The Cleveland Guardians' bullpen has been interesting this season. The bullpen hasn't been terrible when looking at their ERA and they certainly have had their moments which has cost the team games. But there is one area where the bullpen and specific players have been stellar which is stopping inherited runners from scoring.
An inherited runner is any baserunner who is already on base when the relief pitcher enters the game. That pitcher isn't responsible for putting them on, but they certainly can't let them cross the plate either.
When it comes to shutting this down there isn't a better pitcher in the American League than Nick Sandlin . He has inherited a team-high 36 runners and has only allowed four of them (11.1 percent) to score. This is the best percentage in the AL and is tied for second in baseball with Miami's Andrew Nardi.
This is just one part of the underrated season that Sandlin has put together. He currently has an ERA of 3.88 and a 1.069 while also ranking in the 80th percentile in Whiff% and 73rd percentile in K%.
Sandlin has been good at holding inherited runners, but this is also something the rest of Cleveland's bullpen has done well too.
The Guardians have allowed 21.5 percent (38-of-117) of inherited runners from scoring heading into Wednesday's action. This is the lowest mark in MLB and is just ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Cleveland has three players, including Sandlin, in the top 10 for the lowest inherited runner scored create. The other two are Sam Hentges (22.3 percent) and Enyel De Los Santos (18.2 percent). The Guardians are the only team to have three pitchers in the top 10.
While the bullpen certainly has its weaknesses, it's nice to look at what this group is doing well and build off of that.
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