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We seriously need to consider another closer at this point

AlbionHero

By AlbionHero
in Orioles Talk

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El Gordo Hangout Grand Counsel

El Gordo

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I don't agree. JJ is not locating his sinker down in the zone. His off speed stuff isn't as effective unless it's coming off the FB. I imagine Wieters is calling for FB in order to get him on track with it. He has some mechanical glitch he needs to work out. It really isn't uncommon for sinker ball pitchers. He had a period similar last season right after the AS break.

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Ommaculate Perennial All-Star

Ommaculate

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I don't agree. JJ is not locating his sinker down in the zone. His off speed stuff isn't as effective unless it's coming off the FB. I imagine Wieters is calling for FB in order to get him on track with it. He has some mechanical glitch he needs to work out. It really isn't uncommon for sinker ball pitchers. He had a period similar last season right after the AS break.

Just wondering, how many more saves does he have to blow for you to reconsider?

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callahan09 All-Star

callahan09

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You're really going to use an entire season's worth of numbers to try and demerit what, a week's worth of appearances? And no, spare me the ALDS crap, that's a completely different animal and can happen to anybody. Flosman has it right, prior to the last home stand JJ was looking like an All Star again, and threads like these were nonexistent. Now all of a sudden he's worse than Kevin Gregg? That's 100% asinine.

Did Buck leave him in too long, probably. But he pitched the day before and looked downright filthy. It wasn't asking much of him to come out the next day with a larger lead after he had looked as good as he did the day before. So no, pardon me if I didn't know he was going to blow that game against the Blue Jays, when he hadn't the very night before.

I don't disagree with most of what you said, but to say he looked downright filthy the night before is just... I can't agree with that. He recorded the outs, yes. But he didn't look anywhere close to filthy doing it. He looked average, and just happened to not give anything up, as far as my eyes could see. His stuff looked the same that night as it did the previous outing and the following one.

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MDK02 Hangout Grand Counsel

MDK02

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The thing that keeps me level headed about JJ is that Kimbrell went through the same kind of slump a couple weeks ago, I believe he blew 3 saves in a row and one of them being a 2 or 3 run lead. This goes to show you that closers are not worth the monster contracts unless your name is Marino Rivera.

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callahan09 All-Star

callahan09

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The thing that keeps me level headed about JJ is that Kimbrell went through the same kind of slump a couple weeks ago, I believe he blew 3 saves in a row and one of them being a 2 or 3 run lead. This goes to show you that closers are not worth the monster contracts unless your name is Marino Rivera.

"Dan" Marino Rivera?

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El Gordo Hangout Grand Counsel

El Gordo

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Just wondering, how many more saves does he have to blow for you to reconsider?
Reconsider what? I stick with him, but gradually his leash gets shorter, and I have Hunter and O'Day ready to come in and bail him out. But not right now. He has been so good for so long he deserves my confidence. Is 4 BS out of 5, the rule for dumping your closer no matter what? We stuck with Gregg longer than that.
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scOtt Hangout Grand Counsel

scOtt

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I am ready to share my feelings on this issue. I am leaning towards agreeing with the "find a new closer" crowd. Johnson was great during the season last year but failed in the playoffs. Isn't what it all comes down to is performing in the playoffs? What if the same thing happens in the playoffs this year? The writing is on the wall.

No, it's not. It's the 162 to get to the playoffs. The playoffs are a SSS, a crapshoot. The long grind of the season is what's important and JJ has shown that he is more than up for it. This too will pass.

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primetime Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

primetime

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I don't agree. JJ is not locating his sinker down in the zone. His off speed stuff isn't as effective unless it's coming off the FB. I imagine Wieters is calling for FB in order to get him on track with it. He has some mechanical glitch he needs to work out. It really isn't uncommon for sinker ball pitchers. He had a period similar last season right after the AS break.

So if JJ is up with his sinker and is lacking his normal fastball command, why continually call for it and throw it? You're inviting the opponents to tee off on it, which is exactly what's happening.

I agree with you that he likely has a mechanical glitch with regards to his FB but you're not going to fix that in the heat of battle; that has to be worked out in side sessions in the BP. When you don't have your best pitch but you're still expected to do your job, you have to work around it.

A guy like JJ has been and is effective as a closer because he has a starter's assortment of pitches. If he's not commanding/locating his fastball, the way to work through a tough outing is certainly not to throw 33 fastballs out of 37 pitches.

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atomic Hangout Grand Counsel

atomic

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Reconsider what? I stick with him, but gradually his leash gets shorter, and I have Hunter and O'Day ready to come in and bail him out. But not right now. He has been so good for so long he deserves my confidence. Is 4 BS out of 5, the rule for dumping your closer no matter what? We stuck with Gregg longer than that.

So good for so long??? One season is more like it.

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