4.22.2008

What happened to Eric Gagne?

August 2nd 2007. Eric Gagne appeared in his first game with the Boston Red Sox. His ERA was an impressive 2.16 ERA, and he had blown just one save all year. He appeared to be resurrecting his once dominant career, following his second Tommy John surgery of his career, and coming off back surgery.

But something went wrong. Gagne was thrown right into the heat of a pennant race, pitching meaningful innings for an already deep Red Sox bullpen. And the results he would give the Red Sox were horrendous. His 6.75 ERA and 1.88 WHIP certainly didn't help the Sox. And in early 2008, he isn't helping the Brewers either.

Since that first appearance with the Red Sox(8/2/07), it appears all has gone wrong. He has been credited with 6 blown saves, while grasping only 6 saves. His 7.18 ERA is scary, and his walk rate is high(4.1 BB/9). He has allowed far too many baserunners(47 in 26 innings). Long story short, horrendous.

What's my point here? I don't really know, his blown save on 4/20 led me to look this stuff up. But I really feel this is a significant storyline. I feel that way because this is a guy who had some of the most dominant seasons as a reliever in history. In 2003, he had 55 saves. In 2003, he blew ZERO saves. In 2003, batters posted an OPS of .381 against Gagne. In 2003, Gagne's WHIP was 0.692. In 2003 Eric Gagne had a k/9 of 15. In 2003, Eric Gagne was the Cy Young of the NL.

Where did this guy go? I suppose the surgeries may have turned him into a shell of his former self.

3 comments:

Kazz said...

He's French-Canadian. That's what's wrong with him.

Ross said...

Worst website ever. Never update.

Ross said...

What happened to... Updating this site?