The Shutdown (and Meltdown) Relievers of 2011: Fangraphs’ Steve Slowinski rounds up the best (and worst) relief pitchers of the season, according to shutdowns and meltdowns.

Brad Lidge, Velocity and Trevor Hoffman: Fangraphs’ Eno Sarris writes about Brad Lidge — with his fastball dipping to 89 MPH, he needs his slider to be as sharp as, say, Hoffman’s change was if he wants to stay in the bigs.

The Absurdity of the Hold Statistic: You can pitch horribly and still get a hold, and J-Doug has the data to prove it at BtB.

How Do You Rate Relief?: Step into the BP Wayback Machine for this 2005 Nate Silver piece on grading relievers.