Who is rays closer

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The day before, August 10, , he had chosen to have Andrew Kittredge come in with one out in the ninth to face the heart of the Red Sox order, protecting a one run league. Kittredge allowed a single to JD Martinez, but then worked around it to earn the save.

This is part one in a multipart series on the Rays pitching usage and the ongoing story of modern baseball. Then Cash had Kittredge start what was slated to be a bullpen game the following day, pitching for the fourth time in five days.

And Kittredge tore his UCL. And now, at the end of that following game, here was Anderson protecting a six run lead, because, well, he had to get the work in to stay sharp. Did the injury happen because of heavy use? Did the quick turnaround add risk?

All pitching decisions are made balancing competitive needs against levels of arm strain. And would everyone, Kevin Cash included, have experienced less mental stress? But a one-run lead in the ninth with the best opposing hitters due up is exactly what a closer is for, right? While the Rays knew exactly how they were going to compete in a tough American League East — on the back of their excellent pitching rotation — the Rays had a problem to solve.

Gone was team ace David Price, traded to the Detroit Tigers. Alex Cobb began the season on the IL as well, and would eventually also be destined for Tommy John surgery. But then a funny thing happened. But the Rays went beyond the cliched psychology of the situation and actually created an environment where those three pitchers could find that best version.

Consider the fact that while none of them were overwhelming starting pitchers, each did something very well:. They were talented but limited pitchers who, if given the chance to focus more on their talents and less on their limitations, might play up in a special way.

Which gave the Rays the perfect reason to try something the analysts in the Front Office had probably been itching to do for some time. This aspect of the game was identified way back in in The Book , by Tom Tango, Michael Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin, and it came to real prominence in public domain baseball analysis in when Lichtman resurfaced the idea, both on his own blog and in a guest piece at Baseball Prospectus.

The year previous, a Rays starter had pitched into the seventh inning 67 times, paced by Price at 19 times, Archer at 15, and Cobb at Please respect my restraint in not making a "means to an Enns" joke.

If forced to name one guy to close out a one-run game in the ninth, it appears that All-Star Andrew Kittredge is the Rays' man. But there is clearly plenty of flexibility.

A stunning number of pitchers in this organization could easily notch at least one save in the final stretch. That includes two of Tampa Bay's most reliable arms from last October, Nick Anderson and Ryan Thompson , who are both working their way back from injury Anderson will be back soon; Thompson is a bit further away. Maybe one of them will be Closer No. Or 15! Or 20! That manifests most obviously in their general avoidance of high-priced free agents and most notably in their frequent trading of star players before they become more expensive through arbitration or the latter parts of extensions.

A high-profile example is the Blake Snell trade from last winter, but smaller deals such as sending Castillo to Seattle earlier this summer are similar maneuvers on a smaller scale. The Rays swapped Castillo, who is entering his first year of arbitration this winter, for Chargois still pre-arb and promising 3B prospect Austin Shenton. Under the current system, saves are often what get relievers paid in arbitration.

That takes a serious amount of trust and comfort among the players and coaching staff, and it takes a remarkable ability from the front office and pro scouting department to identify pitchers capable of executing this strategy to the degree that they do. The transaction log sure is messy, but my goodness, here they are running away with the AL East once again.

What will they come up with next? He lives in Maryland but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. Sign In. Premier Boxing Champions. Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. The Herd with Colin Cowherd. Club Shay Shay. Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander. The No. First Things First. Out of Character with Ryan Satin.

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The Rays, meanwhile, are very specifically not calling Anderson a closer. The job was initially given to Jose Alvarado last season, and he struggled with his control and, eventually, injuries and confidence. Pagan eventually claimed the role, but Tampa Bay had 11 relievers get at least one save. Maybe that explains why the Rays are reluctant to anoint Anderson too soon.

For as dominant as he was in , he only had one save situation in the ninth inning all year, and that was with the Marlins. Or Diego Castillo. Or Colin Poche. Or Oliver Drake.

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