Eric O'Flaherty: The most bad-ass and underrated Braves pitcher
He led major league relievers with an 0.98 ERA, yet drew only the third-most notoriety in a Braves bullpen that was represented by Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters on the National League All-Star team.
Eric O’Flaherty wasn’t an All-Star, but the veteran lefty was arguably the team’s most consistent reliever from start to finish, and Monday the O in “O’Ventbrel” got paid.
O’Flaherty and the Braves agreed to terms on a one-year, $2.49 million contract, a 178-percent raise for the Washington state native who was eligible for arbitration for the second time.
He closed the season with 20 consecutive scoreless appearances and became the first reliever in major league history to post a sub-1.00 ERA in 70 or more appearances. O’Flaherty had 78 appearances, tied for fifth-most in the majors.
O’Flaherty made $895,000 in 2011 and led big-league relievers in ERA while working in 78 games, one fewer than Kimbrel and seven behind major-league appearance leader Venters.
O’Flaherty had a 0.75 ERA in 38 road appearances, and a 0.70 ERA in 56 night games (1.61 in 22 day games).
In 49 appearances after June 6, he posted a miniscule 0.58 ERA and 41 strikeouts with 13 walks in 46-1/3 innings, and the Braves went 35-14 in those games.
One of the few Braves not to struggle down the stretch, O’Flaherty worked 19-2/3 scoreless innings in 20 appearances after Aug. 15, with one walk and 16 strikeouts.
He was a model of consistency, despite a couple of midseason episodes of back stiffness. (Considering how Venters and Kimbrel seemed to tire in September from the season-long heavy workload, perhaps the stiff back that forced O’Flaherty to be shelved for a few days a couple of times wasn’t a bad thing….)
O’Flaherty had two full months with no earned runs allowed – July (14 appearances, 12 innings) and September (14 appearances, 14 innings). Three other months, he allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 or more appearances.
Opponents hit .221 with a .283 on-base percentage against him, and O’Flaherty limited lefties to a .195 average (17-for-87) with only four extra-base hits, two walks, 25 strikeouts and a .237 OBP and .513 OPS.
With runners in scoring position, hitters were 12-for-66 (.182) with a .212 slugging percentage. With bases loaded, O’Flaherty held folks hitless (0-for-8) with no walks, five strikeouts and one RBI.
In two-strike counts, he had a .175 opponents’ average (25-for-143) with five walks and 67 strikeouts.
By the way, Phillies hitters were 5-for-29 (.172) against O’Flaherty in 2011 with one double, one walk and 10 strikeouts. For their careers, Philly stars Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are a combined 4-for-33 against the lefty, with one RBI, two walks and seven strikeouts.
