August 14, 200322 yr Author "Closers are supposedly the best relievers on the staff yet they are never brought into the game during crucial situations in the sixth or seventh inning, and only rarely in the eighth. The bases could be loaded with nobody out, a one-run lead, the heart of the order coming up and the smoke detectors blaring in the restrooms, but the closer isn't going anywhere near the mound. He's going to sit around that bullpen chewing sunflower seeds until the ninth inning when the fire is out, the ashes are smoldering and no one is on base." I totally agree with that, but it will never change, the best pitcher will always remain in the closer role. I hate to break this to ya, but after reading your Rick White was right thread, this is EXACTLY how Jerry Manuel uses his bullpen. That is why you see Damaso Marte and Tom Gordon early in games, and you also see them when we are losing. Manuel wants his best relievers in what he thinks are the critical points of the game.
August 14, 200322 yr Since our bullpen sucks who are the closers in Charlette and Birmingham? I looked on the barrons website and two pitcher stood out, Pacheco who teams are hitting .237 and Bajenaru who teams are batting .227. Do anyone know anything about these guys?
August 14, 200322 yr Author Since our bullpen sucks who are the closers in Charlette and Birmingham? I looked on the barrons website and two pitcher stood out, Pacheco who teams are hitting .237 and Bajenaru who teams are batting .227. Do anyone know anything about these guys? Pacheco is a starter who we got in the Sandy Alomar trade of last year. I don't know anything about the other guy, but right now Matt Ginter is closing at AAA and Arnie Munoz was closing when Matt was up here. After the Royce Ring trade, I have no idea who is closing at AA, but I am sure someone else can help out on that one.
August 14, 200322 yr Is there really that big of a difference between a 2-run lead in the 7th and a 2-run lead in the 9th? Maybe I read the article wrong, but man, it sounds like the author wants us to believe there us.
August 14, 200322 yr Our minor league closers aren't really set guys, it's usually closer by committee. Charlotte Munoz/Ginter/Sanders Birmingham Bajenaru/Bullard Winston-Salem Fields/Hummel/Castro Kannapolis Larson (although they don't win very often )
August 14, 200322 yr Almost anyone in the pen of any team can hold a 3 run lead only needing to get three outs I don't know if you can find this stat, maybe Stats Inc. keeps this stuff, percentage of games saved when only having a 1 run lead as opposed to 3. There is a huge difference between the two, and i don't care how many saves a guy can rack up with 3 run leads.
August 14, 200322 yr Almost anyone in the pen of any team can hold a 3 run lead only needing to get three outs I don't know if you can find this stat, maybe Stats Inc. keeps this stuff, percentage of games saved when only having a 1 run lead as opposed to 3. There is a huge difference between the two, and i don't care how many saves a guy can rack up with 3 run leads. Agreed. Mario and I got into a debate on the trip in regards to closers. We both think its stupid for a team to have a closer if they dont' have one really awesome pitcher. If your closer is mediocre and you have a few mediocre guys, play the matchups. The thing is still have one or two guys that you call the closer (So they know their roles) but flip them back and forth and let them know they aren't always gonna close, sometimes they will set up, etc. Basically I like things the way the Sox do it with Marte/Gordon. If you have Gagne or Smoltz then you don't do that or even to a lesser extent a healthy Koch (i do think this has been bothering him all year).
August 15, 200322 yr Agreed. Mario and I got into a debate on the trip in regards to closers. We both think its stupid for a team to have a closer if they dont' have one really awesome pitcher. If your closer is mediocre and you have a few mediocre guys, play the matchups. The thing is still have one or two guys that you call the closer (So they know their roles) but flip them back and forth and let them know they aren't always gonna close, sometimes they will set up, etc. Basically I like things the way the Sox do it with Marte/Gordon. If you have Gagne or Smoltz then you don't do that or even to a lesser extent a healthy Koch (i do think this has been bothering him all year). If your closer is mediocre and you have a few mediocre guys, play the matchups. The Red Sox tried that the first two months and it blew up in their face. Everything I've seen in baseball tells me that for whatever reason, every team needs to have a defined closer.
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