Time for a New Closer

With another blown save last night by Tommy Hunter, it is time for Buck Showalter to move in another direction before it is too late. Showalter is very loyal as a manger; it is his biggest strength, but also his biggest weakness. Showalter believes strongly in a track record and that allows him to stick with a struggling player.

However, Hunter does not have a track record as a closer. He is not coming off a great season like Jim Johnson was last year. In fact, many people even questioned that he should be the closer in the first place. There is a reason the Orioles went after Grant Balfour – and to a lesser extent Fernando Rodney – in the offseason.

Hunter struggles against left handed hitters (even though this year he can’t get righties or lefties out) and he tends to give up the home run. These were legit concerns heading into the season and they have proved to be true in 2014. The bigger issue besides blowing saves or coming close every game is the fact Hunter has a WHIP of almost 2. Last year, it was under 1. Does the ninth inning put that much pressure on you that you forget how to pitch or are your weaknesses exposed? I would say that it’s more a case of his weaknesses being exposed than Hunter not having the mindset to get the last three outs in a ballgame.

The bigger kick in all of this is that the Orioles traded for Francisco Rodriguez last year and let him walk in the offseason and he now leads all of baseball in saves and has an ERA under 0.50.

Where does Showalter go now? I hate to place blame on one player like Johnson and say that is why the team didn’t make the postseason in 2013. The Orioles had tons of other issues, but the fact is, Johnson blew nine winnable games. Showalter can’t have the team go down that path again. Zach Britton is the logical answer. Darren O’Day is another option, but he also struggles against left-handed hitters like Hunter. Britton has dominated both and has the track record that Showalter loves of keeping the ball in the ballpark.

Showalter already made one big decision in bringing up Kevin Gausman. It is time for him to make another and move Hunter out of the closer role.

photo: Craig Landefeld