Who will be auditioning for the O's closer this spring?

[wildcard]

Last year:

Valdez    3 saves in 3 opportunities

Scott     1 for 2

Lakins 1 for 1

Sulser  5 for 8

I think it would increase Scott's value if he could develop into a closer.

 

 

[Can_of_corn]

I hope the O's don't bother boxing themselves into a situation in which they confine bullpen usage to set roles.

[ScGO's]

Scott is set to be a free agent in 2025.  He's probably the one player that could gain the most trade value out of the relievers put into a closer role.  Just depends on whether Elias feels he will be a part of the next winning team or not, or do we try to sell high in a similar fashion to Castro last year.  I think Scott has the potential to gain more trade value than Castro and GIvens.

Valdez, Sulser, and Lakins could be interesting choices as they could create some "superficial" value if they show some decent success in the role and could be traded for a lottery pick or two.  Maybe Matt Harvey can fill this role too if he switches to the bullpen full time.

Along with Scott, Elias could entertain Armstrong, Fry, Tate or Hunter Harvey in the role.  All these pitchers have more value than the prior mentioned group but aren't in a rush to be traded. Harvey still has 5 years of control, but if he has a break out season, I think we should look into selling high because of his history of injuries.

[Tony-OH]

I imagine the Orioles would like Harvey to be that guy if everything shook out that way, but I also think Hyde doesn't like to get pitchers pigeon holed into roles and will use his best reliever available in high leverage situations.

Scott had a great year last year and can clearly be dominant, but being a lefty, he's better utilized as that high leverage guy in the 7th or 8th inning though if the lineup comes up with lefties in the 9th, I could see Hyde going with him.

Valdez was more of closer by necessity. While his dead fish changeup is clearly a unique animal amongst MLB pitches, it remains to be seen whether he can have success over an entire year once batters become more used to seeing the pitch.

The good news is barring injury, Sulser should be nowhere near a closer role.

[oriole]

Scott’s had too much of a history with walks to be a closer imo. If a closer has good stuff and still gets hit then it’s just baseball but if they’re walking hitters in a close game with 3 or less outs to go it’s hard to take. 
 

I’ll say they go with Harvey assuming he’s healthy. But it’s a rebuild so maybe it’ll be Valdez again or Abad or the other Harvey. 

[wildcard]

Hunter Harvey is profiled as a closer and talked about as a potential closer.  But in the 90 games he has played in his  professional career he has never had a save.   Zero.

I would just like to see him pitch in a reliever role in the majors or AAA.

[Aristotelian]

I like Scott. He showed enough command to go with tremendous stuff that I think overall he is now the most dominant pitcher in the bullpen. The one downside with Scott is he is left handed, so his value may be maximized as high leverage matchup guy. 

Harvey has great stuff and is right handed without big splits. He is probably the most natural for the job if we are seeking a full time closer. 

The baseball fan in me wants to see Valdez just for the novelty. Armstrong and Sulser don't blow me away with stuff but both strike me as consistent guys with pretty good command that should be able to get three outs most of the time. 

All of which is to say I can see arguments for multiple guys so we will probably see a committee depending on health and who is hot. 

[Sports Guy]

I think, if they choose to name someone, that Valdez gets the role early and it gets evolves from there.

[wildcard]

Valdez may be one of the 5 best starters on the team this spring.  At least until Baumann and Lowther are ready for the majors.

[Jammer7]

7 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Valdez may be one of the 5 best starters on the team this spring.  At least until Baumann and Lowther are ready for the majors.

I seriously hope not. If he is, a lot of things went wrong. 

[wildcard]

Hunter Harvey Off Season 2/15/2021

 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Hunter Harvey is profiled as a closer and talked about as a potential closer.  But in the 90 games he has played in his  professional career he has never had a save.   Zero.

There’s probably a huge list of closers for whom this is true.  Zack Britton made 203 pro appearances before he ever recorded a save.   

[wildcard]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

There’s probably a huge list of closers for whom this is true.  Zack Britton made 203 pro appearances before he ever recorded a save.   

Right.  In 2014 at age 26 the O's converted Britton from a starter to a reliever and he saved 37 games.   Hunter is 26.  I would love to see him do that.  But Britton pitched 103 inning the year before and was healthy.   Hunter pitched 8.2 innings last year and had an elbow injury.

I would love to see Hunter have the success that Zack has had but for now I would just like to see him pitch anywhere and be healthy for a whole season.  Does not have to be as a closer.

[LookinUp]

To the extent the Rays are driving the future of baseball, who ends a game will be as much about data as it is about role. We may have a guy who gets 40-50% of our saves, but not a guy who gets 80-90% of them. 

Last regular season the Rays had 23 saves. Anderson led them with 6.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, wildcard said:

Right.  In 2014 at age 26 the O's converted Britton from a starter to a reliever and he saved 37 games.   Hunter is 26.  I would love to see him do that.  But Britton pitched 103 inning the year before and was healthy.   Hunter pitched 8.2 innings last year and had an elbow injury.

I would love to see Hunter have the success that Zack has had but for now I would just like to see him pitch anywhere and be healthy for a whole season.  Does not have to be as a closer.

Yeah, I’m fine with that.   The next season Hunter pitches fully healthy will be his first.   It’s hard to hand the closer job to a guy with no track record of durability.