The
Next Closer
In baseball
it’s not how you start but how you finish. The formula is for the
starting pitcher to go as deep into the ballgame as possible
and to turn it over in the 9th
inning to the most important pitcher with the responsibility
of getting the final 3 outs, the
closer. Baseball has seen some of the greatest closers such
as Goose Gossage, Bruce
Sutter, Rollie Fingers, Lee Smith, Dennis Eckersley and more
take the mound and
sometimes go above and beyond when it came to getting the
final outs.
But one
closer in particular has epitomized and raised the bar for how to handle
the pressure of pitching in the final inning, securing the
last 3 outs your team needs for
victory. The man I refer to is the legendary Mariano Rivera.
Rivera currently is the all
time saves leader. But he didn’t become the closer
overnight. Rivera went through many
trials and tribulations including having major arm surgery,
his main and only pitch being
a fastball, and nearly being dealt from the Yankees. He in fact began his career as a
starter. He made his Major League debut against the
California Angels on May 23, 1995.
He started the game for injured pitcher Jimmy Key, and gave
up 5 earned runs in 3 1/3
innings. He would finish the year with an era over 5.
After an
impressive 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in the 1995 ALDS, it was
decided that Rivera would move to the bullpen and become a
full time reliever. In 1996,
Rivera would serve as the 7th and 8th
inning bridge to closer John Wetteland on route to
the Yankees first world title since 1978. In 1997, after
Wetteland left, Rivera became the
Yankees closer and the rest they say is history. He would go
on to win 4 world series
titles, including being named the World Series MVP in 1999.
All this Rivera has done
with the help of a signature cut fastball that he learned by
accident in 1997 when playing
catch with a fellow teammate, and perfected as his bread and
butter for 16 years.
With the
great Rivera announcing his retirement at the end of the 2013 season, the
question that arises becomes who will be the next Mariano
Rivera? I firmly believe that
nobody now or in the near future is ever going to put up
numbers like Rivera. Nobody is
going to throw the cutter like Rivera, and no closer for a
long time will surpass Mo for
the most saves in history. Rivera’s career regular season
ERA of 2.22, and a career 0.70
ERA in the postseason are numbers we might never see again.
But the
closer today that I feel really has the same type of strikeout stuff, relies on
a fastball, and has the presence that when he’s in the game
as the opponent you almost
immediately feel like the game is over, is Atlanta Braves
closer Craig Kimbrel. The
numbers Kimbrel has already put up at 25 years old is
astounding. On May 9, 2013,
Kimbrel became the 2nd youngest player in MLB to
reach 100 saves. He has a career 1.40
ERA in 4 years in the majors which already is better than
what Rivera had in his first 4
years, averages 15.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, has over 350
strikeouts, and by season’s end
could establish a 3rd straight season of 40
saves.
Kimbrel is
already a 3 time All Star (2011, 2012, 2013), has led the National
League in saves twice (2011, 2012), and established the MLB
record for saves by a
rookie with 46. He currently posts a 2.08 postseason ERA.
With 4 years on his resumé,
Kimbrel has slowly earned the title of being the next great
closer in MLB and will be
once Rivera retires at the end of the year. Barring any
setbacks, if Kimbrel were to
average 40 or more saves a year (he currently has 125 saves
now) he could reach 600 saves
before turning 40 years old. The argument at the end is
Kimbrel was never a starter, and
came up to the majors as a reliever, and hasn’t been to a
World Series yet, but given time
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