Poll: If Tyler Wells will be stretched out, who will be closer?

[Tony-OH]

 

[Pickles]

I went with Sulser because he was clearly the best relief pitcher on the roster last season, and I don't think they'll get too creative too early in the season.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

I think it has to be Susler really, locking Jorge into that role when he could be an effective 2-3 inning guy seems wasteful to me.

[wildcard]

I am not sure the O's will have one closer.   They may match up their relievers vs different opponent's lineups.  

[Frobby]

Sulser to start the year.   It’s his job to lose.   I do like the Lopez idea if Sulser is too shaky to hold the job.  

[SteveA]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

I am not sure the O's will have one closer.   They may match up their relievers vs different opponent's lineups.  

Every time someone has ever predicted that the Orioles would do that... They have still basically given the job to one person at a time.

Doubt that's going to change.

[scbalt52]

I think Baumann eventually goes to that role. Or Scott finally finds the plate?

[interloper]

I don't mind stretching him out, but I really think he's ultimately the man for the job. But if the Os commit to a Tampa approach, I'm for it.

Sulser gets first dibs, but Lopez would be fun. I think he's gonna be nasty out of the pen.

[Aristotelian]

Please let it not be Jorge Lopez. I would think Sulser to start the year, maybe Bautista as he gets some experience. One guy who could be on the list is Bryan Baker.

[Sports Guy]

I tend to agree we won’t have a closer but that Sulser will be the one who gets the early chances.  
 

I also wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being Lopez’s job but he needs to show he can handle pressure situations out there first.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

Please let it not be Jorge Lopez. I would think Sulser to start the year, maybe Bautista as he gets some experience. One guy who could be on the list is Bryan Baker.

I like Baker's stuff a bit, but I don't see them giving him the role to to start the year. I think he's got an excellent chance to make the bullpen though.

[LookinUp]

Dean Kremer. 

[crowmst3k!]

I can't imagine them not going with Sulser to close.  

[Tony-OH]

I agree with everyone that it could be Sulser's job to lose, and Lopez's ability to stretch gives him some value in that long relief/piggy back role, but I really think Lopez's stuff plays at an elite level in one inning stints. Now can he be consistent? Can he pitch on back to back days if needed? Those are questions I wish we would have found out last year though he did pitch in back to back games twice last season as a reliever before getting shut down due to the ankle injury.

Now Sulser's changeup became a real weapon for him last year garnering a 34.1% WHIF rate and that does give him a strikeout weapon, but when Lopez went to the pen, he showed the ability to miss bats as well.

In Lopez's first BP outing he got a .4 MPH uptick in velocity on his sinker and 4-seams to 95.8 MPH and his sinker got an inch more horizontal movement giving him a 75% WHIFF rate on the four swings against the pitch. In his second outing the wow factor showed up. He was throwing 1.5 - 1.6 MPH faster on his sinker and fastball respectively and touched 98 MPH while averaging 96.8 and 96.9 respectively. He had a 40% WHIFF rate overall in that outing. By his 4th outing he was averaging 97 mph on his sinker and getting 3 inches more horizontal than his season average. This horizontal movement really gave his sinker a different look. 

I don't have his total WHIFF rate as a reliever but looking at the game logs they were all higher than he was as a starter overall. He basically got about a 1.5 MPH bump in velocity on his sinker (basically ditched the four seamer by the end of the year), got 2 inches or more horizontal movement, and made his other pitches play up a bit WHIFF wise.

If he can stay healthy, I think he has better overall stuff than Sulser.  Add in the fact that Sulser has blown 32% of his save chances, and pitched to a 2.52 ERA in non save chances vs 4.66 in save chances in his major league career, and I think Sulser is a better setup guy than closer as well.

 

 

 

[wildcard]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I agree with everyone that it could be Sulser's job to lose, and Lopez's ability to stretch gives him some value in that long relief/piggy back role, but I really think Lopez's stuff plays at an elite level in one inning stints. Now can he be consistent? Can he pitch on back to back days if needed? Those are questions I wish we would have found out last year though he did pitch in back to back games twice last season as a reliever before getting shut down due to the ankle injury.

Now Sulser's changeup became a real weapon for him last year garnering a 34.1% WHIF rate and that does give him a strikeout weapon, but when Lopez went to the pen, he showed the ability to miss bats as well.

In Lopez's first BP outing he got a .4 MPH uptick in velocity on his sinker and 4-seams to 95.8 MPH and his sinker got an inch more horizontal movement giving him a 75% WHIFF rate on the four swings against the pitch. In his second outing the wow factor showed up. He was throwing 1.5 - 1.6 MPH faster on his sinker and fastball respectively and touched 98 MPH while averaging 96.8 and 96.9 respectively. He had a 40% WHIFF rate overall in that outing. By his 4th outing he was averaging 97 mph on his sinker and getting 3 inches more horizontal than his season average. This horizontal movement really gave his sinker a different look. 

I don't have his total WHIFF rate as a reliever but looking at the game logs they were all higher than he was as a starter overall. He basically got about a 1.5 MPH bump in velocity on his sinker (basically ditched the four seamer by the end of the year), got 2 inches or more horizontal movement, and made his other pitches play up a bit WHIFF wise.

If he can stay healthy, I think he has better overall stuff than Sulser.  Add in the fact that Sulser has blown 32% of his save chances, and pitched to a 2.52 ERA in non save chances vs 4.66 in save chances in his major league career, and I think Sulser is a better setup guy than closer.

 

 

 

IMO Lopez inconsistency is not in his stuff, its between his ears.   There was not good reason he could not pitch in the 5th inning but he had a mental problem with it IMO.   There is no way to know if he can close other than letting him try.