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Championship!!!!
D-Backs reliever Koplove has excelled with runners on base
By Ed Price, Tribune
CHICAGO - Mike Koplove came out of the Diamondbacks bullpen the other day to start an inning, with no runners on base, and felt a little strange.
"It was stressful," he said. "I didn’t want to make my own mess."
So far this season, Koplove has excelled at picking up after other people’s messes. Teams have left-handed specialists; why not a man-on-base specialist? A clean-up pitcher, if you will?
"It’s fine with me," he said. "I enjoy doing it, working out of trouble."
Koplove, a 27-year-old right-hander, has "inherited" 18 base runners this year and stranded all but two of them. In his 15 appearances, he has come in with the bases loaded four times and two men on three times.
The only time any of those runners scored were on a bases-loaded double play and a bases-loaded error.
Not coincidentally, Koplove has held hitters to a .136 average (3-for-22) with men in scoring position. The three hits were a bunt, a bloop and an infield single.
"He’s been amazing," manager Bob Brenly said. "Because of the pitches that he throws, he usually gets ground balls when the batter puts the ball in play. And because he changes speeds so well, he gets a lot of swinging strikes, too."
Koplove said coming in with men on base tends to make him more focused. And the team is willing to let him face left-handed hitters because of his good change-up and the movement on his sinker.
"He’s not going to come in there and get a bunch of strikeouts," pitching coach Chuck Kniffin said, "but we don’t have a problem with him getting ground balls in key situations."
For his career, Koplove has stranded 75.5 percent of inherited runners (37 of 49) and held hitters to a .172 mark with men in scoring position.
"The thing about Koppy is he pitches with a lot of heart," fellow reliever Matt Mantei said. "He’s not afraid of anything."
Said Brenly: "A lot of it is (mental) makeup. And understanding that because of the stuff he throws, he can take advantage of the hitter in that situation. The hitter’s trying to be aggressive, he wants to drive those runs in, and Koppy takes advantage of it."
By Ed Price, Tribune
CHICAGO - Mike Koplove came out of the Diamondbacks bullpen the other day to start an inning, with no runners on base, and felt a little strange.
"It was stressful," he said. "I didn’t want to make my own mess."
So far this season, Koplove has excelled at picking up after other people’s messes. Teams have left-handed specialists; why not a man-on-base specialist? A clean-up pitcher, if you will?
"It’s fine with me," he said. "I enjoy doing it, working out of trouble."
Koplove, a 27-year-old right-hander, has "inherited" 18 base runners this year and stranded all but two of them. In his 15 appearances, he has come in with the bases loaded four times and two men on three times.
The only time any of those runners scored were on a bases-loaded double play and a bases-loaded error.
Not coincidentally, Koplove has held hitters to a .136 average (3-for-22) with men in scoring position. The three hits were a bunt, a bloop and an infield single.
"He’s been amazing," manager Bob Brenly said. "Because of the pitches that he throws, he usually gets ground balls when the batter puts the ball in play. And because he changes speeds so well, he gets a lot of swinging strikes, too."
Koplove said coming in with men on base tends to make him more focused. And the team is willing to let him face left-handed hitters because of his good change-up and the movement on his sinker.
"He’s not going to come in there and get a bunch of strikeouts," pitching coach Chuck Kniffin said, "but we don’t have a problem with him getting ground balls in key situations."
For his career, Koplove has stranded 75.5 percent of inherited runners (37 of 49) and held hitters to a .172 mark with men in scoring position.
"The thing about Koppy is he pitches with a lot of heart," fellow reliever Matt Mantei said. "He’s not afraid of anything."
Said Brenly: "A lot of it is (mental) makeup. And understanding that because of the stuff he throws, he can take advantage of the hitter in that situation. The hitter’s trying to be aggressive, he wants to drive those runs in, and Koppy takes advantage of it."