Closer Candidates

by MillerTime21 on May 10, 2008 10:09 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

Who would've guessed at the beginning of May that the Cardinals would be searching for a new closer, after Izzy had converted 9 of 11 saves to start the season? Well now we face that problem after Izzy blew 2 consecutive save opportunities. There are three pitchers who all could become the closer for the remainder of the season(or until Izzy returns), and we should take a look at their credentials.

Ryan Franklin

Positives: Through 20 games, Franklin has a 1.89 ERA with 8 strikeouts. He has also been a great set-up man with 12 holds. Franklin has had a great year in 2007, and he seems like the safest option at closer.

Negatives: In his 8 years in the majors, Franklin only has 2 career saves. He also struggled early on in the season, with 2 bad outings in a row.

NOTE: Franklin recorded the save in today's game, his first of the season.

Kyle McClellan

Positives: McClellan has posted a 2.89 ERA through 18.2 innings, and has recorded 16 strikeouts in that period. He has been a great option this year for La Russa, especially as the set-up man, with 11 holds.

Negatives: Though he has had a wonderful start this year, he is still young and may not be able to handle the toll of pitching in the majors for a full season.

Chris Perez

Positives: Perez has tore up the minors with a 2.16 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and 8 saves in only 16.2 innings. He is also a fiery pitcher, known for his heater.

Negatives: His stats may be inflated because he is facing lesser talent, and his game may not work at the big league level. He has also never pitched in the majors.

NOTE: Perez has yet to be called up, though many(inlcuding myself) expect him to be on the Cardinals MLB roster soon.

You decide who you want to have the ball in the 9th inning with a 1 run lead.

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The reality is

That unless Izzy collapses a la Rick Ankiel, he will get another crack at the closer slot in a month or less. To bring up Perez, they will have to send McClellan down, DL Izzy or trade either Franklin or Springer. I’m not sure what the rules are on Villone. To top that off, they’ve got Kinney and Ty Johnson rehabbing too. Big logjam among the 7-8 inning relievers coming.

by Red in Chicago on May 10, 2008 11:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's not that complicated....

Mike Parisi could be sent back down while Villone takes his spot as long man. Clement gets transferred to the 60 day DL.

"Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead!" - Wayne Hagin after the cardinals snapped a losing streak

by The Ghost of Todd Burns on May 11, 2008 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mlbtraderumors

lists Franklin and Springer, have they watched springer hes struggles as much as izzy…maybe you could qualify those as rehab stints? i dunno but he hasnt impressed…parts of the pen are getting old.

I can't believe i gave up a homerun to that punch and judy hitter-major league 2

by punchinjudy on May 10, 2008 11:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Right now, ...

I say everybody gets bumped up one spot in responsibility. That means (and I know many will hate it) that Franklin becomes your de facto closer. I know his saber numbers look crappy. I know we expect that some day soon he’s going to regress to some statistical, historical trend; but he hasn’t done it, yet. I think LaRussa will also end up using Villone to close out some games when the batting order is more stacked with lefties. I don’t have a problem with that, either. I seem to remember the Worrell/Dayley combination working pretty well once upon a time.

Now, all of this is predicated on:
1) The fact that these guys do their job in the roles.
2) LaRussa and Duncan believe that Isringhausen is not injured and can return to form

If either of those things are untrue, then I would like to see them bring Perez up to see what he can do. I don’t want to see some never-ending carousel of closer trials. I think that would destroy the bullpen, as it has for so many other teams. I still think that McClellan has been good most of the time, but when he’s been bad he can’t find the strike zone. I don’t think he has shown the ability to be moved to the closer role, yet. Maybe by the All-Star break things would look different, but I think the same could have been said about Wainwright in ‘06. He became a pretty good closer after he was given some time to figure out the bullpen. I think McClellan needs the same time.

Just my opinion. Thanks for the question.

by etp_stl on May 11, 2008 9:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

a couple stat notes:

sorry to be a bother, but these minor errors caught my eye:

1) it was Franklin’s second save of the season, not his first.

2) Izzy had 3 blown saves and an additional loss before recording his 11th save. 9 / 11 is a tad generous.

With that said, I really only think this is going to be temporary. It’ll be committee / Franklin for a week or two and then Izzy will come back and give a shot at it again.

On with the (good) youth movement!

by aet15 on May 11, 2008 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs