Two good ESPN articles on the mighty Mo today. First from RAB/FanGraphs wizard, Joe Pawlikowski (Insider access required, sorry):
How does Rivera pitch so much better than the predictive stats indicate? He does two thing that few, if any, other pitchers can do.
First, he limits hits on balls in play. Some pitchers will have a year or two in which they allow far fewer hits on balls in play than the league average, but for the most part they regress back to that mean. Rivera, however, has shown an ability to prevent hits on balls in play. He ranks sixth all time in hits per nine innings, a testament to the poor contact he induces. He also prevents home runs to a level unattainable by his contemporaries. Only 12 pitchers since 1950, including Rivera, have allowed fewer than 0.5 home runs per nine innings (minimum 1,000 IP), but none have done it during Rivera’s career span.
And in tandem, Wallace Matthews reminds us that while Mo has been superhuman, he’s not a forever thing (sadly):
The point is clear: As great as he has been and as immortal as he has often appeared, Mariano Rivera is at the stage of his life and career where a decline is not only probable, but inevitable.
It may be gradual or it may be precipitous. It may come this year or next year. There is no precedent in baseball history for it to hold off any longer than that, and to think otherwise is simply to be in denial.
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