Let's set the scene for another pro/con sabermetrics debate. You're the manager for a team, and let's say your team is up by one in the eighth. No outs, setup man pitching. A double is allowed. Things are getting tricky. A man with a career 1.39 ERA just happens to be ready to pitch. What do you do? If you're Fredi Gonzalez, nothing.
A defense of Fredi Gonzalez: most of MLB's managers, respected or otherwise (and Gonzalez has certainly earned some respect in his Braves managing tenure) would have done the same thing: keep in the man with the respectable career 3.65 ERA (David Carpenter) rather than the man with the dominant career 1.39 ERA (Craig Kimbrel).
However, by about any metric, Kimbrel is the best Braves reliever, and this would probably be the most important six outs of the game.
So why Carpenter, not Kimbrel?
The point of the closer is that the closer is the best reliever, so put them in the "important" ninth inning.
In this scenario, which happens to currently be the only scenario (even the sabermetric A's have Grant Balfour in almost every save situation. Then again, they probably know plenty of Grant Balfour Tidbits that I don't), a manager will gladly sit his closer with the bases loaded, no outs, Miguel Cabrera up, and the score 4-3...so the closer, barring the setup man induces a triple play, can come in with the bases empty.
Something about this makes no sense at all.
A defense of Fredi Gonzalez: most of MLB's managers, respected or otherwise (and Gonzalez has certainly earned some respect in his Braves managing tenure) would have done the same thing: keep in the man with the respectable career 3.65 ERA (David Carpenter) rather than the man with the dominant career 1.39 ERA (Craig Kimbrel).
However, by about any metric, Kimbrel is the best Braves reliever, and this would probably be the most important six outs of the game.
So why Carpenter, not Kimbrel?
The point of the closer is that the closer is the best reliever, so put them in the "important" ninth inning.
In this scenario, which happens to currently be the only scenario (even the sabermetric A's have Grant Balfour in almost every save situation. Then again, they probably know plenty of Grant Balfour Tidbits that I don't), a manager will gladly sit his closer with the bases loaded, no outs, Miguel Cabrera up, and the score 4-3...so the closer, barring the setup man induces a triple play, can come in with the bases empty.
Something about this makes no sense at all.
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