It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
When the Orioles drafted Zach Britton in the 3rd round of the 2006 MLB draft, he was going to be a part of growing farm system in which the left hander would be groomed to be a starting pitcher. He would bide his time and train and pay his dues in the minor leagues before getting an opportunity to move to the Majors and prove himself.
Ultimately, he had limited success in that role, and was transferred to the bullpen.
That’s typically the end of the story, not the beginning.
Last season, Britton took over the closer role in late May after Tommy (Big Game) Hunter had some rough outings and hasn’t looked back. He finished the regular season with an impressive 1.65 ERA and 37 saves in 41 attempts. Now that he and the Orioles have agreed to a one-year $3.2 million deal, the 27-year-old can concentrate on starting this year as a closer.
From everything that I’m reading and seeing from Britton, he is happy with the deal and very content with his role at the back of a very dangerous bullpen. Even with the loss of Andrew Miller, this pack of pitchers is dominant and Britton is a necessity. Fans can relax a bit now knowing that one of the Orioles’ strengths from last year will be returning almost completely intact.
This comes after an offseason where the fans were panicking when the team jettisoned two-time 50-plus save closer Jim Johnson from the roster to the Oakland A’s for Jemile Weeks (now with the Red Sox) and David Freitas, a catcher still with the club in Norfolk.
The sky was falling and the rants began. The Orioles didn’t make the playoffs in 2013 and now they wanted to send our All Star closer to cross country rivals?
By the time Opening Day came around in 2014, Hunter had been entrusted with the closer role. It didn’t seem to bother the fan base, who all knew him as a dominant reliever who, like Britton, failed as a starter.
Alas, in the ninth inning, Hunter developed a bad habit of letting runners on base and sending the Faithful Flock into palpitations. It happened a few too many times and it cost the Orioles some games early. It’s amazing to think that had Hunter completed those saves that the Orioles may have had 100-plus wins last year.
But without Big Game Hunter’s early implosion Zach Britton doesn’t get a chance to wow Camden Yards for the summer. It seems so miniscule now, the fact that we had to change closers so early in the year; however, back before Memorial Day it shook the stadium a bit. It also appears that Britton was ready, almost expecting to step in to the closer spot at some point in the season. He was ready if needed. And he was needed. He held the 9th inning for months and helped the Orioles capture their first AL East Division Championship in seventeen years. Britton had two saves in the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers (including a very tense one in Game 3), but like the rest of the ‘pen, struggled through the losses to K.C. in the ALCS .
Dan Duquette has given Orioles fans their closer for another year. With any luck, we’ll again start to ease into that comfort zone where once the team has a lead in the last couple innings, we feel that the game is in the bag. Our Ninth Inning Knight takes the mound and does his job, taking out the opposing batters in order.
Britton may have started his career wanting to get the first outs in a game but now he is exactly where he should be: getting the last three.
