Chin-Hui Tsao Named Rockies Closer

Well, that was quick. The Rockies announced today that Chin-Hui Tsao will be their closer to start the season.

He said he wanted to make a difference," Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. "He understood the ninth inning, the finality of it. He felt he wanted to be that guy, the pitcher that makes the difference."

Manager Clint Hurdle was less than adamant about the decision, noting that Tsao was the closer "to start the season", adding that "he's established the fastball. We know the velocity is there. He's got to find a way to maintain it from first pitch to last pitch of the inning -- the top-end velocity, not work into his velocity, which he has had a history of doing. We told him how important it is to put away the first hitter, being able to throw a secondary pitch the first pitch of an at-bat or behind in the count."

So Tsao is closing, with Fuentes setting him up. No word on who else will make the Rocks' bullpen, but this closer battle is, for the time being, over.

Colorado Closer Battle - Part 1

No one knows who will be the closer in Colorado this year, now that the Shawn Chacon Experiment has mercifully been brought to a close. Obviously, you aren't going to want to draft the Rocks closer for your fantasy team under any circumstances - but because you can get pretty desperate for that 2nd closer in a deep NL-only league, we'll keep tabs on the situation.

At the official Rockies site, Thomas Harding has a story discussing the current "frontrunner", the young Chin Hui-Tsao. Tsao was signed out of Taiwan as an 18-year old, was going under the knife for TJ surgery by the time he was 20, and was back in the Show by age 22. Now, at the ripe old age of 24, he's being given every opportunity to lock down the closer role, despite pitching fewer than 10 innings in the majors in 2004.

So far, so good.

Through Thursday's spring games, Tsao was sporting a 1.80 ERA, with only one earned run allowed on 4 hits (and three walks) over 5 innings. He's also putting up some K's - 5 so far. He's been thrown directly into the fire, too - Harding notes that Tsao has been appearing early in each of his 5 appearances, in order to see as many major league hitters as possible.

While the Colorado closer situation is still the most "wide open" in the majors, If Tsao keeps this up, he could make manager Clint Hurdle's decision pretty easy. For what it's worth, Tsao's main competition for the closer role, Brian Fuentes and Eddie Gaillard, have struggled in the early going, with respective ERAs of 12.00 and 18.90 over about 3 innings each.

If it isn't Tsao, our money is on Brian Fuentes. After a fantastic 27-year old year in 2003, Fuentes took a step back in 2004:

Year W-L-S-IP---H--R--ER-BB-SO-ERA--ERA+
2003 3 3 4 75.3 64 24 23 34 82 2.75 173
2004 2 4 0 44.7 46 30 28 19 48 5.64 89

Fuentes' great 2003 gives him a bit more of a track record than Tsao, making him a safer pick. And even though he got knocked around last season, he still managed to strike out more than one batter per inning. Clint Hurdle certainly seemed impressed with Fuentes' last time out, when he pitched a perfect 9th vs. Arizona and recorded one strikeout:

"The ball just jumped out of his his hand... his off-speed stuff was just as good.That's the best he's looked all spring... He hasn't struggled dramatically by any means. His last outing was solid. This one jumped out at you a little bit."

Obviously, we're dealing with small sample sizes and spring statistics. However, based upon what we've read, it looks like Fuentes and Tsao are neck-and-neck for the closer role, with Hurdle potentially leaning toward Fuentes. We'll keep you posted.

Billy Koch Released by Jays

OK, he wasn't really in the closer mix in TOR anyway, but the AP is reporting that Billy Koch has been released by the Toronto Blue Jays, who had just brought him back home with a 1-year, $900,000 deal in January.

It wasn't too long ago that the Blue Jays drafted Koch in the first round (4th overall in 1996). He shot up through their minor league system, and enjoyed some great years as the Jays closer. From 1999 through 2001, Koch racked up 100 saves - and after he was traded for Eric Hinske, he had his best season in Oakland in 2002: 44 saves, and an ERA+ of 142.

For some reason, however, he's been awful ever since. He's awfully reliant on his fastball, and it simply hasn't fooled anyone for the last 2 years. He was awful in his three Grapefruit League appearances, allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits in only 3 innings of work - so awful, in fact, that the team that gave him his first chance - and his last chance - had to let him go.

Koch will turn 30 this season, and while he may probably catch on somewhere, his closing days are probably behind him for good.

Back to Borowski?

A brief respite from our 2005 Closer Preview - we've got to discuss the closer battles while they're still happening, right?

Throughout the winter, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that the Cubs would acquire a new closer for 2005. LaTroy Hawkins blew 9 saves in only a half-season in the closer role - a record pace - and Joe Borowski seemed to be completely out of gas.

While the Cubs' name came up in connection with essentially every free agent closer (Troy Percival, Armando Benitez), and some trade-bait closers (Jorge Julio, Dan Kolb, Ugueth Urbina), and while GM Jim Hendry repeatedly talked up Ryan Dempster for the closer role, Hendry ultimately opted to take no action, and enter 2005 with a bullpen long on fantastic young arms, but lacking an "established closer".

Or is it?

The allegedly washed-up Joe Borowski came into camp thinner, rested, allegedly throwing at his pre-injury velocity, and ready to reassume his role as the Cubs' stopper. As Rob Glowacki of The Cub Reporter pointed out today, Joe Borowski was simply fantastic in 2002 and 2003:

2002 2.73 ERA, 95.1 IP, 9.13 K/9, 3.35 K/BB, .678 OPS, .715 OPS vs RH, .626 vs LH
2003 2.63 ERA, 68.1 IP, 8.69 K/9, 3.47 K/BB, .554 OPS, .516 OPS vs RH, .609 vs LH

Wow. Now obviously, Borowski was never the prototype closer.
He doesn't blow the ball past hitters - he's gotten people out by putting the ball exactly where he'd planned to, especially with a nifty slider that he isn't afraid to throw when he's behind in the count. When he was put into the most pressure-packed situation in Cub history, in the immediate aftermath of the Bartman/Alou incident and with 100 years of history on his shoulders, Borowski immediately proceeded to get the inning-ending double-play ball. It's not his fault that things went downhill from there.

In 2004, it seemed that JoBo's luck had finally run out. We soon learned, however, that his troubles were injury-related - he'd damaged his rotator cuff.

Last week, Dusty Baker hinted that he'd already made up his mind about who the closer will be, but refused to let us in on the secret. Baker stated that "It's in my mind. It's not on my lips. It's been in my mind", but added that Borowski is "getting better every day".

While Rob Glowacki of the The Cub Reporter (which, to digress, has been the preeminent Cubs blog, so every Cub fan should read it, along with Cub Town) thinks that Dusty's loyalty will lead him to name Hawkins as his 2005 closer, I read the situation differently. Dusty Baker has long followed the theory that a player should not lose his job due to injury - to wit, Baker benched a white-hot Todd Walker in 2004 in favor of Mark Grudzielanek. If Borowski can get people out in spring 2005, there's no reason to think that Baker won't hand him the ball in the ninth inning going forward.

2005 Closer Preview - NL East

This will be the first in an ongoing series of posts comprising the 2005 Closer Preview here on CT. Each column will examine the closers (or projected closers) in one MLB division.

Today, we'll look at the NL East. Tomorrow, we'll shine the spotlight on the stoppers in the AL East.

Atlanta Braves - Dan Kolb (2004: 57 1/3 IP, 2.98 ERA, 39/44 saves, 21 K)
The Braves enter the 2005 season with a major change at the end of the bullpen. Superstar closer John Smoltz has returned to the starting rotation from whence he came, which led the Braves to send wunderkind hurler Jose Capellan to the Brewers for a replacement. The Brewers, to their credit, noticed during the 2nd half of 2004 that a decent closer is useless when you're playing .300 ball, then noted that the best players in the organization are all approximately 20 years old, and made the right move in acquiring a hotshot prospect in exchange for their steady, productive closer.

Another fact that the Brewers may have noticed is that Kolb wasn't particularly great after the 2004 All-Star break. (1st half ERA 1.62... 2nd half ERA 4.88). Kolb changed up his style in '04, focusing more on hitting spots and less on blowing the ball past hitters - and his K-rate dropped pretty precipitously, from 8.5 in 2003 to 3.3 in 2004. It could be a fluke, but it is possible that the league adjusted to Kolb's new "junkball" repertoire in the 2nd half. However, if the past decade has taught us anything, it is that the Braves can straighten any pitcher out... and that the Braves typically don't trade young pitchers who can succeed in the Show. (Excepting Jason Schmidt, of course. David Nied, Bruce Chen, Terrell Wade, Micah Bowie, maybe Adam Wainwright... will Jose Capellan break the streak?)

Kolb will get the chance to protect plenty of leads, because the Braves always play winning baseball, no matter how much talent walks out the door, and no matter how many consecutive years I pick them to finish in 3rd place. This will, however, be Kolb's first chance to shine in the bright lights of a pennant race, and he's got some big shoes to fill. While it is almost certain that the Braves will see a substantial dropoff at the closer position, Kolb is likely to be an above-average stopper.

Florida Marlins - Guillermo Mota (2004: 96 2/3 IP, 3.07 ERA, 4/8 SV, 85 K)
Like the Braves, the Marlins enter 2005 with a new arm anchoring the pen. In 2004 Mota was a spectacular set-up man in LA (2.14 ERA), and a below-average set-up man in Florida during the 2nd half. (4.81 ERA).

While this will be Mota's first season as a primary closer, he does seem to have all the tools needed. He struck out 7.9 men per 9 innings last season, which isn't too shabby, and while he struggled after leaving Chavez Ravine, it's not as if Pro Player is a hitter's park.

On the other hand, he's turning 31 this season - and getting rocked in Pro Player doesn't do much to inspire confidence. Last year's 96-inning workload is worth noting, but it's probably not a problem - At 30, Mota is no spring chicken. If Mota should falter, the next man in line may be "Pulpo" - Antonio Alfonseca, who makes his triumphant return to Miami after a horrendous tour of duty in Chicago and a decent season in Atlanta. Alfonseca is probably best known for having six fingers on each hand. And no, it doesn't help him pitch.

New York Mets - Braden Looper (83 1/3 IP, 2.70 ERA, 29/34 SV, 60 K)
We all remember that Looper was unceremoniously dumped from the closer role by the 2003 Marlins, and replaced with Ugueth Urbina - who proceeded to put up a 1.41 ERA, strike out about a man an inning, save two games of the World Series, and make out with Pudge Rodriguez afterwards. OK, that last bit was a little strange.

After the championship, Looper was cast off from the Marlins and became the Mets closer. Unexpectedly, he flourished under the bright lights of NYC, putting up a career year for an awful team. Looper's 2.70 ERA was the best of his career, and he racked up 29 saves for a team that only won 71 games. (Interestingly, he finished 60 games total.) Even his strikeouts were up, if only moderately.

Looper's hold on the closer role seems secure - the Mets don't have a ton of bullpen talent beating down the door. I guess that former closers Mike DeJean and Roberto Hernandez are in camp, but their best days are behind them. Scott Strickland and DeJean, along with Felix Heredia, will be counted on to get leads to Looper.

Philadelphia Phillies - Billy Wagner (2004: 48 1/3 IP, 2.42 ERA, 21/25 SV, 59 K)
Easily the top closer in the NL East, Billy Wagner was even effective in an injury-shortened 2004. Prior to straining his rotator cuff, Wagner was quite good... and he finished the year even stronger. His second half ERA was 0.51, with an opposing batting average of .136. All told, Wags allowed only 11 baserunners and 1 earned run in 17 2/3 2nd half innings.

If Wagner should find himself on the DL again, Tim Worrell will likely get the first shot at closing. The PHI bullpen will also feature phenom Ryan Madson, who excelled as a middle reliever and spot starter during his rookie season.

Washington Nationals - Chad Cordero (2004: 82 2/3 IP, 2.94 ERA, 14/18 SV, 83 K)
When he was finally handed the closer role at midseason of his first full year in the Show, Cordero fulfilled all of the lofty expectations that had been placed upon him. Chad is blessed with a fantastic fastball, and he struck out over a batter an inning.

While he walked 43 men in 82.6 innings, only 14 of those walks were during the second half, so it's possible that his control improved after he was handed the closer role. Frankly, while it's hard to believe that Rocky Biddle was allowed to fail for so long as the stopper, it cannot be argued that Frank Robinson has gotten the results he wanted while guiding Cordero's development.

The Nats' bullpen features a couple of other "almost-closer" types - Luis Ayala briefly held the role for the Expos/Nats in 2004, and Antonio Osuna was once considered the closer for the ChiSox. However, there is no closer controversy here. In 2005, this job belongs to Chad Cordero.

Welcome to Closing Time.

Hello, and welcome to Closing Time. This weblog will focus upon major league baseball's "Closers" - those relief pitchers responsible for getting the final three outs of close games.

Although today's top closers are highly paid household names, and an effective closer is considered to be a virtual requirement for any contending team, the concept of a "closer" is relatively new. As recently as the early 1980s, teams used their bullpens very differently - some would say, more effectively. In the 1970s, a top reliever like Goose Gossage would be used whenever the manager absolutely, positively needed some outs from the pen - whether that was the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning.

Today, the closer is almost exclusively used in save situations, and ONLY in save situations. As such, most teams find themselves trotting their top reliever out to protect 3-run leads with the bases empty in the 9th - while using a less-talented middle reliever to face an opposing slugger with 2 on, and 2 out in the 7th. It can be argued that the adoption of the "save" statistic has dramatically altered the decision-making process of every manager in the major leagues!

While the statisticians argue that a highly-paid, 9th-inning-only closer is an inefficient use of resources, (after all, if a guy can get outs in the 7th, he should be able to get them in the 9th, right?), the old-school scouting types disagree. As Yogi Berra noted, baseball is 90% mental, and the other half physical. It takes a pitcher with a special mental makeup to get the final three outs of a major league baseball game. Bullpens around the league are littered with pitchers who, rightly or wrongly, have acquired the reputation that they can't get outs in the ninth. For instance the Chicago Cubs' LaTroy Hawkins, who has excelled throughout his career as an 8th inning setup man, failed in spectacular fashion when promoted to closer in 2004.

The prototype closer is a frightening, towering beast of a man with a high 90's fastball and some sort of intimidating facial hair. (Goatees are preferred, but feel free to get creative.)

Over the course of the 2005 MLB season, Closing Time will keep a close watch on who is the last man out of the pen for each club, who is performing well - and whose closer roles may be in jeopardy. (That should come in handy for fantasy baseball owners hunting for saves.) We'll also run features about the greatest closers of all time, and the greatest seasons by relievers, and, well, anything else MLB related that comes along.

So stay tuned - our 2005 Closer Preview will be coming along shortly.