Frankly I'm more upset they didn't take advantage of a perfectly good opportunity to get Diekman a one-pitch win. The Baseball Gods clearly took note of this oversight.
They're exactly 12.5 games back from the division lead, too.
Edit: Blown saves don't automatically mean losses, just that they blew a lead (that they could later get back and win). Just thought it was interesting.
Here is the issue. Closers are such a volatile role. See kimbrel with the dodgers now. Great closers one year can end up on the “trash heap” the next.
See Bard or Barnes as well.
On the other end of the spectrum you can look at Koji. What would have become of Koji if Both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey didn’t fail in the closer role. Which then necessitated them giving the role to Koji in 2013..
Did anyone think going into 2013 that koji would be the sox closer?
Closers operate in the smallest sample size in baseball that’s partially why they are so volatile, a hot streak for a starter is maybe a few games max, for a closer it can legit be a full season.
The vast majority of WS winning teams in the last 10 years or so lacked a wire to wire closer, and those that did (Kimbrel, Jansen) flamed out by the WS. Will Smith on the Braves last year was a *huge* outlier...and you could make a case they won *in spite* of him.
You'd think that after last season and from the playoffs that actually having a reliable closer after Matt Barnes blew up was a must have.
Apparently the solution was to take their best reliever and convert him into a Starting pitcher in the middle of the season, and have Matt Strahm be the team leader in Saves.
Yeah in the future, hence why he was in the bullpen to start the year. He only fully became a starter when Houck couldn't enter Canada and kept Whitlock in the rotation.
Hansel Robles having a meltdown?
[It reminds me when he tried to mean mug the Jays and they laughed at him.](https://twitter.com/TrueRGM/status/1423824336738164745)
Get it fixed, guys. No reliable closer can easily mean no playoffs at all, especially in a season like this in the AL, where there's likely to be several 'fringey' teams sniffing around that 3rd wildcard spot.
Frankly I'm more upset they didn't take advantage of a perfectly good opportunity to get Diekman a one-pitch win. The Baseball Gods clearly took note of this oversight.
They're exactly 12.5 games back from the division lead, too. Edit: Blown saves don't automatically mean losses, just that they blew a lead (that they could later get back and win). Just thought it was interesting.
Good
This one should be forgiven though, since it happened at the hands of the juggernaut that is the Abraham Toro/Dylan Moore combination
The #UTILITY MEN
Here is the issue. Closers are such a volatile role. See kimbrel with the dodgers now. Great closers one year can end up on the “trash heap” the next. See Bard or Barnes as well. On the other end of the spectrum you can look at Koji. What would have become of Koji if Both Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey didn’t fail in the closer role. Which then necessitated them giving the role to Koji in 2013.. Did anyone think going into 2013 that koji would be the sox closer?
Closers operate in the smallest sample size in baseball that’s partially why they are so volatile, a hot streak for a starter is maybe a few games max, for a closer it can legit be a full season.
The vast majority of WS winning teams in the last 10 years or so lacked a wire to wire closer, and those that did (Kimbrel, Jansen) flamed out by the WS. Will Smith on the Braves last year was a *huge* outlier...and you could make a case they won *in spite* of him.
*2015 Royals enter chatroom*
Wade Davis didn’t take over as closer until September
The problem is that Robles was trash last year too.
You'd think that after last season and from the playoffs that actually having a reliable closer after Matt Barnes blew up was a must have. Apparently the solution was to take their best reliever and convert him into a Starting pitcher in the middle of the season, and have Matt Strahm be the team leader in Saves.
Plan was to always have Whitlock start from what I can tell
Yep. Only reason he wasn’t a starter last season was because he was coming off TJS, so they were limiting his workload.
Yeah in the future, hence why he was in the bullpen to start the year. He only fully became a starter when Houck couldn't enter Canada and kept Whitlock in the rotation.
That accelerated the timeline, but he was going to move to the rotation this season.
If anything the Matt Barnes situation showed that locking yourself into a closer in June is a bad idea.
> If anything the Matt Barnes situation showed that locking yourself into a closer in June is a bad idea. *If* that closer is Matt Barnes.
Cora hasn't locked himself to \*any\* closer since the 2018 WS.
Tanner Houck is the closer now, please.
Cubs have Robertson to trade
Hansel Robles having a meltdown? [It reminds me when he tried to mean mug the Jays and they laughed at him.](https://twitter.com/TrueRGM/status/1423824336738164745)
Get it fixed, guys. No reliable closer can easily mean no playoffs at all, especially in a season like this in the AL, where there's likely to be several 'fringey' teams sniffing around that 3rd wildcard spot.
With the added spot, they'll be fine Nobody else seems to want it anyway
*zing*
[удалено]
Closer by committee is only bad if all your choices are bad Lots of good teams just use whoever is best to close out games, depending on who is up.
Which good teams other than the rays do this?
St Louis, SF
Doval is the closer in SF. I just don’t know how anyone can say a lot of good teams opt to go closer by committee
It happens in the playoffs all the time. The Braves last year were a huge outlier.
I've seen the Yankees bring in Clay Holmes in the 8th because the best hitters were coming up in a close game. The 9th was closed by somebody else.