Get creative in the absence of closer
The Blue Jays have been known to take an unconventional approach with their starting rotation. This season, that outside-the-box mentality should be extended to the bullpen as well.
Following the departure of veteran reliever Ken Giles, the Jays have an opportunity to do things differently. The usage of starting pitchers changed with the implementation of “openers” and “bulk” relievers. Now it’s the closer’s position that should be in jeopardy of becoming extinct.
For the last several decades, Major League Baseball bullpens have been built in reverse order. The best reliever is typically saved for the ninth inning, the second-most reliable arm for the eighth and other decisions are based on matchups or whoever happens to be pitching the best.
The justification for defined roles: The later it gets in a tight ball game, the more pressure there is on a pitching staff. People inside the sport will frequently tell you it’s much more difficult to protect a two-run lead in the ninth than it is in the seventh. Not everyone is up to the task.
Teams wanted an intimidating presence to lock down games and the certainty that came with it. It’s why throughout the early 2000s, games against the New York Yankees felt like they only lasted eight innings, because if Mariano Rivera trotted out for in the ninth there was almost no chance of a comeback. When “Enter Sandman” came over the speakers, the opponents were put to sleep.
More recently, analytically inclined teams have re-examined the traditional roles with a set of fresh eyes. They’ve discovered it doesn’t always make sense to save the best arm for the ninth inning and instead that pitcher should be used in the highest leverage situation possible.
Take the Yankees, for example. If a team has one reliever that is clearly more effective than anyone else, it doesn’t seem smart to save him for the ninth inning if D.J. LeMahieu, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are due up in the eighth. Under those circumstances, it’s logical to go with the best guy available and piece together the rest of the game from there.
Similar arguments have been made for years, but the sport has been slow to evolve because of its economics. Setup men are credited with “holds,” which aren’t as glamorous as saves and don’t pay nearly as well. While their roles have taken on increased importance, middle relievers are often viewed as disposable commodities while their closer counterparts receive lucrative deals.
So that’s the job relievers with seniority and say want to have. Good luck telling Giles that, after five-plus years as a closer, he was going to be used anywhere from the sixth to ninth innings and his saves total might remain stagnant as a result. It would have been a non-starter and ultimately led to a trade demand.
“Everyone likes certainty, clarity, roles and the consistency to it, and there’s a lot of value to someone who can do that on a daily basis,” Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “When you start to put all those things together and you have to pick whether you would prefer to have (a defined closer) or not, I would.
“It also means your bullpen is good enough that you don’t need that individual in the seventh or eighth inning because you have other good options there. Having said that, what we want to do is work with each individual, put them in the best positions to have success and win games. That’s more specific to the Toronto Blue Jays, currently.”
The Jays don’t have the same luxury as the Yankees, who can feature Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton or Tommy Kahnle. They don’t have the same depth as the bottomless Tampa Bay Rays, who produce 100m.p.h. arms on a factory line. They do, however, have at least three plus arms and a vacant closer’s position. There are no egos, nobody who should feel entitled to a promotion, just options and the freedom to try something new.
As things currently stand, the Jays have Kirby Yates, Jordan Romano and Rafael Dolis for high-leverage roles. Of the three, Yates has the best case to close with a league-high 41 saves in 2019, but he’s also arriving without any promises following an injury-plagued year in San Diego. While the 33-year-old might have a preference to pitch the ninth, Yates hasn’t been guaranteed anything and he admitted to the media last week he has to earn his role.
Romano was the Blue Jays’ top bullpen arm in 2020 and he has been billed as the closer of the future. He has two career saves on his resumé. Dolis picked up five last year and after earning 97 in Japan. A traditional depth chart would suggest using Yates in the ninth, Romano in the eighth and Dolis in the seventh, but this year the Jays should embrace change.
Once manager Charlie Montoyo gets things situated early in the year, he should do away with the closer’s role entirely. If Yates is deemed to be the top arm, use him for the heart of the opponents’ lineup regardless of the inning. If the bases are loaded in the fifth with less than two outs and a strikeout is required, call on Dolis instead of using a long reliever and hoping for the best.
If Toronto lacked alternatives or had a high-priced closer, it might have no other choice but to stick with tradition. Montoyo doesn’t have that problem. He has a blank canvas and three viable late-game options to use as he sees fit. Forget the inning and focus on matchups. With the bullpen as currently constructed, it’s time to come up with a unique game plan.
Middle relievers are often viewed as disposable commodities while their closer counterparts receive lucrative deals