2008 Projection: Matt Guerrier March 13th, 2008 at 6:30 am

By Kris Richardson

Matt Guerrier is next on the list for the continuing series of 2008 projections. We’ve done the likely starting pitchers already and are rapidly working through the bullpen. We’ll get to the hitters next week. Let’s look at Guerrier’s numbers:

Year	Age	ERA	W	L	INN	HR	BB	K
2008 ZiPS	29	3.49	2	2	80.0	10	24	55
2007	28	2.35	2	4	88.0	9	21	68
2006	27	3.36	1	0	69.7	9	21	37

Matt Guerrier has been a dependable reliever that can come in for one inning late in a game or pitch a few innings at times when the starter isn’t able to go deep. At times in his past he was often included in rumors when the Twins were looking for another starter, but those days seem to have passed and he’s now become a bullpen mainstay.

Guerrier led the Twins’ bullpen last season with 88.0 IP and he’s likely to get a lot of work in 2008 as the bullpen will be relied on more following the losses of Johan Santana and Carlos Silva. Matt has now had 3 straight solid seasons in his long relief role and there’s no reason to expect anything different in 2008.