The Cincinnati Reds are focusing on improving their bullpen for 2017, but their first move was to watch Ohlendorf sign overseas. Ohlendorf is one of the most interesting cases of statistics showing the truth in the bullpen. He has been ridiculed by fans, but wasn’t nearly as bad as his reputation suggests.
Ohlendorf ranked fifth in the bullpen in WHIP in 2016, behind Michael Lorenzen, Raisel Iglesias, Jumbo Diaz, and JC Ramirez. For those of you keeping score, that means over the course of the season Ohlendorf had a better WHIP than Blake Wood and Tony Cingrani. He also led the bullpen in decisions with a record of 5-7.