Tonight on Sports Wrap (local show), they said Dusty is considering Aroldis for closer. We'll see if it happens.
Tonight on Sports Wrap (local show), they said Dusty is considering Aroldis for closer. We'll see if it happens.
"Enjoy this Reds fans, you are watching a legend grow up before your very eyes" ... DoogMinAmo on Adam Dunn
I sure hope not.Originally Posted by TeamBoone
Not that I think Chapman would be a bad closer. I just think that if Dusty uses Chapman as a true closer he will be less valuable than as a 7th-8th inning guy and is in more danger of pitching 3 or more days in a row. I don't want to see Chapman pitching in the 9th inning of games where the Reds are up by 3 runs just because he is the closer.
I wouldn't mind seeing him go 2 or 3 innings as closer like Weathers use to. Gets him stretched out a little for the rotation if it's even a possibility.
If so, we can forget any chance of him becoming a starter this year. Sigh.
Why do we have to have one designated "closer"? The 1999 Reds had one of the best bullpens you could ask for and featured Williamson with 19 saves and Graves with 27 saves. And IIRC, Scott Sullivan may have saved 3 or 4 games as well.
Phil Castellini puts the FUN in Trust Fund.
It's an interesting point. Managers are obsessed with matchups everywhere else in the game. Why not for closing?
I think Chapman will be a great starter and could really make the Reds rotation great. However, they do need to watch his inning this year if he is going to start so I'm ok with him in the bullpen at this point. I think closing would be fine for part of most of this year if they use him like a young Mariano Riveria. Allow him to do 2 inning saves with the occasional 3 inning save to help make the stretching out process to a starter easier.
But Dusty won't do that. Closers pitch the 9th. Period. Ondrusek should be tried first for closer with Hoover filling Ondrusek's role. Or vice versa.
Start moving Chapman to the rotation now.
The fact that Chapman just isn't going into the rotation this year has been mercilessly beaten into me by the Reds front office to the point that I think I've actually gone through the 5 stages of grief.
You'll be best served to just go ahead and skip to acceptance, like I have. Save yourself.
Benzinger backing and calling! And the 1990 world championship series belongs to the Cincinnati Reds!
Personally, I wait until one of Masset or Bray get back before I even think about moving Aroldis out of the pen. As much as I hate it, he's needed. But I do hope he doesn't get moved to closer because I firmly believe that once he does...he'll get locked into that role full-time and we'll never see him start. I'd love to be wrong though.
If Chapman becomes the closer, I don't think he ever starts a game for the Reds. Marshall has a .488 BABIP. No, that's not a misprint. He's been incredibly unlucky with guys simply hitting the ball where they ain't. You don't have a 7.0 K/BB ratio without being an excellent pitcher.
Of course, if they move him to setup and he simply keeps doing what he's done but gets the results he should, everybody will talk about how he just didn't have a "closer's mentality" or how closers need to be a power pitcher.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
This is what keeps me awake at night in a cold sweat.
Benzinger backing and calling! And the 1990 world championship series belongs to the Cincinnati Reds!
This is what I've been saying. Marshall's going to be fine. His numbers (outside of ERA) are flat out SOLID.
That's what I was thinking when I heard Dusty said that.
They need to stay the course with Marshall.
"Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" ~ Jim Bouton
The good thing is that this is what Dusty normally does....stay the course and give players a rather long leash. The only reason I worry is that he's made it abundantly clear over the past couple of seasons that he loves the idea of Aroldis in the pen and closing.
There have been 5 seasons in the history of baseball where one closer scored every save for a team with at least 15 saves. Dusty Baker managed three of those teams. His closer pitches the last inning with a lead, unless he isn't allowed to by rule or ineffectiveness after already trying him.
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