I will be in my car today driving down from Atlanta to Florida to spend a week with the Braves. I leave you with this for the day; part of our on-going (and nearly ending) series of community projections. We continue our way through the bullpen with our "side-arm-er from down-und-er." Peter Moylan was a huge part of the Braves resurgent bullpen last year. He not only filled a role as setup man late in the season, but he also filled the role of groundball specialist as well as filling in when needed in long relief - 19 times going longer than one inning. This resulted in a team high in games (80) and a team high in innings pitched for a reliever (90).
As good as Moylan was in a setup role, he was just as effective in long relief; a point I bring up again to underscore his importance to the bullpen - possibly the most important of all our relievers. Anytime I see a reliever toe the rubber 80 times in a year I have to ask if he was overused and if that possible overuse will catch up with him the next year. Let's hope Moylan's side-arm action can withstand the rigors of pitching so many games.
Here is my prediction for Moylan in 2008:
6 saves in 10 chances with a 2.12 ERA and 61 SO in 78 IP, plus throw in 17 holds
I think he'll fill in for Soriano as the closer for a stint or two, and as a setup guy he might pick up a two inning save here and there when the Braves score more runs in the ninth and there's no need for a closer.