After categorizing starting pitchers by strikeout and groundball rates yesterday, I wanted to devote today's article to relievers.

The graph below includes strikeout and groundball data for every reliever in the majors (defined for this exercise as those with 30 or more innings who started less than one-third of the time). The x-axis is strikeouts per batter faced (K/BF) and the y-axis is groundball percentage (GB%). The intersection equals the average K/BF of 18.99% and the average GB% of 43.34%. By comparison, starters had a mean K/BF rates of 16.33% and GB% of 43.88%, respectively. While the groundball rates were virtually the same, the average strikeout rate among relievers was 2.66 percentage points higher or 16.3%.

Graph courtesy of David Appelman, FanGraphs.

As with the starters, it is always fun to look at the outliers. Starting at the upper end of the graph, Cla Meredith had the highest percentage of groundballs among all pitchers. The submariner was actually a member of the northeast quadrant last year but his strikeout rate dipped a bit from 20.00% in 2006 to 17.25% in 2007 while his groundball rate inched up from 68.84% to 71.98%. Moving clockwise, the other outliers consist of Joe Smith, Heath Bell, Jonathan Broxton, Takashi Saito, Francisco Cordero, Jonathan Papelbon, George Sherrill, Al Reyes, Mark McLemore, Jonah Bayliss, Jay Witasick, Steve Kline, Chad Bradford, and LaTroy Hawkins.

Let's drill down and take a closer look at each of the quadrants. The NE, SE, and SW quadrants are listed by K/BF, while the pitchers in the NW quadrant are in order of GB%.

NORTHEAST QUADRANT (ABOVE-AVG K AND GB RATES)

Pitcher               K/BF      GB%
Takashi Saito        33.33%    45.99%
Jonathan Broxton     29.64%    48.79%
Derrick Turnbow      28.77%    46.54%
Brett Myers          28.33%    45.76%
Heath Bell           28.10%    58.82%
Rafael Perez         26.27%    52.56%
Mike Wuertz          25.32%    43.98%
Mariano Rivera       25.08%    53.00%
Chris Ray            24.58%    44.74%
Jason Frasor         24.38%    45.45%
Fernando Rodney      24.22%    45.32%
Scot Shields         24.06%    44.61%
Scott Downs          23.85%    59.87%
Tyler Yates          23.47%    46.49%
John Bale            23.46%    43.36%
Manny Delcarmen      23.30%    44.64%
Hideki Okajima       23.16%    44.57%
Chad Qualls          22.61%    56.65%
Bobby Jenks          22.49%    53.76%
Pedro Feliciano      22.18%    55.75%
C.J. Wilson          22.11%    49.17%
Matt Thornton        22.09%    46.99%
Joe Smith            21.95%    62.31%
Matt Lindstrom       21.83%    47.42%
Jeremy Accardo       20.73%    49.21%
Jared Burton         20.45%    45.22%
Jon Coutlangus       20.32%    47.79%
Angel Guzman         20.31%    44.94%
Jason Isringhausen   20.22%    44.51%
Jorge Julio          20.00%    51.60%
Ron Mahay            19.57%    48.91%
Ryan Dempster        19.50%    47.12%
Salomon Torres       19.48%    47.83%
Matt Guerrier        19.37%    47.45%
Kevin Cameron        19.01%    48.54%

Saito and Broxton are 1-2, forming perhaps the top bullpen tandem in the majors. Over the past two seasons, these two righthanders have struck out nearly one-third of all batters faced. If the Dodgers starters can pitch seven innings, Saito and Broxton are a good bet to get the final six outs.

Brett Myers has been converted from a closer back to his customary role as a starting pitcher and, in fact, is scheduled to be the Phillies Opening Day starter. Look for his strikeout rate to decline to 22-23% (equal to 2005-06) as he works more innings.

Bell was one of the biggest success stories of 2007. Stolen from the New York Mets in November 2006, the burly righthander improved his ERA by more than three runs. Were there any signs that the now 30-year-old was on the verge of making such a leap forward? Well, Bell's stats (21.08% and 50.85%) placed him firmly in the NE quadrant in 2006.

In addition to Bell, Rafael Perez and Mariano Rivera were the only other relievers who qualified for the 25-50 club. (A.J. Burnett was the lone starter meeting both hurdles.) Mike Wuertz, who possesses one of the nastiest sliders in the game, ranked in the top ten in the NE quadrant for the second year in a row. If the 29-year-old righthander can improve his control, he could break out and become an elite reliever.

SOUTHEAST QUADRANT (ABOVE-AVG K AND BELOW-AVG GB RATES)

Pitcher               K/BF      GB%
Jonathan Papelbon    37.50%    28.93%
Carlos Marmol        33.68%    31.29%
Juan Cruz            33.21%    34.81%
Francisco Cordero    32.95%    40.52%
Huston Street        31.66%    40.00%
Francisco Rodriguez  31.58%    43.31%
J.J. Putz            31.54%    42.14%
George Sherrill      30.77%    24.51%
Brad Lidge           30.66%    42.41%
Octavio Dotel        29.71%    37.97%
Jose Valverde        29.43%    35.90%
Justin Miller        28.57%    42.58%
Billy Wagner         28.37%    36.78%
Damaso Marte         28.02%    42.59%
Joakim Soria         27.78%    39.18%
Rafael Betancourt    27.68%    26.77%
Al Reyes             27.56%    20.25%
Joe Nathan           27.30%    40.44%
Pat Neshek           26.62%    31.95%
Jonathan Sanchez     26.05%    39.13%
Joaquin Benoit       25.82%    37.33%
Russ Springer        25.68%    29.88%
Dan Wheeler          25.55%    36.54%
Rafael Soriano       25.36%    32.98%
Ryan Rowland-Smith   25.00%    33.64%
Armando Benitez      25.00%    33.08%
Tim Byrdak           24.62%    40.83%
Kevin Gregg          24.51%    29.03%
Andrew Brown         24.16%    40.71%
Troy Percival        24.00%    33.01%
Taylor Tankersley    23.90%    36.67%
David Aardsma        23.84%    36.84%
Santiago Casilla     23.74%    33.33%
Justin Speier        23.74%    37.40%
Fernando Cabrera     23.19%    31.25%
Renyel Pinto         23.14%    37.41%
Eric Gagne           22.97%    38.51%
Jack Taschner        22.97%    32.85%
Brandon Morrow       22.84%    35.15%
Chris Schroder       22.40%    33.59%
Rudy Seanez          22.19%    36.07%
Brian Fuentes        21.96%    35.93%
Trever Miller        21.80%    34.07%
Mark McLemore        21.74%    20.00%
Jimmy Gobble         21.46%    35.03%
Bob Howry            21.43%    32.35%
Zack Greinke         20.91%    32.12%
Matt Capps           20.32%    31.28%
Carlos Villanueva    20.25%    36.28%
Brian Tallet         20.22%    40.34%
Bobby Seay           20.11%    37.69%
Jon Rauch            20.06%    33.46%
Joe Borowski         19.86%    33.66%
Tom Mastny           19.85%    40.35%
Will Ohman           19.64%    40.71%
Winston Abreu        19.55%    33.33%
Mike Gosling         19.51%    41.00%
Dustin Nippert       19.39%    38.03%
Dave Borkowski       19.38%    43.12%
Chad Cordero         19.31%    38.05%
Macay McBride        19.23%    40.82%
Scott Dohmann        19.12%    38.64%
Scott Atchison       19.08%    36.56%
Joel Zumaya          19.01%    36.46%

Papelbon had the highest strikeout rate in baseball last season. Although his groundball rate fell from 37.35% to 28.93%, Paps more than made up for it by increasing his K/BF by greater than eight percentage points or over 28%.

Billy Wagner, on the other hand, saw his GB rate plummet from 52.84% to 36.78% while also striking out fewer hitters year over year (from 31.65% to 28.37%). While still reasonably effective, all of his numbers (ERA, BB and SO rates) were materially worse in the second half last season. Be forewarned: age may finally be catching up to the hard-throwing lefty.

NORTHWEST QUADRANT (ABOVE-AVG GB AND BELOW-AVG K RATES)

Pitcher               GB%       K/BF
Cla Meredith         71.98%    17.25%
LaTroy Hawkins       63.28%    12.89%
Chad Bradford        62.17%    10.03%
Peter Moylan         62.15%    17.55%
Sean Green           60.87%    17.43%
J.C. Romero          60.00%    17.72%
Scott Feldman        58.82%     9.90%
Jay Marshall         58.00%     9.09%
Todd Coffey          57.56%    17.77%
Manuel Corpas        57.40%    18.95%
Shawn Camp           57.14%    18.18%
John Rheinecker      56.29%    16.74%
Zach Miner           56.14%    14.66%
Mike MacDougal       56.06%    18.75%
Mike Myers           55.85%    11.02%
Brian Wolfe          55.71%    12.64%
Brian Shouse         55.41%    15.92%
Akinori Otsuka       55.21%    17.56%
Wes Littleton        54.66%    11.71%
John Parrish         54.39%    16.14%
Kirk Saarloos        53.38%    13.43%
Jeremy Affeldt       53.01%    18.18%
Antonio Alfonseca    53.01%    10.17%
Javier Lopez         52.85%    14.94%
Sean White           52.50%     9.70%
Brian Moehler        52.48%    14.01%
Rick White           52.03%    11.11%
Scott Schoeneweis    51.34%    15.47%
Danys Baez           51.22%    12.45%
Chris Spurling       51.12%    12.44%
Boone Logan          50.90%    15.49%
Chad Paronto         50.71%     7.78%
Mike Wood            50.53%    10.68%
John Grabow          49.68%    18.42%
Saul Rivera          49.64%    16.08%
Geoff Geary          49.30%    12.84%
Ryan Braun           49.25%    13.11%
Tom Gordon           49.18%    18.82%
Casey Janssen        48.93%    13.13%
Jason Davis          48.84%    10.73%
Kurt Birkins         48.76%    17.65%
Juan Rincon          48.66%    18.01%
Joel Pineiro         48.62%    14.32%
Ryan Franklin        48.44%    13.88%
Elmer Dessens        48.33%    14.10%
Brian Stokes         48.25%    11.90%
Rob Bell             48.22%    11.16%
Tony Pena            48.13%    18.31%
Ruddy Lugo           48.03%    14.91%
Dustin Moseley       48.00%    13.05%
Darren Oliver        47.96%    18.68%
Billy Traber         47.79%    14.84%
Steve Kline          47.70%     7.87%
Joe Beimel           47.60%    13.88%
Ryan Madson          47.27%    18.14%
Justin Hampson       46.84%    15.53%
Matt Herges          46.48%    15.71%
Clay Condrey         46.37%    11.84%
Brad Hennessey       46.26%    13.94%
Todd Jones           45.85%    12.45%
Randy Messenger      45.61%    11.68%
Jose Mesa            45.61%    12.66%
Kevin Correia        45.13%    18.31%
Brandon Duckworth    45.12%     9.95%
Levale Speigner      45.10%     9.60%
Willie Eyre          45.09%    13.68%
Aaron Heilman        44.92%    17.90%
Jason Grilli         44.76%    17.61%
Casey Fossum         44.69%    14.56%
Eric O'Flaherty      44.65%    16.29%
Taylor Buchholz      44.41%    15.40%
Ryan Bukvich         44.35%    10.59%
Oscar Villarreal     44.30%    17.26%
Aaron Sele           44.27%    11.60%
Guillermo Mota       43.98%    18.01%
Bob Wickman          43.98%    15.95%
Roberto Hernandez    43.95%    14.03%
Doug Slaten          43.80%    17.18%
Shawn Chacon         43.77%    18.46%
Chris Bootcheck      43.62%    16.92%
Kelvin Jimenez       43.42%    12.12%
Hector Carrasco      43.41%    17.65%

With an ERA of 3.50, Meredith was just a shell of his successful self in 2006 when he posted a 1.07 ERA while limiting RHB to a line of .107/.130/.170 (vs. .303/.333/.362 in 2007). The biggest culprit was a BABIP that rose from an unsustainably low .199 during his rookie season to a rather high .344 last year. Get this, the righthander allowed only 30 hits in 50 2/3 IP in 2006 and 94 H in 79 2/3 IP in 2007. He started with a big bang last season by tossing 14 scoreless innings before getting rocked in May and June (6.48 ERA with 42 hits, including 5 HR, in 25 IP). Whether hitters have caught up to the 24-year-old Padre and his unique delivery remains to be seen.

Manuel Corpas, who went from relative unknown to Colorado's closer in the second half last season, was within a whisker of being in the NE quadrant for the second consecutive season. He recorded 18 of his 19 saves in the final three months while fashioning an ERA of 1.54 and a K/BB rate of better than 4:1.

With strikeout rates below 10%,Scott Feldman, Jay Marshall, Sean White, Chad Paronto, Steve Kline, Brandon Duckworth, and Levale Speigner need to keep their walk and home run rates as low as possible if they are going to continue to earn paychecks from major league teams.

SOUTHWEST QUADRANT (BELOW-AVG K AND GB RATES)

Pitcher               K/BF      GB%
Scott Eyre           18.75%    38.85%
Trevor Hoffman       18.72%    30.59%
Randy Flores         18.58%    40.56%
Luis Vizcaino        18.56%    35.59%
Vinnie Chulk         18.47%    30.63%
Frank Francisco      18.28%    35.26%
Matt Wise            18.22%    34.88%
Kyle Farnsworth      18.05%    30.32%
Joel Peralta         18.03%    36.10%
David Riske          17.99%    41.38%
Alan Embree          17.96%    34.12%
Aaron Fultz          17.72%    35.14%
Brian Bruney         17.11%    30.82%
Todd Wellemeyer      17.00%    40.16%
Scott Linebrink      16.95%    42.13%
Kyle Snyder          16.94%    37.11%
Micah Bowie          16.94%    42.69%
Victor Santos        16.90%    42.78%
Wil Ledezma          16.79%    39.15%
Kiko Calero          16.76%    33.59%
Scott Proctor        16.75%    28.24%
Lee Gardner          16.72%    42.55%
Jonah Bayliss        16.20%    26.92%
Jamie Walker         15.89%    33.50%
Rocky Cherry         15.86%    36.73%
Juan Salas           15.48%    31.09%
Luis Ayala           15.47%    38.97%
Sean Henn            15.47%    37.50%
Gary Glover          15.27%    38.25%
Mike Stanton         15.21%    35.86%
Jesus Colome         15.03%    35.55%
Patrick Misch        14.77%    42.86%
Tyler Johnson        14.63%    40.68%
David Weathers       14.63%    35.54%
Jorge Sosa           14.35%    37.50%
Ray King             14.29%    40.80%
Ron Villone          14.20%    37.21%
Mike Timlin          13.96%    38.69%
Colby Lewis          13.53%    37.98%
Doug Brocail         13.48%    42.45%
Brandon Lyon         13.03%    42.68%
Jay Witasick         12.33%    36.36%
Ramon Ortiz          11.11%    42.97%
Nick Masset          10.88%    42.66%

Other than Trevor Hoffman and Brandon Lyon, the SW quadrant is nothing more than a bunch of non-descript middle relievers. If these pitchers were stocks, I would "short" all of them, including Hoffman and Lyon. Hoffman, who enters the 2008 season as the all-time leader in saves with 524, had the lowest strikeout rate of his career last year while getting knocked around for a 4.44 ERA with more hits than innings pitched during the second half. Lyon's K rate is dangerously low, especially for a closer. His effectiveness was due to a fantastic home run rate (2 HR in 74 IP), but I would be surprised if he is able to repeat that success this year.