Greeneville Astros: Joan Belliard

Reliever Joan Belliard starts off the look at the pitchers of the Greeneville Astros...

Joan Belliard
How did he get here?: Signed contract prior to 2007 season
Stats: 6'2", 185 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 21

Splits!

Split	IP	ERA/WHIP	K:BB	BAA
Season	43.2	3.71/1.24	38:14	.240
vs LHB	16	3.38/1.44	11:4	.292
vs RHB	27.2	3.90/1.12	27:10	.206
Home	21.1	5.06/1.55	22:9	.276
Away	22.1	2.42/0.94	16:5	.200
Bases Empty	18.1	x/1.47	17:11	.216
Runners On	25.1	x/1.07	21:3	.258
w/RISP	17.1	x/0.81	17:3	.186
June	4.2	1.93/1.50	4:2	.278
July	17.1	3.63/1.15	10:6	.219
August	21.2	4.15/1.27	24:6	.247

K/9 Rate: 7.8
BB/9 Rate: 2.9
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.79
K:BB Ratio: 2.71

Lots of encouraging things about Belliard to note. This is his third season in the Astros' organization, and his second season in a full-time reliever role (meaning he only pitched in nine games in the Dominican Summer League in 2007). His IPs went from 35.2IP in 08 to 43.2IP in 09, so a nice easy increase over last year. Last year his strikeouts were up (8.1 per 9), and his K:BB ratio was an impressive 4.57:1. That said, I can handle that kind of WHIP across his splits. Lefties hit him pretty well, but he gets RHBs to ground out much more often (2.29:1 as opposed to 1.25:1 for LHBs). And seeing his WHIP drop as he gets into more precarious situations is encouraging.