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I really have grown to dislike closers. Wish teams just started to "use the bullpen wisely".

Take the Mets for example. A few games ago against the Braves, they were down by 1 going into the 9th. They wouldn't bring in their closer (Mejia). They use their much older journeymen reliever (Carlos Torres). Then tonight, they bring in their closer to finish the hard job of holding onto a 3 run lead.

Closers only come in in save situations (most of the time at least) which is annoying. What's more annoying is when they do a overdone celebration. Like Mejia tonight after holding the 3 run lead for a save.

I don't agree with using the closer down 1 in the 8th (outside of special circumstances), but I do agree that closers are often mishandled by teams. I want Kimbrel to pitch the 1-0 8th with the 2-3-4 hitters at the plate, not the 9th inning against the bottom of their lineup. I also hate losing on a walk off because Gonzalez wants to hold Kimbrel for a save situation that may never come.

Well....for the Reds, when they bring in Chapman in the 9th..and everyone in the park is on their feet and yelling and he's throwing 100-103 mph...it gets in the other team's head.

High 5 wrote:I don't agree with using the closer down 1 in the 8th (outside of special circumstances), but I do agree that closers are often mishandled by teams. I want Kimbrel to pitch the 1-0 8th with the 2-3-4 hitters at the plate, not the 9th inning against the bottom of their lineup. I also hate losing on a walk off because Gonzalez wants to hold Kimbrel for a save situation that may never come.

I agree with this.

I think you use your best relievers in the most high leverage situations. So if that means your "closer" pitches the 7th or 8th because that's when the opponent's middle of the order is up, so be it.

as a Tigers fan, I know the real impact of having a good closer...

I feel like the Braves are wasting money on one since we suck.

i believe a bullpen ace is valuable.

i do not believe the 3 out "save" is impressive or that significant.
that said, it's never that impressive until you get in a position where you can't get those 3 outs....then theyre everything.

Or have a manager who refuses to use him for more than three outs.

TheKingofSting wrote:Or have a manager who refuses to use him for more than three outs.

God bless Juan Uribe for not making us go back to Atlanta.

God Bless Fredro Starr for not calling in Craig Kimbrel in the 8th.

was a great night for me.

PrivateZer0 wrote:as a Tigers fan, I know the real impact of having a good closer...

Just because Ausmus is stubborn/stupid and continues to put out Nathan in the 9th inning doesn't mean closers are extremely valuable.

Relievers in general are so unpredictable. I would never spend big money on a reliever, unless he has a track record of 5+ years of doing shutting down the opponents.

I would give the closer to role to the hottest reliever. Maybe even have 3, 4 or 5 different closers throughout the season.

trwi7 wrote:

PrivateZer0 wrote:as a Tigers fan, I know the real impact of having a good closer...

Just because Ausmus is stubborn/stupid and continues to put out Nathan in the 9th inning doesn't mean closers are extremely valuable.

How about Jose Valverde blowing it 2 years ago in the playoffs? Benoit in the Red Sox series last year? It's not just Ausmus and Nathan.

The A's disagree with this thread