Up by 1 run; 3 outs left; In a playoff game with your team trailing the the series 2-1. It is your job to make the call and send the right guy out there to shut the door and send your team into game 5 tied. So you look at your options:
Closer A :
- 45 innings pitched
- 158 batters faced (Batt.Avg Against. .095)
- 0.40 ERA
- 73 Strikeouts and 9 Walks
- 18 Saves
Closer B:
- 31 innings pitched
- 142 batters faced (Batt.Avg Against. .255)
- 5.81 ERA
- 41 Strikeouts and 21 Walks
- 18 Saves
The choice seems quite obvious, right? We're sending closer A out there and assuring that we knot things up and turn this thing into a 3 game series. You pick up the phone in the dugout and make the call. Then you realize that Closer A is not present; your team left him at home!
That is precisely what must have happened to Joe Torre the other day. The thing is Closer A and Closer B are the same exact guy. Jonathan Broxton has a bi-polar game. Closer A is Jonathan in Dodger stadium and Closer B is Jonathan with his luggage. You expect many young players to struggle early in their careers on the road and then develop confidence as the years go by. You expect some hiccups along the way that baffle the fans and mangers alike. What you do not expect is too leave your closer at home in a huge playoff game. Closers make the difference between pretenders and contenders in the Playoffs.
Even the ever so dominant Jonathan Papelbon blew one against LAA that would have given Boston some life. Closers are so key and yet there are so few great ones in the league. Name them.....
- Jonathan Papelbon
- Mariano Rivera
- Joe Nathan
- K-Rod (sometimes)
- and then a bunch of inconsistent flamethrowers
Out of this list only two pitched better on the road than at home. Actually, only TWO were even CLOSE to what they pitched at home. The following is the difference (Away ERA- Home ERA):
- Papelbon- (-.9) ERA <---better on the Road... 1.38 on the Road 2.28 at home
- Rivera- (-.2) Home- 1.82 / Road- 1.62
- Nathan- (+1.07)
- K-Rod- (+3.2) ERA!
The only two closers who pitch better on the road are Papelbon and Rivera. Mariano could probably pitch the same if you put him on a mound in the Alps. That is what a playoff closer is all about! Jonathan had it during the Red Sox run and most of his career and Mariano has it seemingly every year since 1995. Experience is key and Broxton will learn (just as Joe Nathan did) with age. Just a note to all playoff teams; make sure you 'carry on' your closer because funny things happen when you go on the road!
Is there a situation more inexplicable than Brad Lidge? He seems to disappear as mysteriously as he reappears??
absolutely not! I couldn't mention him because that would take up the whole blog. My question is how Charlie Manuel stuck with him so long after posting a 6.4 ERA at home and 8+ on the road! He has just never fully recovered just like those bombs Albert hit never quite landed. Great stuff works in Amateur ball but it means nothing in the Majors if your not mentally right and completely confident. Another great exapmle although not a closer is Dontrelle.
Well in D's defense he did have an injury. He was put on the DL due to "anxiety"... lol