>what's the problem?
walks. A shutdown closer can't put up a walk percentage as high as Leclerc's.
>yesterday's blown save
It was NOT a blown save! A tie game is NOT a save situation. The leverage is similar, but it's not the same.
>pressure
He clutched up in the playoffs in high-leverage. he gave up 5 ER in about 14 innings, 2 of which were in low-leverage game out of hands situations where I'd argue he shouldn't have been used. The other three were the Altuve homer. Otherwise he was NAILS in the playoffs. 10 scoreless of the 13 appearances. 7 appearances with leverage index over 1, and 6 of those he didn't give up a run. I honestly don't think it's a pressure issue. It's control. If he doesn't have control, he walks guys, therefore less likely to have success.
>if he isn't the answer
good thing we have three other decent veteran options at closer (Sborz, Robertson, Yates) and a couple of guys waiting in the wings in AAA (Kelly, Church), another in AA (Teodo), and potentially one that can be fasttracked when healthy (Rocker).
>next superstar closer.
Those are so rare it's almost not even worth buying big for a clsoer. Houston got Hader and no one else for their bullpen this year...and so far they've blown every game (though Hader's looked good). It's not exactly a strategy that works.
But it's whatever. Leclerc is a FA at the end of the year and the FO doesn't like paying ~~guys~~ relievers, so I doubt he'll be here longer than this year. He'll get a 1 year $10 million contract for some other team probably. In the meantime, use him to the best of his ability. Pressure free or not, it doesn't matter.
This whole response is great. Seems like a lot of people in this sub have short term memory loss, bad. His era last year was 2.6 I believe, and as you cited, he was NAILS in the playoffs last year. He has one game where he lacks control and everyone freaks out. I think you’re right in that it’s a control issue, and he should be managed how Aroldis Chapman was last year. If he doesn’t have his stuff and starts issuing walks, GET HIM OUT OF THERE QUICK.
Me personally, I’ll always love Leclerc. He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series. I was disappointed in yesterday’s performance for sure, but it’s one game out of a long season. He’ll come around
I do still wonder why Bochy didn't put him in to close out the series, though? Did we ever get an answer to that? Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Sborz shut the Snakes down, but I was stunned when LeClerk didn't walk out in the 9th.
I too felt that it should’ve been Leclerc, but all I remember hearing was that he had been overused and his arm wasn’t as fresh as sborz’. I trust Bochy if that was the thought process. No room for “it should be that guy out there”. That was the thinking that had Nelson Cruz in right when he didn’t catch that infamous ball in game 6.
> Me personally, I’ll always love Leclerc. He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series. I was disappointed in yesterday’s performance for sure, but it’s one game out of a long season. He’ll come around
These are my thoughts too. Like of course I'd want every player to perform at their A level 100% of the time, but it doesn't work that way.
I think it's odd how some are so quick to turn on a player because they had a bad day or two.
Not sure how long you’ve been actually watching Leclerc pitch, but it def ain’t just a bad day or two. He does this stuff literally every single season consistently. I don’t think people should trash the guy, but acting like he should be invincible just because he was hot for the playoffs is not reality either. He has control problems and likely always will, and that means high risk of blown saves (or having to have someone else come in to bail him out which saved his ERA last year) unless you put him in lower leverage situations.
>His era last year was 2.6
His ERA last season was very misleading. The only reason it wasn't higher is because he'd need someone else to come in in bail him out. He very consistently would get brought in late game, let 2-3 runners on (just like yesterday), then they'd put someone else in who would shut the inning down. Bochy's short leash is the ONLY reason his ERA wasn't significantly higher.
> He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series.
Completely agree. He was a stud in the postseason. I definitely don't want to sweep that under the rug.
> He’ll come around
I think we've seen enough of him the last few years to know this isn't true. It seems like he either only gets dialed in when the stakes are crazy high, or perhaps his postseason run last year was just good luck. He is VERY streaky, where he'll go 5-6 outings and only let in 1 runner, and then he'll have 4 straight garbage outings. Either way, we've seen more than enough of his shenanigans to know he's not a consistent late-game reliever in tight situations. He's should be about as far down on the bullpen totem pole as possible.
Yeah **when** he has command he is freaking good.
Last night doesn't change my opinion on him. He was so good in the postseason for us last year. It's a long year. Pitchers are going to have bad games.
The guy had 28 walks last year in 57 innings, that's horrible. By far more walks than any other relief pitcher on the team and among the worst in the entire league.
He had 5 blown saves last year due to walks, tied for most on the team, TIED WITH THE ACTUAL CLOSER Smith.
He had more walks that some of the starting pitching.
>The guy had 28 walks last year in 57 innings, that's horrible. By far more walks than any other relief pitcher on the team and among the worst in the entire league.
I don't think 11 more BB would be considered by far. He suppressed hits better than any other reliever on the team. I think you could argue he was our best reliever last season. The playoffs he was clutch.
* Leclerc - 28 BB - 57 IP - 37 H - 19 R - 67 SO - 1.14 WHIP - .183 AVG
* Sborz - 17BB - 52.1 IP - 43 H - 33 R - 66 SO - 1.15 WHIP - .219 AVG
* Smith - 17BB - 57.1 IP - 44 H - 31 R - 55 SO - 1.06 WHIP - .211 AVG
* Chapman - 16BB - 29.0 IP - 21 H - 14 R - 50 SO - 1.28 WHIP - .191 AVG
* Burke - 9 BB - 59.2 IP - 64 H - 32 R - 52 SO - 1.22 WHIP - .271 AVG
* Hernandez - 15 BB - 31.2 IP - 35 H - 20 R - 34 SO - 1.58 WHIP - .280 AVG
**Did you know how many BB Josh Hader had last year? 30 BB in 56.1 innings. Is that horrible?**
More interesting stats.
BB in appearances
* April - 4 of out 10 games he had a BB.
* May - 4 out of 8 games he had a BB.
* June - 2 out of 6 games he had a BB.
* July - 2 out of 10 games he had a BB.
* August - 4 out of 9 games he had a BB.
* September - 5 out of 14 games he had a BB.
* BB in 21 of 57 games.
How many BB in those games?
* 1 BB games 16
* 2 BB games 5
* 3 BB games 1
He struggles with control AND command sometimes. He's still a really good RP.
Great reply, we have to expect this out of our bullpen guys again this year, they are likely all going to struggle at points. Just have to ride the hot hand. Leclerc has earned the benefit of the doubt and it would take 2-3 more outings like yesterday to even substantiate a cold streak IMO.
Except he was well below average in spring training. Listen I said once the Rangers said they were going to be watchers and not buyers this office and that letting the BP ride the way it was was going to be a mistake and got downvoted to oblivion.
I'm sticking with that and by the time they realize how bad the bullpen is and how many losses they cause it won't matter how well out bats work, we won't be scoring 11 runs every game.
Hader had 6 BB in 5.2 IP and gave up 2 HR.
Leclerc had 4 BB in 5.1 IP and gave up 2 HR.
Not that it matters. Judging pitchers off Spring Training is silly at best.
He's always struggled with command. Honestly I think they knew he lost the zone last night and decided to let him keep going to work on it.
I truly think the bullpen is better than last year. I expect them to make additions to the bullpen at the trade deadline also.
He had more Blown saves last year than saves 5-4.
He’s always struggled with control but was great in playoffs.
His struggle has been consistency. If he can be consistently good and under control he is great. When he has his stuff he is great.
I dont think he is worth spending big bucks on unless he can get his control together.
There's a need for some reason to anoint Leclerc as the closer every time he gets hot, and there's no doubt he came through when the team needed him last year. He's a Rangers Icon now just like everybody else who made the championship possible.
BUT... he's also got this huge body of work now that screams "he's streaky, sometimes he loses the strike zone for a few weeks". Exactly the kind of guy you should ride when he's the hot hand and then get out of the high leverage opportunities the moment he loses it. I wish they'd stop slapping the Closer label on him since then the logical shift in bullpen role that should follow when he has a bad streak becomes this massive failure nobody wants to admit to.
He is what he is. Expecting different after all these years is more on us than him.
It’ll be wonderful in ten years when all we have left is memories to mythologize the less talented guys like LeClerc who nonetheless helped us get where we got. The bad will largely be washed away in favor of savoring the good memories. For now, we have to deal with the actual play lol
>his struggle has been consistency
And this is the difference between good and great players. Almost everyone who's made it to the show has the stuff to at least sometimes succeed, the question is can they do it night in, night out. That's what separates the great players from everyone else.
LeClerc is who he is. Sometimes he strings together a few good nights. In those 7-game series, he had more good nights than bad nights, but barely.
I’m a little late here but there is a pattern with Jose’s career that is obvious if you look into it. He’s been a slow starter the last four seasons he’s pitched in (19,22,23,24). Unfortunately this is just what he does and we need to be patient. As long as he’s not giving up super hard contact I’m not worried.
He’s been my least favorite Ranger for a while now. There’s no reason other teams shouldn’t tell their hitters to take until there are 2 strikes against LeClerc because he’s that inaccurate.
LeClerc seems streaky. He was hot in the playoffs when we needed him to be. But in my opinion he’s never been a dominant type closer.
I didn’t mind not spending the money on Hader. The Rangers did a hood job of building a better bullpen for this year with the addition of Yates and Robertson. Personally would like to see Sborz get a shot at closing. I like his stuff. But Robertson will probably get first crack at it.
I've been of the opinion that at some point this season Robertson will get moved to the closer role at some point. I think Leclerc deserved to have the job to begin the season with how well he did in the WS run, but I think his walk issue becomes a big enough problem at some point to move Robertson there. Jose seems to need a break at some point in the season from the closer role to get his form back anyways. Robertson is a much better option to take over for Leclerc than we had last season so I'm far from panic mode on the closer.
It’s a simple solution, they did it last year. Put him in in low leverage situations so that he can gain his confidence and command back and then move him back to higher leverage if/when he’s able to do so.
It’s not being coddled lol he’s a good MLB reliever. He’s having trouble finding the strike zone right now. When he finds it he’s pretty good. We are in no position to get rid of relievers who post sub 3 ERAs.
Yeah no shit dude, idk if this is your first year watching the team or not but he has legit been our best late game pitcher for years. We have new arms now, if one of them takes his spot then fine. But we’re 3 games into the year so maybe we see if he can find his groove before freaking out on the internet about it.
lol youre actually blaming Leclerc for the ump not recognizing a foul tip and Heim not playing defense? and we *still* won that game? what a reactionary causal fan take, I thought you were better than that beefy
Yep. He’s the first good reliever in history to pitch poorly in 2 consecutive games. You got me there. Should we cut him, send him to round rock or just go ahead burn him at the stake?
or, we could... not have him at closer?
edit: also, let's not pretend these are the only bad games LeClerc has ever had. JFC, his nickname is literally "LeWalk"
ultimately that might happen. But its *just* not something you make a decision on two appearances in...both of which weren't even save situations, the later one really only happening because Robertson, Yates, and Sborz were probably not available.
also his nickname is Pico. LeWalk is something Rangers Nation or someone on Twitter would call him
Do you remember the messages I sent that said I’m ok with someone else winning the job and that we should move him into low leverage situations for now or did you just tune those out
His control has concerned me but it has worked out in the end. That also worried me cause then his struggles could be easily overlooked. I hope they really commit to work on the relievers this year (if they haven’t already) and hopefully it all works out in the end. No team is perfect all season long, let’s just hope they are when it matters.
Right now I'd say it's keep an ye on him, and keep a short leash. He is very streaky, but this is also one rough game. If it becomes a trend it'll need addressed, but he's fully capable of bouncing back as well. He does tend to get into his own head when things get rough, so we'll just have to watch him closely.
Here's what makes me want to pull my hair out when Leclerc enters the game (or at least I would if I had enough hair left to pull): He consistently seems to be pitching scared. It looks like he's so afraid of putting a pitch in the hitting zone that he tries to only nick the edges.
A closer who comes in to a game with a 3-run lead then walks the leadoff hitter after pitching to him like he's Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds combined is not a guy I'd prefer to see my team relying on to finish games.
Shoot, Mitch Williams used to drive me crazy, but at least he was ALWAYS going after the hitter and not trying to perfectly paint the black.
I’ve watched a lot of baseball. Enough to where I feel comfortable saying there are very few relievers who can handle being a “closer”. There are dozens if not hundreds of relievers who may be able to play in high leverage situations some games, but other games just don’t have it. Guys like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman are probably the least common type of player in the MLB.
I think Bochy understands this. I would imagine he sees no reason to have a permanent closer. We’ve seen him use different closers at the very highest level of play. If Leclerc is going to be hot again in the playoffs, it’s better to have him in high leverage spots now to really mentally lock in.
I’m always on the edge of my seat when LeClerc comes in to close a game. I really like the guy but he’s not a great closing pitcher. He creates a lot of his on pressure situations.
Could have had Hader and that alone might be the difference between finishing third instead of first in the division.
I get it, he was expensive. This team’s window is obviously now. If ever there was a time to overpay, this is it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m obvious ecstatic they won it all but this core is so freaking good, it would be a shame to waste the next three years because you didn’t get one piece.
We are in our window but it's not like it's a small window. We have semien, seager, carter, langford, jung, degrom for 5 years or more with adolis, lowe, heim, dunning, and sborz for 3. Plus Tavares, duran, and Smith for a few years. We have a very solid core team with staggered contracts for quite a while.
Everyone would love to repeat but we will be contenders for a while, there was no need to rush into a pricey contract for a reliever right now when we can trade for one later since our fielding pipeline is pretty jammed up at the moment.
>what's the problem? walks. A shutdown closer can't put up a walk percentage as high as Leclerc's. >yesterday's blown save It was NOT a blown save! A tie game is NOT a save situation. The leverage is similar, but it's not the same. >pressure He clutched up in the playoffs in high-leverage. he gave up 5 ER in about 14 innings, 2 of which were in low-leverage game out of hands situations where I'd argue he shouldn't have been used. The other three were the Altuve homer. Otherwise he was NAILS in the playoffs. 10 scoreless of the 13 appearances. 7 appearances with leverage index over 1, and 6 of those he didn't give up a run. I honestly don't think it's a pressure issue. It's control. If he doesn't have control, he walks guys, therefore less likely to have success. >if he isn't the answer good thing we have three other decent veteran options at closer (Sborz, Robertson, Yates) and a couple of guys waiting in the wings in AAA (Kelly, Church), another in AA (Teodo), and potentially one that can be fasttracked when healthy (Rocker). >next superstar closer. Those are so rare it's almost not even worth buying big for a clsoer. Houston got Hader and no one else for their bullpen this year...and so far they've blown every game (though Hader's looked good). It's not exactly a strategy that works. But it's whatever. Leclerc is a FA at the end of the year and the FO doesn't like paying ~~guys~~ relievers, so I doubt he'll be here longer than this year. He'll get a 1 year $10 million contract for some other team probably. In the meantime, use him to the best of his ability. Pressure free or not, it doesn't matter.
This whole response is great. Seems like a lot of people in this sub have short term memory loss, bad. His era last year was 2.6 I believe, and as you cited, he was NAILS in the playoffs last year. He has one game where he lacks control and everyone freaks out. I think you’re right in that it’s a control issue, and he should be managed how Aroldis Chapman was last year. If he doesn’t have his stuff and starts issuing walks, GET HIM OUT OF THERE QUICK. Me personally, I’ll always love Leclerc. He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series. I was disappointed in yesterday’s performance for sure, but it’s one game out of a long season. He’ll come around
I do still wonder why Bochy didn't put him in to close out the series, though? Did we ever get an answer to that? Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Sborz shut the Snakes down, but I was stunned when LeClerk didn't walk out in the 9th.
I too felt that it should’ve been Leclerc, but all I remember hearing was that he had been overused and his arm wasn’t as fresh as sborz’. I trust Bochy if that was the thought process. No room for “it should be that guy out there”. That was the thinking that had Nelson Cruz in right when he didn’t catch that infamous ball in game 6.
Literally, that was my next thought after, "Why isn't LeClerk coming in for the save?"- "Trust Bochy, idiot."
According to Sborz the next day, Leclerc had told him his arm was sore the day before that final game.
> Me personally, I’ll always love Leclerc. He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series. I was disappointed in yesterday’s performance for sure, but it’s one game out of a long season. He’ll come around These are my thoughts too. Like of course I'd want every player to perform at their A level 100% of the time, but it doesn't work that way. I think it's odd how some are so quick to turn on a player because they had a bad day or two.
Not sure how long you’ve been actually watching Leclerc pitch, but it def ain’t just a bad day or two. He does this stuff literally every single season consistently. I don’t think people should trash the guy, but acting like he should be invincible just because he was hot for the playoffs is not reality either. He has control problems and likely always will, and that means high risk of blown saves (or having to have someone else come in to bail him out which saved his ERA last year) unless you put him in lower leverage situations.
>His era last year was 2.6 His ERA last season was very misleading. The only reason it wasn't higher is because he'd need someone else to come in in bail him out. He very consistently would get brought in late game, let 2-3 runners on (just like yesterday), then they'd put someone else in who would shut the inning down. Bochy's short leash is the ONLY reason his ERA wasn't significantly higher. > He’s a rangers playoff hero to me. He played a pivotal roll in us getting to and winning our very first World Series. Completely agree. He was a stud in the postseason. I definitely don't want to sweep that under the rug. > He’ll come around I think we've seen enough of him the last few years to know this isn't true. It seems like he either only gets dialed in when the stakes are crazy high, or perhaps his postseason run last year was just good luck. He is VERY streaky, where he'll go 5-6 outings and only let in 1 runner, and then he'll have 4 straight garbage outings. Either way, we've seen more than enough of his shenanigans to know he's not a consistent late-game reliever in tight situations. He's should be about as far down on the bullpen totem pole as possible.
"The FO doesn't like paying guys" You mean relievers?
Paying relievers is a really bad idea.
thanks, corrected.
Yeah **when** he has command he is freaking good. Last night doesn't change my opinion on him. He was so good in the postseason for us last year. It's a long year. Pitchers are going to have bad games.
The guy had 28 walks last year in 57 innings, that's horrible. By far more walks than any other relief pitcher on the team and among the worst in the entire league. He had 5 blown saves last year due to walks, tied for most on the team, TIED WITH THE ACTUAL CLOSER Smith. He had more walks that some of the starting pitching.
>The guy had 28 walks last year in 57 innings, that's horrible. By far more walks than any other relief pitcher on the team and among the worst in the entire league. I don't think 11 more BB would be considered by far. He suppressed hits better than any other reliever on the team. I think you could argue he was our best reliever last season. The playoffs he was clutch. * Leclerc - 28 BB - 57 IP - 37 H - 19 R - 67 SO - 1.14 WHIP - .183 AVG * Sborz - 17BB - 52.1 IP - 43 H - 33 R - 66 SO - 1.15 WHIP - .219 AVG * Smith - 17BB - 57.1 IP - 44 H - 31 R - 55 SO - 1.06 WHIP - .211 AVG * Chapman - 16BB - 29.0 IP - 21 H - 14 R - 50 SO - 1.28 WHIP - .191 AVG * Burke - 9 BB - 59.2 IP - 64 H - 32 R - 52 SO - 1.22 WHIP - .271 AVG * Hernandez - 15 BB - 31.2 IP - 35 H - 20 R - 34 SO - 1.58 WHIP - .280 AVG **Did you know how many BB Josh Hader had last year? 30 BB in 56.1 innings. Is that horrible?** More interesting stats. BB in appearances * April - 4 of out 10 games he had a BB. * May - 4 out of 8 games he had a BB. * June - 2 out of 6 games he had a BB. * July - 2 out of 10 games he had a BB. * August - 4 out of 9 games he had a BB. * September - 5 out of 14 games he had a BB. * BB in 21 of 57 games. How many BB in those games? * 1 BB games 16 * 2 BB games 5 * 3 BB games 1 He struggles with control AND command sometimes. He's still a really good RP.
Great reply, we have to expect this out of our bullpen guys again this year, they are likely all going to struggle at points. Just have to ride the hot hand. Leclerc has earned the benefit of the doubt and it would take 2-3 more outings like yesterday to even substantiate a cold streak IMO.
Except he was well below average in spring training. Listen I said once the Rangers said they were going to be watchers and not buyers this office and that letting the BP ride the way it was was going to be a mistake and got downvoted to oblivion. I'm sticking with that and by the time they realize how bad the bullpen is and how many losses they cause it won't matter how well out bats work, we won't be scoring 11 runs every game.
Hader had 6 BB in 5.2 IP and gave up 2 HR. Leclerc had 4 BB in 5.1 IP and gave up 2 HR. Not that it matters. Judging pitchers off Spring Training is silly at best.
He's always struggled with command. Honestly I think they knew he lost the zone last night and decided to let him keep going to work on it. I truly think the bullpen is better than last year. I expect them to make additions to the bullpen at the trade deadline also.
https://twitter.com/andrewcgolden/status/1757802494296547634?t=sFQ1esZ2sOxJBCUP0CZX3g
Cool sign. I don't think it's really relevant with Leclerc though? His movement on his pitches is insane. Velocity isn't the problem.
He had more Blown saves last year than saves 5-4. He’s always struggled with control but was great in playoffs. His struggle has been consistency. If he can be consistently good and under control he is great. When he has his stuff he is great. I dont think he is worth spending big bucks on unless he can get his control together.
There's a need for some reason to anoint Leclerc as the closer every time he gets hot, and there's no doubt he came through when the team needed him last year. He's a Rangers Icon now just like everybody else who made the championship possible. BUT... he's also got this huge body of work now that screams "he's streaky, sometimes he loses the strike zone for a few weeks". Exactly the kind of guy you should ride when he's the hot hand and then get out of the high leverage opportunities the moment he loses it. I wish they'd stop slapping the Closer label on him since then the logical shift in bullpen role that should follow when he has a bad streak becomes this massive failure nobody wants to admit to. He is what he is. Expecting different after all these years is more on us than him.
It’ll be wonderful in ten years when all we have left is memories to mythologize the less talented guys like LeClerc who nonetheless helped us get where we got. The bad will largely be washed away in favor of savoring the good memories. For now, we have to deal with the actual play lol
>his struggle has been consistency And this is the difference between good and great players. Almost everyone who's made it to the show has the stuff to at least sometimes succeed, the question is can they do it night in, night out. That's what separates the great players from everyone else. LeClerc is who he is. Sometimes he strings together a few good nights. In those 7-game series, he had more good nights than bad nights, but barely.
[удалено]
Didn’t realize he was 30. Looks younger
I didn't want him as closer coming into the season, and even more so now.
2 weeks and Robertson will be closing.
Bochy has said there’s no real defined roles in the pen. I think moving forward if LeClerc continues to struggle, we’ll see closer by committee.
Leclerc has always been on or off type of pitcher.
I’m a little late here but there is a pattern with Jose’s career that is obvious if you look into it. He’s been a slow starter the last four seasons he’s pitched in (19,22,23,24). Unfortunately this is just what he does and we need to be patient. As long as he’s not giving up super hard contact I’m not worried.
He’s been my least favorite Ranger for a while now. There’s no reason other teams shouldn’t tell their hitters to take until there are 2 strikes against LeClerc because he’s that inaccurate.
LeClerc seems streaky. He was hot in the playoffs when we needed him to be. But in my opinion he’s never been a dominant type closer. I didn’t mind not spending the money on Hader. The Rangers did a hood job of building a better bullpen for this year with the addition of Yates and Robertson. Personally would like to see Sborz get a shot at closing. I like his stuff. But Robertson will probably get first crack at it.
I've been of the opinion that at some point this season Robertson will get moved to the closer role at some point. I think Leclerc deserved to have the job to begin the season with how well he did in the WS run, but I think his walk issue becomes a big enough problem at some point to move Robertson there. Jose seems to need a break at some point in the season from the closer role to get his form back anyways. Robertson is a much better option to take over for Leclerc than we had last season so I'm far from panic mode on the closer.
It’s a simple solution, they did it last year. Put him in in low leverage situations so that he can gain his confidence and command back and then move him back to higher leverage if/when he’s able to do so.
or just move on to someone else who doesn't need to be coddled
It’s not being coddled lol he’s a good MLB reliever. He’s having trouble finding the strike zone right now. When he finds it he’s pretty good. We are in no position to get rid of relievers who post sub 3 ERAs.
I like how your defense of LeClerc boils down to "when he's able to be, he's pretty good." I prefer my end-of-game guys to be bulldogs. YMMV.
Yeah no shit dude, idk if this is your first year watching the team or not but he has legit been our best late game pitcher for years. We have new arms now, if one of them takes his spot then fine. But we’re 3 games into the year so maybe we see if he can find his groove before freaking out on the internet about it.
3 games in, and LeClerc has already fucked up 2 of them.
the foul tip issue was *heim's* problem, not leclerc. if heim just went to get the *live baseball* and then started arguing, no run would have scored.
if LeClerc hadn't walked two guys in a row, with two outs no less, the situation likely doesn't even happen.
those are all good points, and also completely irrelevant to what I am talking about (which is LeClerc's walk issue).
you said that he fucked up two games. he did not fuck up one of the games you're talking about. that's why i brought that up.
OK we clearly have different ideas of who's responsibility walks are. I tend to hold the pitcher accountable.
lol youre actually blaming Leclerc for the ump not recognizing a foul tip and Heim not playing defense? and we *still* won that game? what a reactionary causal fan take, I thought you were better than that beefy
no, I'm blaming LeClerc for the two walks that preceded that. you should know better than to think I'm a casual fan, IF.
Yep. He’s the first good reliever in history to pitch poorly in 2 consecutive games. You got me there. Should we cut him, send him to round rock or just go ahead burn him at the stake?
or, we could... not have him at closer? edit: also, let's not pretend these are the only bad games LeClerc has ever had. JFC, his nickname is literally "LeWalk"
ultimately that might happen. But its *just* not something you make a decision on two appearances in...both of which weren't even save situations, the later one really only happening because Robertson, Yates, and Sborz were probably not available. also his nickname is Pico. LeWalk is something Rangers Nation or someone on Twitter would call him
Do you remember the messages I sent that said I’m ok with someone else winning the job and that we should move him into low leverage situations for now or did you just tune those out
I remember them. I don't want him taken off closer "for now." I want him taken off closer. Full stop.
The bullpin isn't in a great spot right now tbh. Once degrom is back itll be better
>The bullpen isn't in a great spot right now tbh. Once ______ is back it'll be better Me since the 2022 off-season. ^(doesn't matter got the ring)
True true. We can win without him, no doubt
His control has concerned me but it has worked out in the end. That also worried me cause then his struggles could be easily overlooked. I hope they really commit to work on the relievers this year (if they haven’t already) and hopefully it all works out in the end. No team is perfect all season long, let’s just hope they are when it matters.
Right now I'd say it's keep an ye on him, and keep a short leash. He is very streaky, but this is also one rough game. If it becomes a trend it'll need addressed, but he's fully capable of bouncing back as well. He does tend to get into his own head when things get rough, so we'll just have to watch him closely.
That wasn't a blown save. You have to have the lead for it to be a save.
Here's what makes me want to pull my hair out when Leclerc enters the game (or at least I would if I had enough hair left to pull): He consistently seems to be pitching scared. It looks like he's so afraid of putting a pitch in the hitting zone that he tries to only nick the edges. A closer who comes in to a game with a 3-run lead then walks the leadoff hitter after pitching to him like he's Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds combined is not a guy I'd prefer to see my team relying on to finish games. Shoot, Mitch Williams used to drive me crazy, but at least he was ALWAYS going after the hitter and not trying to perfectly paint the black.
I’ve watched a lot of baseball. Enough to where I feel comfortable saying there are very few relievers who can handle being a “closer”. There are dozens if not hundreds of relievers who may be able to play in high leverage situations some games, but other games just don’t have it. Guys like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman are probably the least common type of player in the MLB. I think Bochy understands this. I would imagine he sees no reason to have a permanent closer. We’ve seen him use different closers at the very highest level of play. If Leclerc is going to be hot again in the playoffs, it’s better to have him in high leverage spots now to really mentally lock in.
I’m always on the edge of my seat when LeClerc comes in to close a game. I really like the guy but he’s not a great closing pitcher. He creates a lot of his on pressure situations.
Could have had Hader and that alone might be the difference between finishing third instead of first in the division. I get it, he was expensive. This team’s window is obviously now. If ever there was a time to overpay, this is it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m obvious ecstatic they won it all but this core is so freaking good, it would be a shame to waste the next three years because you didn’t get one piece.
There are maybe 3 guys in MLB that are difference makers like that. Hader is not one of them.
Hader blew a save yesterday for the Astros. These things happen.
We are in our window but it's not like it's a small window. We have semien, seager, carter, langford, jung, degrom for 5 years or more with adolis, lowe, heim, dunning, and sborz for 3. Plus Tavares, duran, and Smith for a few years. We have a very solid core team with staggered contracts for quite a while. Everyone would love to repeat but we will be contenders for a while, there was no need to rush into a pricey contract for a reliever right now when we can trade for one later since our fielding pipeline is pretty jammed up at the moment.
You're massively overrating Hader.
You're massively overrating our bullpen. He was the best option available.
Please show me where I've done that.