The Closer

by scoreboard on Oct 10, 2007 10:49 AM EDT

You know those historical practices, like bleeding or most uses of medicinal leeches, we look back on and say "what were they thinking"? I often wonder what current practices people will look back on a hundred years from now and ask the same question. One thing which is definitely on my list is managerial usage patterns of the modern closer.

Two nights ago, Cleveland manage-bot Eric Wedge removed his best reliever, who had just blown through three Yankees in the eighth inning in about five pitches, in favor of a man with an ERA above five. He happened to get away with it, as Joe Borowski allowed only a single upper-deck homerun to Bobby Abreu and an extremely long foul fly to Jorge Posada before escaping the inning. What a "save."

What is it going to take before managers decide that winning championships are worth the risk of bruising the egos of a few relief pitchers? The evening before, Joe Torre had probably ended the career of the best pitcher of the past fifty years by removing him after 2 1/3 innings because he just didn't have his stuff anymore. I'm sure it was a difficult move for Torre personally, but he had a series to prolong, and the move worked. Is it going to take the loss of a pennant or World Series clinching game before managers start using their best relief pitchers when the season is on the line? It might, and stay tuned because it could happen this year. Joe Borowski, the Indians medicinal leech, isn't done sucking.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Nice post

Scoreboard, write here more often.

by azibuck on Oct 10, 2007 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

This is a product of the past several decades

It is hard to determine to whom blame should be assigned for the idiocy of situational relief pitching, but La Russa certainly has revolutionized it, and people like Wedge, Gardenhire and Tracy live (and die) by it. The manager who starts defying that book at every opportunity will win my eternal gratitude.

by RichieHebner on Oct 10, 2007 4:00 PM EDT reply actions

Betancourt

How do we know he has the Closer Mind Set, huh? How do we know he could withstand the pressure of holding a three-run lead in the 9th inning of a potential deciding playoff game in baseball's most hallowed ballpark facing an All-Star lineup? All he'd done was withstand the pressure of holding a three-run lead in the 8th inning of a potential deciding playoff game in baseball's most hallowed ballpark facing an All-Star lineup. He might have wilted in the 9th.

by WTM on Oct 10, 2007 4:25 PM EDT reply actions

Relievers

What the league will eventually find out is that leveraging your relievers is the most effective way to use your pitching staff. This is the "inexplicable" reason why the Diamondbacks can make the playoffs after having a negative plus/minus in the RS RA metric. Using your best relievers in high leverage situations and throwing out garbage MRs when your chances at winning the game are shot is what the best managed teams such as Athletics are doing to maximize their efficiency.

by Kosstic518 on Oct 10, 2007 5:12 PM EDT reply actions

Betancourt

They tried him as the closer before with terrible results.Borowski was never dominant but he has that mentality that leads to usually good results. By the way his ERA in just save opps was 3.70

by buccoben on Oct 10, 2007 10:23 PM EDT reply actions

Not exactly.

Betancourt was actually decent whenever he was used in save opportunities, but the problem with him as a regular closer is that he supposedly has trouble pitching on back-to-back days. That's a significant obstacle.

Of course, it doesn't matter one bit in the playoffs, where you don't even think about tomorrow's game until tomorrow.

by Vlad on Oct 11, 2007 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Disagree...

Borowski got the save, didn't he??? Faustino Carmona was their closer last year and he couldn't get the job done. Did you happen to watch game two of the Yankees-Indians series? Carmona was 'dealin' when he went nine innings against the Yankees as a starter. He couldn't handle being a closer last year and this year he was a dominant starter. The last I checked, the Indians are 3-1 in the ALCS against Boston with Borowski as their closer. I'll take that medicinal leech just like Wedge has all season.

by puget sound pirate on Oct 17, 2007 3:12 AM EDT reply actions