That's right. An entire bullpen should have won World Series MVP.
The strength of the 2015 Kansas City Royals was their core of relief pitchers, featuring premier arms such as Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and converted starter Luke Hochevar. This unit contributed heavily to the franchise's second World Series title that season, relative to other position groups on the roster. Let us contextualize how great this bullpen was in the regular season, focusing primarily on run prevention.
The Kansas City relievers that season were highly efficient in preventing balls in play and stranding opposing base runners, finishing 1st in the Majors in BABIP (0.258) and LOB% (80.4%). They also allowed the lowest batting average against as a bullpen, with an average of 0.211. With a starting pitching rotation that was considered by many to be average, the Royals relied heavily on their relief core early and often in the regular season.
In the postseason however, the team featured their bullpen earlier and more often, particularly in the World Series in 2015 against the New York Mets. In reference to Figure One below, the Royals relievers were far more effective in their appearances collectively, relative to starters.
In analyzing the traditional analytics, the relievers had better numbers across the board. What was most fascinating was the gap in Win Probability Added (WPA) between the two position groups. As WPA measures the probability of win expectancy based on the actions of a player, or players, the Kansas City bullpen had a collectively impressive WPA of 0.78, while the starters had a lackluster 0.09. In other words, the contributions of the relief pitchers added an additional 78% in added win probability, while the starters only added 9%.
While Salvador Perez won World Series MVP honors by being the best offensive player in the Fall Classic for the Royals, posting a slash line of 0.364/0.391/0.455, his WPA was -0.12. His outcomes at the plate took away from the team's chances of winning a championship. Kansas City used seven relievers in this matchup, and they collectively contributed significantly more towards the team's chances of winning than the actual MVP of the series.
While it would have been unprecedented move, awarding the World Series MVP to an entire bullpen would have made sense for this series. The relievers of the Kansas City Royals should have been awarded this esteemed honor.
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