Why closers are overrated

Hardcore baseball fans will know Sergio Romo with the Giants last year because that's what we do. Everyone else would have to look up the roster to figure it out.

It should also be noted that the Giants lost their "proven closer" Brian Wilson to Tommy John surgery early in I don't think it hurt them too much. For reasons that don't make a lot of sense, teams still insist on handing out huge contracts to "proven closers," even though you can fill an entire man roster with the number that have blown up in grand fashion.

Here is a list of notable free-agent contracts handed to closers since the end of the season:. We didn't even go back far enough to include things like B. Lidge went from being perfect in save situations the year before his new contract with Philadelphia kicked in, saving 41 games in 41 opportunities during the regular season, to posting a 7. By the way, he still recorded 31 saves that season. I am picking specifically on the closer in this piece, but relief pitching by its very nature is a volatile spot.

These are players who have been placed into this role because they don't have what it takes to start, either because they lack a third pitch to turn over a lineup three times or the violence in the delivery makes them more susceptible to injuries. Of the five pitchers listed above, Nathan, Lidge and Rivera all wound up missing time due to an injury.

Rivera's was a fluke thing that happened during batting practice, so we can excuse that. But Lidge and Nathan both had operations on their arms within two years of signing those contracts.

Taking a much larger look at the volatile nature of relief pitching and closers, dating back to the start of the season, you know how many teams still have the same closer? Some have left via free agency or trades. Some have gotten hurt and been unable to pitch. Others have fallen apart, losing that closer's mentality they used to have at some point.

You can't predict relief pitching on a year-to-year basis, especially with the "proven closers. The Red Sox had no designs on making Uehara their closer until they were forced to by things beyond their control. And even without him in that role, they still had the best record in the American League. Teams piece together bullpens and closers all the time.

The St. A pitcher earns a save by getting the last out in a game where:. Consider what that means. A team has a three-run lead in the heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, and the starting pitching has just dealt eight innings of 2-hit baseball. What kind of horse shit is that? In , Dennis Eckersley was making a nice career as a closer in Oakland after having been a failed starter more on that fact later for about half the teams in the bigs.

Eckersley only appeared in 69 games, and only pitched 80 innings. McDowell was second in the voting and Clemens was third. McDowell chucked 13 complete games while Clemens completed Clemens 8. It gets worse when you compare Eckersley to the everyday players over whom the won the MVP award. Puckett hit. All it takes is a look at the logic used by major league managers to understand how stupid this is.

Their starter is showing signs of fatigue, and he gives up a lead-off double, which brings the winning run to the plate with nobody out. The ball game is clearly on the line at this point, so you would think this would be the spot to bring in the best guy in the bullpen.

Cincinnati Reds manager Brayan Price could be the poster child for this garbage. Price actually declared earlier this year that he would not use Aroldis Chapman, who is one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, in a tied game on the road. The recently fired Matt Williams is another prime example. The flip side of that situation proves my point. Face it, Rivera was an outlier. Hark back to my earlier example of Dennis Eckersley.

Older closers should be converted into regular guys in the bullpen. That way, they can come in during all different situations, not just save situations.

Yes they won't be racking up as many saves, but they will come into tighter situations, not just games when they have an easy cushion. Doing this will allow their innings to jump up. Allowing a pitcher to pitch in more situations ups his chances of getting into more games and more innings. More innings from your better pitchers is better value. Younger closers should be converted to starters so they can throw closer to innings.

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