’t seemed to get a lot of coverage. All it means is that when Clip takes the mound, his guys start hitting. Even after examining and studying numerous baseball-specific facts and figures, there are always intangible factors that can’t seem to be coherently explained unless you’re in the clubhouse. If you don’t believe me, just ask Tyler Clippard.

Next: Blue Jays: Chris Rowley is there if they need him