Former Diamondbacks and White Sox closer Addison Reed has quietly excelled as the New York Mets’ eighth inning man this season. Does he deserve to be considered among the elite relievers in baseball?
Due to Addison Reed’s role as a setup man, he has not received the same attention as other outstanding bullpen pitchers. He does not have the 35+ saves that guys like Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman have, nor does he have the 100 mph fastball that many others wield. But how much does this matter?
Though not pitching in the ninth, Reed has faced 111 batters in what Baseball Reference considers “High Leverage Situations” (HLS). To compare, Britton has faced 121 batters in this situation, while Chapman has only faced 97. All three pitchers have been in the game many times in key situations, but in different frames. Because of the important innings Reed has pitched, he ranks sixth in MLB in Fangraphs WAR among relievers. Let’s compare some values of Reed with pitchers who are widely considered to be the best relievers in the game:
| Player | ERA | Innings | WAR | OPS in HLS | K/BB ratio |
| Addison Reed | 1.76 | 71 ⅔ | 2.5 | .478 | 6.92 |
| Zach Britton | 0.59 | 61 ⅓ | 2.1 | .361 | 3.72 |
| Aroldis Chapman | 1.67 | 54 | 2.6 | .408 | 5.19 |
| Andrew Miller | 1.59 | 68 | 2.5 | .521 | 12.33 |
| Kenley Jansen | 1.81 | 64 ⅔ | 3.2 | .550 | 10.78 |
No, Reed does not lead in any of these categories besides innings. But, he is not last in any either. All this to say, Addison Reed belongs in the elite category when it comes to bullpen arms. When taking into account his short time with New York in 2015, Reed has pitched to a 1.66 ERA in 87 innings for the Wild-Card-leading Mets.
More impressively, Reed’s Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) score this season is an elite 1.87. This number ranks third in all of MLB for pitchers who have thrown 70+ innings. Being behind Clayton Kershaw and Dellin Betances is nothing to be ashamed of.
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Why Does No One Mention Reed as Elite?
While closers with gaudy save totals get all the glory, Reed has locked down the eighth inning for New York this season. His team’s closer, Jeurys Familia, got a lot of press with an impressive save streak that lasted 52 games. Across the city, the Yankees traded away two elite lefties in Miller and Chapman, while keeping Betances. Due to the trade chatter and save streak, Reed has been lost in all of this New York craziness. But, he has arguably been the most effective out of any of the mentioned pitchers.
When it comes down to it, a run in the eighth is equal to a run in the ninth. Reed’s ability to prevent these runs in the inning before the final one has helped his team immensely to overcome rotational injuries en route to being in Wild Card position.
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Closing from 2012-2014, Reed had 101 saves. But, he had a 4.22 ERA that was the highest among pitchers with 50+ saves over that time. Written off after a poor start to 2015 with Arizona, Reed was acquired by the Mets in a late August trade for two low profile minor leaguers. Ever since, he has become an exceptional asset for manager Terry Collins to use as he attempts to lead his team back to the World Series.