How crazy would it be for a team to start their closer in a one-game wild card play-in game? Not so crazy according to FanGraphs Dave Cameron.
Give Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty, Luis Avilan, and Cristhian Martinez the last couple of days of the regular season off in order to make sure they’re fresh for the play-in game. Then, announce Kimbrel as the starting pitcher, and tell him he’s getting the first six outs of the game. He’s faced 5+ batters nine times this year already, so it’s not a drastic departure from a quantity standpoint. Then, for the next few innings, you can mix and match right-handers with left-handers, taking advantage of the platoon match-ups to quash any early rallies. You’d hope to get another 9-12 outs from these four, which would take you into the sixth or seventh inning.
So would this logic apply to the Orioles and closer Jim Johnson? I don’t see why it wouldn’t, he’s tied for the league lead in saves (43), has a 2.82 ERA in 63 games and opponents are hitting .223 off of him this season.
I’ll leave the tough decisions up to Buck Showalter though. The O’s skipper seems to know what he’s doing.
i would hope not –they pitched gregg olsen to death –when they could have gotten a couple more years ., they have enough pitchers to win –you have a closer -keep him there >>>i still believe they will win the east —detroit will over take the white sox —oakland will over take the texas .-texas and tampa bay -wild cards –yankees left out – i am from balto. -ravens -6-10 -=–n.e.38-17.
how about dem orioles ???? world champions
“In BUCK we Trust”
Question: What do you do in the ninth if you start Johnson and you’re only up one run?
What do you think they do, pitch to the damn batter. This ain’t rocket science dave. What if……