With Mark Melancon now in Washington, Tony Watson has been named the new closer of the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, it brings up a few questions. Is the former setup man ready for this role and are fans confident that he can have success?
In the days leading up to the annual Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Pirates made a bold move. The Bucs traded fan favorite closer Mark Melancon to the Washington Nationals for reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn.
This deal made sense for many reasons. For one, Melancon, who will be a free agent at years end, was unlikely to return in a Pirates uniform in 2017. Aside from just getting what they could for their veteran closer, the Pirates also knew that they had a capable closer in the form of Tony Watson, who was waiting to take the reigns from Melancon.
Since debuting with the Pirates in 2011, Watson has been one of the Pirates most reliable relievers. He has pitched in at least 40 games in each season and has played in 70 plus games in each of his last two seasons.
When Jason Grilli was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2014, Melancon became the new closer and Watson became the Pirates new setup man, a role that he thrived in. He was named an all star in 2014, the same year in which he compiled a 10-2 record with a career best 1.63 ERA in 78 appearances. Watson also struck out a career high 81 batters in 77.1 innings and finished second in the National League with 34 holds.
Last season, Watson continued his stellar performance while pitching in the eighth inning and setting up Melancon. Watson compiled a 1.91 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 77 appearances while leading the NL with 41 holds.
This season has been more of the same. Despite some struggles, Watson holds a 2.73 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 47 appearances while holding hitters to a .198 opposing batting average. Watson is still maintaining a high 7.96 K/9 rate, but he has also compiled a 3.30 BB/9 rate, his highest walk rate since 2012.
Watson has six saves in 23 career opportunities, which doesn’t seem too great, but that was mostly as a setup man who got a few save opportunities. As the legitimate closer, Watson is now 1 for 2 in save opportunities. He got his first save as the Pirates ninth inning guy on Tuesday against the Braves as he gave up a walk and compiled one strikeout in a hitless frame.
Last night, Watson picked up his first blown save of the season, but it wasn’t a situation that should have fans concerned. Watson didn’t allow a hit in the ninth inning, but gave up a walk to Eugenio Suarez, who ended up scoring after a fielders choice, steal of third base and sacrifice fly. A walkoff home run by Sean Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Watson the win in the contest.
Despite the inevitable ups and downs, Watson has prepared for this role. He has been mentored by plenty of closers in the past including Joel Hanrahan, Grilli and Melancon. He has also gained the trust of those within the organization and fans everywhere.
Nothing but confidence
To get more on Watson taking over the closer role, we took to our social media accounts to find out how much confidence some of our followers have in the 31-year old southpaw.
Many Pirates fans seem to have confidence in the Pirates lefty:
@pbcbreakdown Tony Watson has been nearly as reliable as Melancon in recent years. Closer role is in good hands.
— Tim Bowers (@TimBowers62) August 4, 2016
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@pbcbreakdown Watson will be just fine.
He is and has been one of the best Lefthanded relief pitchers
I’m supremely confident in his ability— Born Power Index (@BornPowerIndex) August 4, 2016
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@pbcbreakdown yes until he proves otherwise on the field Watson earned opportunity and should do fine he needs to decrease walks tho
— PGH Mike (@MDonovan4000) August 4, 2016
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@JNegron_13 @pbcbreakdown
Yes, I do. Melancon stepped in to fill Grilli’s shoes when he faltered. Watson will do the same and is ready, IMO— E. Nist (@ALBuccoFan) August 4, 2016
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@pbcbreakdown Melancon had good results, but I was never “confident” when he took the mound. Nothing’s changed in my opinion.
— Rob (@TheBaronOfBeard) August 4, 2016
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Even our very own Joy Frank-Collins and Tyler Thomas also got in on the twitter action and showed their support for Watson as the new Pirates closer.
@pbcbreakdown Hecks yes I believe in Watson! (please please please quote me for the story) LOL!
— Joy Frank-Collins (@joyfc) August 4, 2016
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@pbcbreakdown You cannot replace the man, but you can replace the player. That’s exactly what Pirates did when they put Watson as the closer
— Tyler Thomas (@PBDThomas) August 4, 2016
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In recent years, the Pirates have done an excellent job in replacing closers. Since 2009, Capps, Hanrahan, Grilli, Melancon and now Watson have closed games for the Bucs. It has been a transition that has worked wonders in the past and there is reason to think it could work again. As twitter follower Richard England points out, it’s just time for the next man in line to step up.
@pbcbreakdown Yes, He has all the stuff and it’s next Man up just like when The Hammer, then Grilli moved on. It’s Elementary!
— Richard England (@clementesbridge) August 4, 2016
Some fans are also on the side of having Watson close games, but by having him on a bit of a limit and giving Neftali Feliz an opportunity to close some games as well.
@pbcbreakdown I do but I’d have Tony on a short leash. Can’t afford blown saves when they are chasing and Feliz has closed before
— JUDGE (@thesportsjudge) August 4, 2016
Feliz, who now steps into the setup role, has the experience to close in some situations where Watson would be considered unavailable. The 28-year old has 98 career saves in 118 opportunities and sports a career 3.18 ERA. While with the Texas Rangers, Feliz ranked third in the American League with 40 saves in 2010. He followed that performance by finishing fifth in the AL with 32 saves in 2011.
Confidence? We’re talking about confidence, man! Confidence?
While many of our followers were in favor of Watson taking over, there were a few that showed that they have little to no confidence in the new closer.
@pbcbreakdown I don’t. Been saying this for the past month– see what the market is for Watson, I believe he could have gotten a good return
— Matt Restori (@Bucnut13) August 4, 2016
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@pbcbreakdown#Pirates season ended July 31
See ya in Bradenton next MarchLet’s get ready for some Football!
— 4⃣4⃣ (@interst8forty4) August 4, 2016
While we got a ton of feedback to our question on Twitter, we also asked a similar question to those who like our Facebook page. The consensus on this form of social media was that Watson is fully capable of being a quality closing pitcher at the Major League level.
Shayne Brown writes: “I have full confidence that he will Excell in that roll… he has proven before to get the big outs when it counts… as much as I hated to see Mark go that has lead to it being Tony’s time to shine… I think we are in for more #elementary innings from Tony!”
Steven Metztgar said: “I think he is the perfect fit. He understands what is expected of him in that situation, and is experienced enough to handle the pressure.”
Closing is Elementary
Though the Mark Melancon era is over in the city of Pittsburgh, I don’t exactly think that this is a time to panic when it comes to the future of the closer position. Watson is eligible for arbitration next year and will be a free agent in 2018 at the age of 32. It is possible that Watson could be extended for a reasonable price and could contribute at a high level in the future.
When it comes to performance, Watson has been nothing short of spectacular. He has shown a tremendous amount of consistency and will only get better with this bigger opportunity.
The closers that came before Watson were not stars either when they initially arrived in Pittsburgh. However, when they had the opportunity to close games, they thrived in the role. This is the same chance Watson has. He is a guy who has consistently been a force at the back end of the Pirates bullpen and is more than capable of pitching that crucial ninth inning of any ball game.
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