I'm sure you've all seen the video. With one inning left to try and close out a World Series championship, Alex Cora called on Chris Sale. It worked. Sale came in, marched to the mound, and made three straight batters look as foolish as possible on the way to striking out the side. Sale mentioned later that since he knew he was only going the one inning, he was really able to let it fly. If he got those three hitters, he was all done. And it worked to perfection. Can you imagine that result over and over as a closer?
Ok. That's stupid. You don't take your ace and make him a closer. Everyone knows an ace is better than a bullpen guy.
What about David Price? He pitched really well out of the bullpen in the playoffs too. Should he be the closer? Or, Rick Porcello? He did everything asked from him whenever he came in from the pen. Should they be the new closer?
No. Of course not. Even a great #2 or #3 pitcher is way too valuable to take him away just to pitch out of the pen.
Ok. What about Nathan Eovaldi. He was a decent starting pitcher for the Sox. But, he was fantastic out of the pen in the playoffs. Should he be the closer? Nope. Even he was too good to be stuck in that role. The Sox signed him to be a starter.
The 2019 Red Sox aren't the only teams to make a similar decision. The Dodgers aren't expected to turn Clayton Kershaw into a closer, even though he was able to pitch out of the pen in the playoffs. Even going back in time, the Red Sox never put Pedro in the pen, even though he showed he could do it. Really well. Can you imagine Pedro only needing to pitch one inning at a time? That would have been pure enjoyment. But it never happened.
Sometimes, teams had to try starters as closers because of other reasons. People like Curt Schilling and John Smoltz were closers because of injury. Derek Lowe was a closer while he tried to figure out his struggles. Lowe was actually pretty good at closing, and Smoltz was absolutely dominant in the role. But, in all three cases the teams brought the pitchers back into the starting role. Because they all knew that if a pitcher is good enough to start, he's much more valuable in the starting role. Time and again teams looked to turn elite bullpen arms into starters.
If they were good enough.
The only players left in the bullpen were the ones teams finally gave up on. No matter how many times teams tried to get Joe Kelly to translate his talent into a starting gig, he couldn't. They were forced to keep him in the pen, just like teams have been forced to do for years.
So, imagine how surprised they all must have been to see one of those failed starters get elected to the Hall of Fame. Imagine the realization that a guy why wasn't good enough to start for his ow team was unanimously elected! How many #5 starters wish they had been just a little bit worse than they are. Imagine what Clay Buchholz must be thinking knowing that if teams didn't think he could start, he might be on his way to the Hall of Fame. He was actually punished by having too much talent.
Because Mariano Rivera is not a good pitcher. If he were, he would have been used to pitch more often. If he could get guys out the second time through the order, teams would have let him. But, that wasn't the case. He only had the one pitch, so he had to get his inning and run.
How frustrating it must be to know that you’re just a little bit too talented.
Aces don’t become closers.
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