Lance Cormier the Underrated Member of the Pen

Good ol' Lance the Pants. (AP)

Now I am a big fan of Lance the Pants and people ask me why is that? Is it because his name is Lance? Is it because of his one pitch appearance when Izzy jacked up his arm again? Or is it because he seems to help the team whenever a starter can only go four innings due to 300 pitches?

If you picked question three then you my friend are correct. J.P. Howell might be the savior of this years pen but without Cormier in the long relief role, the Rays would not be in half the games that starters blow.

Lance is posting a career low ERA at 2.87 in 23 games this season with 10 of those appearances lasting two innings or longer.  With everyones expectations of the Rays starters this season, Cormier has come in and been a bright spot. Also only making $675,000 for this year makes Friedman look like a God yet again.

While Cormier does have the least amount of appearances out of the core bullpen members, (I am using Howell, Balfour, Nelson, and Wheeler), he has compiled the most innings from the pen. Also he has a lower ERA than Balfour, Nelson, and Wheeler. With Lance’s numbers I don’t see why we can’t give him more short inning opportunities.

Having such a great season will probably mean that Corimer will test the market when the season is up. Any team would kill to have someone that can eat innings such as Lance the Pants.