Riddle Me This

I wrote the other day of Mariano Rivera's bizarre tendency to spit the bit in non-save situations. It happened to be an evening on which he allowed a homerun in "garbage time" against the Baltimore Orioles. The homerun ended up being the difference, after a 9th inning rally by the Yankees came up one run short.

It has happened again tonight, but this time the pill is even more bitter. Once again, Rivera coughed-up a game; this time to the Anaheim Angels; this time in what was a 0-0 game.

My frustration over this strange tendency of The Sandman's should not confused with WFAN - esque overreaction. I'm not saying that Rivera is "losing it," or that he's not still a dominant pitcher. What I am saying, though, is that his "Save" situation vs. "Non-Save" situation splits are ridiculous and warrant heavy, heavy scrutiny. Observe:

Save Situations (2008):
Games: 26
Saves: 26
Innings: 27.1
Earned Runs: 1 (!)
ERA: 0.33 (!)
WHIP: 0.52 (!)
Homeruns: 0
Strikeouts: 33

Non-Save Situations (2008)
Games: 18
Innings: 21
Earned Runs: 7
ERA: 3.43
WHIP: 1.00
Homeruns: 3
Strikeouts: 25

Taken alone, the "Non-Save" splits are fine (probably better than a large percentage of closers); however, compared to the "Save" splits, it is obvious that Rivera is simply a different pitcher this year when the situation is not, shall we say, dire. His "Non-Save" ERA is 10 x higher than his "Save" ERA (which is, admittedly, inhuman), his WHIP doubles when he's not protecting a lead, he shows a proclivity for the long ball, and his strikeout ratio suffers.

After Mo gave up the winning run tonight, Michael Kay wondered aloud if the "adrenaline rush" is just not the same for Rivera in non-save situations. This is lunacy on two fronts: 1) In a 0-0 game in the 9th inning, against the best team in baseball, on a night when you find yourself 1.5 games back of a Wild Card birth and 4.5 games out of your division, to say that Rivera lacked adrenaline is just plain lazy analysis; 2) Mariano Rivera is in the first year of a contract that will pay him $45,000,000. Is it really that hard to pump it up?

To place the blame on Rivera for a loss like this is unfair -- the team had five hits and looked uninspired on all offensive fronts -- but it's time to wonder aloud why our Hall-of-Fame-closer can't handle a tie game. Is it an anomoly, or is there an answer?
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