A Leverage Index (LI) of 1.0 represents the average game state (inning/score/base/out). An LI of 2.0 means that the "swing impact" of that particular PA is double the average. That is, if the average hit with the LI situation of 1.0 will add +.06 wins, then the average hit with the LI situation of 2.0 will add +.12 wins. That PA is magnified... leveraged. The higher the leverage, the more crucial the situation.
The following table presents the percentages of batters faced by Leverage Class (min 800 PA total, as a reliever only).
Reading the first line, we see that Troy Percival was the most leveraged reliever in this time period. His fires were the hottest. (Luckily, he's also a qualified fireman.) Even so, 23% of the batters he faced were in the "very low leverage" category (LI of 0.0 to 0.5), a category normally reserved for mom-up duty. If you think that's a bit much, then you'll be startled to know that's also the lowest figure in baseball! One interesting pitcher is Mike Remlinger. His LI is around 1.3, which is typical of a "set-up" guy, yet he only faced 28% of his batters in mop-up situations, the third best figure in baseball. Right behind him? Robb Nen and Mariano Rivera. Keith Foulke is probably the reliever that was the least well-managed. Octavio Dotel is probably the the pitcher in the toughest situation.
To put some of these LI in perspective, Bruce Sutter has a career LI of 1.90. Not only were Sutter's fires hotter, he also faced more of them per year. Somehow, today's top relievers, given less fires, are also given fires that don't burn as much. This means that the other relievers on the team are getting some of these hot fires. Why?
| LI Classes
|
| Reliever | 0.0 - 0.5 | 0.5 - 1.0 | 1.0 - 1.5 | 1.5 - 2.5 | 2.5 + | LI
|
| Troy Percival | 23 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 29 | 1.87
|
| Trevor Hoffman | 26 | 11 | 15 | 23 | 26 | 1.79
|
| Robb Nen | 29 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 26 | 1.78
|
| Bob Wickman | 37 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 25 | 1.69
|
| Roberto Hernandez | 36 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 1.68
|
| Jeff Shaw | 33 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 25 | 1.68
|
| Mariano Rivera | 30 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 1.66
|
| Billy Koch | 34 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 25 | 1.65
|
| Armando Benitez | 33 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 26 | 1.65
|
| Billy Wagner | 34 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 24 | 1.65
|
| Mike Williams | 39 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 25 | 1.62
|
| Danny Graves | 31 | 13 | 14 | 21 | 22 | 1.58
|
| Todd Jones | 35 | 12 | 12 | 19 | 22 | 1.55
|
| John Rocker | 33 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 1.54
|
| Antonio Alfonseca | 37 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 1.52
|
| Esteban Yan | 38 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 22 | 1.52
|
| Ugueth Urbina | 37 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 1.5
|
| Derek Lowe | 31 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 1.5
|
| Jason Isringhausen | 40 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 22 | 1.48
|
| Byung-Hyun Kim | 38 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 1.44
|
| Jose Mesa | 40 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 1.43
|
| Scott Williamson | 31 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 16 | 1.42
|
| Ricky Bottalico | 37 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 1.42
|
| Jim Mecir | 31 | 18 | 13 | 21 | 17 | 1.39
|
| Jose Jimenez | 43 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 1.37
|
| Dave Veres | 43 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 1.37
|
| ArthurLee Rhodes | 33 | 16 | 14 | 23 | 15 | 1.33
|
| Wayne Gomes | 45 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 1.3
|
| Jeff Zimmerman | 35 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 1.3
|
| Eddie Guardado | 40 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 17 | 1.3
|
| Buddy Groom | 38 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 15 | 1.29
|
| Bob Howry | 44 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 1.29
|
| Mike Remlinger | 28 | 22 | 17 | 22 | 12 | 1.27
|
| Keith Foulke | 41 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 1.27
|
| Paul Shuey | 37 | 16 | 14 | 19 | 14 | 1.26
|
| Octavio Dotel | 33 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 1.26
|
| Terry Adams | 41 | 15 | 12 | 18 | 14 | 1.24
|
| Steve Karsay | 39 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 14 | 1.24
|
| Mike Trombley | 47 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 1.23
|
| Shigetoshi Hasegawa | 40 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 14 | 1.21
|
| Juan Acevedo | 45 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 1.2
|
| Felix Rodriguez | 40 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 12 | 1.17
|
| Scott Strickland | 46 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 1.17
|
| Mike Timlin | 44 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 1.16
|
| Kyle Farnsworth | 45 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 1.16
|
| LaTroy Hawkins | 48 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 1.16
|
| Jay Powell | 47 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 1.12
|
| Jeff Nelson | 44 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 1.12
|
| Steve Kline | 45 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 1.12
|
| Vladimir Nunez | 45 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 1.1
|
| David Weathers | 41 | 20 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 1.1
|
| Matt Herges | 46 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 1.09
|
| Braden Looper | 45 | 18 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 1.08
|
| Curt Leskanic | 51 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 1.07
|
| Rheal Cormier | 44 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 1.07
|
| Paul Quantrill | 46 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 11 | 1.06
|
| Turk Wendell | 42 | 19 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 1.06
|
| Graeme Lloyd | 50 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 1.05
|
| Mike Stanton | 43 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 1.05
|
| Ramiro Mendoza | 42 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 1.05
|
| Dennis Cook | 45 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 1.04
|
| Tim Worrell | 46 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 1.03
|
| Mike Fetters | 52 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 1.03
|
| Jose Paniagua | 47 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 1.03
|
| Scott Sullivan | 39 | 24 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 1.02
|
| Mike Venafro | 48 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 1
|
| Jose Santiago | 49 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 0.99
|
| Mike DeJean | 54 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 0.98
|
| Pedro Borbon | 48 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 0.98
|
| Scott Sauerbeck | 49 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 0.97
|
| Alan Embree | 52 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 0.97
|
| Bob Wells | 51 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 0.96
|
| Alan Levine | 50 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 0.96
|
| Rich Garces | 42 | 22 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 0.96
|
| Jason Grimsley | 56 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 0.95
|
| Anthony Telford | 47 | 19 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 0.95
|
| Mark Petkovsek | 51 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 0.93
|
| Jeff Tam | 52 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 0.92
|
| Mark Guthrie | 55 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 0.91
|
| Felix Heredia | 57 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 0.9
|
| Tim Wakefield | 49 | 20 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 0.9
|
| Gabe White | 53 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 0.85
|
| Greg Swindell | 57 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 0.82
|
| Jose Cabrera | 58 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0.79
|
| Pat Mahomes | 54 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 0.79
|
| Mike Magnante | 54 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 0.79
|
| Rick White | 55 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 0.78
|
| Doug Creek | 60 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 0.78
|
| Todd VanPoppel | 56 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 0.77
|
| Steve Reed | 57 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 0.76
|
| Dennis Reyes | 59 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 0.74
|
| Hector Carrasco | 58 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 0.74
|
| Guillermo Mota | 59 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0.74
|
| Doug Henry | 63 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0.71
|
| Justin Speier | 58 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 0.69
|
| Nelson Cruz | 63 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 0.68
|
| Manuel Aybar | 59 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 0.67
|
| Sean Lowe | 59 | 19 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 0.67
|
| Vic Darensbourg | 63 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 0.66
|
| John Wasdin | 68 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0.55
|
| Lou Pote | 75 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0.47
|
| Simple Average | 45 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 1.14
|