05 May 2008
Whether youre checking the comments on your favorite blog, scanning over a message board, or talking with a fellow Braves fan, there is an almost unanimous dissatisfaction with one player seemingly beyond any of the other 24 men on Atlantas roster. That man is left-handed specialist Royce Ring and I for one, cant understand why.
Let me rephrase that last part. I can understand why fans would be calling for his head he does have a 7.71 ERA I just think its a ridiculous reason when you take into account whats behind that all-encompassing number. Are Braves fans truly that impulsive about ERA that they cant look beyond that one stat with a grand total of 4.2 innings in the books?
I would understand the frustration if he came with the same hype he had as a prospect, but no one expected him to come on and be a dominating all-purpose reliever or future-closer. Ring has been ineffective against right-handed batters this season (all four of his earned runs have been to righties) but the Braves knew that when they sent Wilfredo Ledezma and Will Startup to San Diego, they were getting back a LOOGY. His job is to get out left-handers so dont be shocked if he struggles with batters stepping in from the other side of the plate, thats why hes a LOOGY.
The most disappointing thing to me is that even Bobby Cox seems to undervalue Ring. Neither he nor fellow LOOGY Will Ohman fare well against righties and both are effective against left-handers, yet for some reason, Ohman has pitched just under eight more innings than Ring this season and has been used on a much more regular basis. Heres the problem; Ring has been significantly better against left-handed batters.
In fact, you really cant get much better as a LOOGY than what Royce Ring has done so far this season. The 27-year old has used that big sweeping slider to hold left-handed batters to a miniscule line of .154/.267/.308 this season. Of the 13 hes faced, two have reached off of hits (both doubles), one was hit by a pitch, one was walked, and of the other nine Ring retired, six headed back to the dugout after striking out.
Dont worry, it gets better. Two of the four runs Ring has been charged with this season came during an April 5th game against the Mets where Ring was pitching mop-up with a six-run lead in the eight a position where the reliever is told to go in, throw strikes, and pitch to contact. The other two runs came in his next game ten days later and the baserunners actually scored on back-to-back, two-out, bases-loaded walks by Will Ohman.
Maybe Royce Ring deserves just a bit more credit for his performance than he is getting. Then again, you could just look at his bloated ERA and tell yourself hes terrible. Ill leave you with just one more thought. One of a relievers biggest responsibilities is not allowing inherited runners to score. In his 12 appearances, Ring has inherited 16 runners and not one of them has crossed the plate.
