One of the most valuable acquisitions made in the days before the
trading deadline was Cleveland's addition of pitcher Steve Reed.
Steve Who? Reed, a 32-year-old righty, is the first to admit that
he has a low profile simply because he's a middle reliever, one
of the many pitchers lost in the great recognition abyss that
exists between starters and closers.
The members of the anonymous fraternity of long relievers and
setup men don't really mind the lack of publicity because
generally the only time they get noticed is when they fail. It
doesn't help that a middle reliever's statistical grail is the
decidedly unsexy hold, which isn't even recognized as an official
stat.
Reed and his brethren may be underappreciated by fans, but they
are increasingly valued by managers. With major league starters
averaging a mere 6 1/3 innings per start, more and more games are
decided in the seventh and eighth innings. Says Reed, "It doesn't
make sense to have a $10 million starter and a $5 million closer
and then lose the game because you've got nobody to get guys out
between the two."
Reed has helped bridge that treacherous gap better than anybody
else in the majors this season. Through Sunday he had a 1.30 ERA
in 54 appearances and had allowed less than one base runner per
inning, all the while maintaining the kind of humility that seems
necessary for his role. The night after Reed was traded from the
Giants to the Indians on July 23, he was pitching at Jacobs
Field. "I walked out there and introduced myself to [catcher] Pat
Borders on the mound," Reed said afterward. "I said, 'Hi, I'm
Steve Reed. I throw 80 miles per hour. Let's go get 'em.'"
Reed pitched two scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over Detroit.
While nobody is paying much attention to him, once the postseason
arrives, don't be surprised if Reed turns out to be among the
most significant players traded in July.
Here are some of this season's other top middle men:
Chuck McElroy. After playing for four franchises in the last five
seasons, he joined the Rockies this season and has finally found
his niche in the most unlikely of places, Coors Field. McElroy is
known to his fellow Colorado relievers as the Deacon because of
his caring manner—including a fearless approach to pitching at
Coors, where he was 4-0 with a 1.72 ERA through Sunday. Overall
his ERA was 1.53, and he had allowed only 10 of 40 inherited
runners to score while yielding just one home run in 53 innings.
McElroy signed a three-year, $3.9 million extension to keep
pitching there, the longest contract ever signed by a Rockies
reliever.
Jesse Orosco. Durability is his calling card. On July 25 he
became only the sixth pitcher ever to appear in 1,000 big league
games. He has pitched in 40 or more games in each season since
1982. Through Sunday, Orosco, a 41-year-old lefty, had a 2.54 ERA
and six saves for the Orioles.
Wayne Gomes. Sent to the minors by the Phillies at the end of
spring training, he has bounced back to become the foundation of
Philadelphia's overworked setup crew. After last weekend the
righthanded Gomes, 25, had nine wins and had a strike out-walk
ratio of better than 4 to 1.
Graeme Lloyd. The Yankees' 6' 7" Aussie southpaw has held
opponents to a .171 batting average, including one hit in 27
chances with runners in scoring position. In one dominant stretch
of 10 appearances from April 19 through June 4, Lloyd faced 27
batters and allowed two base runners.
Issue date: August 10, 1998
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