Ryan talking like a closer

[LittleOzzy]

B.J. Ryan was laying it on thick, effusive in his praise of his young lockermate, Ricky Romero.

Not three feet away, Romero sat, paralyzed; mortified, actually to be the subject, after just his third big-league start, of Ryan's lavish tribute.

"You watch this guy pitch -- and I love to watch him pitch -- and he gets out there and battles and competes and I'm gonna say these things right beside him, right now," Ryan said.

"He pitches with emotion and I love that. I'm the same way. You get caught up in the moment and you have reactions. That's good. It's pitching with heart and some conviction. You get a guy out there pitching like that, pitching with emotion and heart, guys are making plays behind him. You want to be a part of that game."

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/ ... 6-sun.html

[tecumseh18]

And I watch BJ pitch with emotion, too.

[evilRyu]

well he might be talking like one, but he certainly isn't pitching like one......

[PowerHouse]

We should give Ryan 1 or game as a closer and if he blows it we make him the setup man.The setup man role will take pressure of him and he'll feel more relaxed. After 10 games as a setup man(hoping they are all successful), we move him back to the closer role.

[tsherkin]

Why? He's had 3 years and what appearances he's made this year. He's making $12M+ and you want to make him a setup man? Forget that, he's not worth it. Downs is a better setup lefty anyhow.

[Modern_epic]

Yeah, if you want to move him, I don't want him as the set-up man. If I had to guess, I would say they are about as valuable as strictly used closers.

Has anyone ever seen numbers on this?

[jeebee4]

I think you added a c... don't you mean Re: Ryan talking like a loser?

[Schad]

Yeah, if you want to move him, I don't want him as the set-up man. If I had to guess, I would say they are about as valuable as strictly used closers.

Has anyone ever seen numbers on this?

Bill James made an argument a couple years back for teams to use a 'relief ace', rather than set 7th/8th/9th inning splits, on the basis that it was more important to have your best pitcher out there in high-leverage situations rather than picking up three outs with a two or three runs lead. Hasn't caught on...the one practical reason, I suppose, is that it would be difficult to have them warmed and ready when high-leverage situations develop,

I'd take it a step farther than you did...I think a good set-up guy is more important than a good closer. A top eighth-inning guy, like Downs, pitches as many or more innings than your average closer, and is brought in much more frequently with runners on base. Those are the most crucial situations in any ballgame, not the mop-up work to shut 'er down. I'd rather the Jays simply split the high-leverage situations between Carlson and Downs, leaving a guy with decent control (Accardo?) to pick up saves if they've been expended.

[chargerxthirty]

too bad he isn't pitching like one.