When it comes to the ideal of a capital-C closer, there’s nothing quite like absence to make the heart grow fonder.
For the most part the Toronto Blue Jays have managed fairly well without a prototypical, big-armed flame-thrower at the back of the bullpen, and if not for a lousy weekend on the part of Brett Cecil, many fans could live with the current state of the relief corps. Alas, those late inning breakdowns stick in the craw and aren’t easily forgotten.
The harshest criticism levelled at Cecil following those erratic outings was tagging him as “not a closer.” On Twitter, Blue Jays Talk and in the comments, grievances were aired, with the most damning argument essentially being that fans felt a lack of confidence when the Blue Jays’ putative closer was on the mound.
My initial reaction was to bristle at the notion as a bunch of superstitious mumbo jumbo and to petulantly dismiss the notion that the closer role even matters. It seemed to me that most of the anger was derived from the profoundly flawed save statistic and its uglier and even more deceptive cousin, the blown save. Fans take this second metric to indicate the number of wins a team’s closer has choked up even though pitchers can earn a blown save in middle inning spots, which wouldn’t traditionally be viewed as a save situation. It’s wholly appropriate that the abbreviation for this stat is BS.
Having said that, how true could it really be to say that I don’t care about closers? Do I not have fond memories of Tom Henke, Duane Ward, B.J. Ryan or even Billy Koch? Isn’t there a thrill to seeing that sort of pitcher emerge from the bullpen with his entrance music blaring and seeing him blow away the opposition for the final three outs? It is one of the truly romantic moments in baseball and even the cold, rational and analytical approach to the game that is the fashion these days can’t keep a fan completely detached from those feelings.
It’s fair to quibble notionally about the inflated value of the closer and how too many managers for too long have managed to ensure that their designated closer gets as many three-out, ninth-inning save opportunities as possible. But who in their right mind wouldn’t want Craig Kimbrel strutting in from their bullpen to put an end to games?
Still, thoughtful resistance to the idea of the closer likely stems from the save rule and the fact it results in teams leaving their best relievers parked on their butts in high-leverage situations. The term “closer” itself insists that this is not an asset you roll out in the seventh inning of a game in early June.
To give a fair hearing to the traditional view of the use of closers, it’s reasonable to note that much of the angst over saving your closer for pre-defined usage patterns is drawn up with the benefit of hindsight. It’s far easier to follow the leverage graph lines when they are spat out after the game to see which situations could have most benefitted from the use of your better relievers. But there is something to the notion of having your best option available to ensure that those final three outs don’t get away from you.
Or if nothing else, it probably underscores that the best closers probably benefit from having strong relievers around them.
Setting aside what these relievers are called, how they are used and what stats they accrue, there’s still a great deal of merit in the concept of a bullpen ace.
Not unlike the handful of aces that are found in rotations around the league, there are probably less than a dozen true bullpen aces in baseball. We’ve become smarter as fans in recent years to recognize that our team’s opening day starter is not necessarily an ace by virtue of the fact that he’s the best we’ve got.
Applying similar logic to bullpens, it might clarify that usage patterns shouldn’t be slaves to traditions and that very few players truly deserve the respect such a designation would confer. Because how many of us would have ever called Todd Jones an ace?
For now, the Blue Jays may have stumbled into their closer/ace in young Roberto Osuna. If he continues to throw strikes and shine through the remainder of the season, he may provide satisfaction to the traditionalists craving a save-getter. He may even be something of a relief ace.
Indeed, Osuna may be the solution. For now.