Another implosion in last night’s extra-innings loss to the Baltimore Orioles will not be enough to unseat the Pittsburgh Pirates’ incumbent closer
Even after suffering blithely through yet another messy appearance from closer Tony Watson, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle swiftly squashed any speculation as to Watson’s role going forward.
Hurdle, on Watson remaining the closer: pic.twitter.com/RHxOxLXCLx
— Bill Brink (@Bill_Brink2) June 7, 2017
On one hand, Hurdle’s comments hold a ton of water. In comparing Felipe Rivero to Andrew Miller — albeit indirectly — Hurdle here acknowledges that Rivero is far and away the best relief pitcher on the club. In that light, it is encouraging that the Pittsburgh Pirates skipper recognizes the need to pitch Rivero in crucial situations, no matter when they occur.
Prior to the 2017 season, I speculated that of all the Pirates relievers, Rivero would be able to take on a Miller-like role. From that column:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Getting back to the left-handed factor, bringing a left-hander in a situational setting and then allowing him to start the next inning creates an ideal usage-case for bullpenning. It combines the time-tested and true method of playing matchups in late innings while then getting the most out of your best pitchers. Rivero’s swing-and-miss ability, along with his handedness, makes him a natural fit to this type of bullpen role.[/perfectpullquote]Looking at Rivero’s game logs in 2017 shows exactly that. The left-hander has pitched in innings from the sixth frame onward. Across 30 appearances, Rivero has pitched less than one full inning five times and more than one inning five additional times. While he is still being used in a traditional one-inning sense most of the time, it is encouraging to see him deployed across several difference scenarios.
But if not Rivero, then why not someone else?
Regardless, Tony Watson is still costing the Pittsburgh Pirates wins. Many might wonder why another reliever, such as Juan Nicasio, was not tabbed to serve as closer in Watson’s stead. On the possibility of Nicasio specifically, Hurdle had this to say:
Hurdle, as for why not Nicasio: pic.twitter.com/fEGWNTCST4
— Bill Brink (@Bill_Brink2) June 7, 2017
While much of this may fall into classic “manager-speak,” it does make some sense. Much like Rivero, Nicasio can be deployed in a variety of situations. Whether it be high-leverage innings, innings with a lot of basepath traffic or multiple-inning appearances, Nicasio can do it all. Why lock him down in a position as arbitrary as “closer?”
And therein lies the main conclusion to this saga. Hurdle has embraced analytical and out-of-the-box thinking in many ways during his Pittsburgh Pirates tenure.
Handling the late-inning guys in the bullpen is clearly not among the lessons Hurdle — and, from his comments, Neal Huntington — has soaked up.
Photo Credit – Keith Allison – Flickr Creative Commons
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