2011 Goose Gossage Award Ballot

[Note: Ted and I are members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, and along with Michael Jong of Marlin Maniac we comprise the Florida/Miami chapter of the BBA. As BBA members, we have been asked to vote for the BBA's end-of-year awards through our blog. This is our ballot for the NL Goose Gossage Award, given to the best relief pitcher.]

1. Craig Kimbrell, Braves
2. John Axford, Brewers
3. Joel Hanrahan, Pirates

We gave Kimbrell our vote for NL ROY, and he certainly deserves the nod in the Goose Gossage race as well. His 14.84 K/9 rate is outright otherworldly (among MLB pitchers with at least 60 IP, the next best K/9 was 13.50 - David Robertson of the Yankees). His 3.2 WAR far outpaces all other NL relievers as well. If you're more into the traditional reliever stats, we point to his league-leading 46 saves (tied with John Axford of Milwaukee).

But the save statistic is useless, so instead look at his FIP of 1.52 (which is basically ERA with defense and other factors out of the pitcher's control stripped out). He was tops in the NL, with only one reliever within 0.5 of him.

Axford tied Kimbrel with 46 saves and posted an excellent 10.51 K/9, but his 1.9 WAR and 2.41 FIP were well behind Kimbrel's. Hanrahan did not amass as many strikeouts as either (8.00 K/9), but his 2.0 WAR and 2.18 FIP were stellar. He may have been the beneficiary of some good luck, though, as his 0.13 HR/9 and .282 BABIP were two of the lowest among qualifying NL relievers.