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Tuesday, June 01, 2004 |
Closer and Closer
Mariners Wheelhouse hopes for the return of Kazuhiro Sasaki, and for reasons alert Angels fans ought to recognize immediately:
Because Kaz's return to Japan made Guardado the closer, Guardado does not get used in critical situations except when Melvin feels he doesn't have a choice.Which is to say to those actively asking for Percival's retirement from the closer role, careful what you wish for. (Please to note, I've been one of those guys.) With Frankie, his heir apparent, only available for the ninth with a three-or-fewer run lead, it gives Scioscia a rote excuse for not using him in potentially more crucial situations earlier in the game. This mental lapse caused by history, incidentally, is something we've seen Tracy break out of this year, to his credit. While I can't ask him directly, I'd be willing to bet his unconventional use of Gagné this year has been powered by two events:Imagine how today's game plays out if Kaz is still around. Instead of Hasegawa starting the 8th, Guardado comes in. Guardado takes care of the 8th inning, and Kaz merely has to hold onto a two run lead in the ninth to record his save.
How about that? With Melvin's bullpen management, bringing back a worse pitcher might actually make the team perform better.
- The team's unexpected offensive success, which has driven Tracy to find work opportunities for Gagné that aren't strictly closer roles.
- Last year's 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks, when Gagné wasn't called in for a crucial at-bat against Steve Finley. Tracy instead left Quantrill to face Finley, who has an .800/.818/1.300 line against that ex-Dodger, but only a .211/.318/.421 line against Gagné. Finley of course hit the game-winning home run, and Tracy was widely criticized for not bringing in his ace pitcher into the game in the eighth with two on and two outs.
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