Jeremy Affeldt's impressive 2009 seems like a lifetime ago and with each progressive outing it feels like getting back to that level of pitching is less and less likely.
Even with Affeldt's struggles he is still in the good graces of Bruce Bochy. He keeps getting the call to pitch in important situations and has been one of the go to options in the 6th and 7th innings. So when can we expect Affeldt to bounce of his funk?
To be perfectly frank, I don't think what we are seeing now is the funk, what was out of the ordinary was his 2009 season where he posted a 1.73 ERA while his other numbers all remained around his career norms. To help illustrate just how much of a blip 2009 was here is a nifty chart that plots his ERA along with some advanced stats that look to strip out things beyond a pitchers control.
The stats that focus on what pitchers can control all foreshadowed the coming struggles and didn't believe that he was an elite relief pitcher. His run preventi...
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