Belly Butler is still slow Royals VS Rangers Sun day game thread

[Al Bundy]

Royals lead 5-2 on a Pena HR.

[Sure-Oz]

Getz is such an automatic out

[cabletech94]

thanks prowl.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

How the hell was Kendall starting over Pena last year?

[cabletech94]

How the hell was Kendall starting over Pena last year?

pics of hillman in drag?

[Sure-Oz]

Pena has a shit ton of rbis in texas and all 3 hrs

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Helluva catch

[Sure-Oz]

Nice grab Melky, the ball just flies in this stadium

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

pics of hillman in drag?

I thought it was Hillman stupidity myself, but it continued under Yost. Hell, if he hadn't gotten hurt he'd probably be catching 90% of the games to this day.

[Sure-Oz]

5-3 now after a nappy HR

[Sure-Oz]

Gordon, domination in LF

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

STFD

[lostcause]

Looks like Kinsler just got tossed.

[Sure-Oz]

Billy you pussy

[Bowser]

Pena is raking today. Can we put Kendall on the 900 day DL?

[DeezNutz]

Great D by Gordon.

[Bowser]

Alex is having himself a game out in the field today.

[Bowser]

Nice strike him out, throw him out!

[stonedstooge]

Friggin Escobar, DAMN

[Bowser]

And ANOTHER gem by Escobar! Nice defense today!

[stonedstooge]

Do you let Duffy come out in the 7th?

[Bowser]

Do you let Duffy come out in the 7th?

Yes, but with a SHORT leash. We need to have a game where our starter takes it into the seventh, at least.

[cabletech94]

Do you let Duffy come out in the 7th?

yup

(please don't let his arm explode. please don't let his arm explode).

[cabletech94]

john elway sighting in texas.

[Al Bundy]

Call to the Pen.

[Al Bundy]

Now get Duffy the fucking win. Which means NO Soria.

[Bowser]

He might have been safe. Heh.

[Bowser]

Nasty

[Bowser]

Holland out, Teaford in

[stonedstooge]

Yost going to burn everyone

[Bowser]

Teaford throws four pitches, walks Moreland, and gets the hook. Yost maybe should have left Holland in the way he was throwing.

[Bowser]

Nice! Now keep Crow in there for the 8th.

[Bowser]

I'd feel a little more comfortable with a couple of insurance runs here....

[Bowser]

Jesus, Betemit. Swing at two ball fours, but watch strike three bend right down the pipe.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Park another one Pena

[stonedstooge]

Royals haven't done squat offensively aside from that one inning. Hope it's enough to win this game

[Bowser]

I don't think I'd like to clean the stadium after "bring your dog to the park" day.

[Bowser]

Royals definitely brought their defense today. Great paly by Meier holding Blanco to a single.

[Bowser]

GIVE ME BACK MY BAT, KID

[stonedstooge]

Hamilton lets it friggin fly

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

That kid deserves that souvenir

[DeezNutz]

Piss poor catcher defense. He didn't do everything he could, Frank, because Pena didn't even begin to set himself properly to block.

But this is the case with almost every single ML catcher, and thus I digress.

[stonedstooge]

You see how far that bat flew in? Must have been like 30 rows or more

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Nice Hosmer

[Bowser]

Great play by Hosmer

[Bowser]

Don't even fuck around with Young. Just pitch around him.

[Bowser]

Goddammit

[DeezNutz]

And no win for Duffy.

[stonedstooge]

Almost could see that one coming

[Bowser]

Just walk him. Fuck, how hard is that.

[Al Bundy]

Crow fails!!!!!!

[AndChiefs]

They don't want Duffy to get a win.

[Al Bundy]

It's almost like the bullpen doesn't want Duffy to get the win. Fuck off Crow.

[petegz28]

WTF do you throw that pitch? WHY? That is fail all the way around. Pena, Crow, McClure and Yost. Just put him on JFC!

[DeezNutz]

I don't think Crow was intentionally trying to throw a cock high fastball down the heart of the plate.

[Al Bundy]

Duffy deserved that win.. now we deserve to lose.

[Al Bundy]

I don't think Crow was intentionally trying to throw a cock high fastball down the heart of the plate.

Yeah, he did. He was trying not to walk him.

[CaliforniaChief]

Thank God they brought in Feliz.

[Bowser]

Nice hustle Getz! Hell yeah!

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

We absolutely own Feliz

[DeezNutz]

Yeah, he did. He was trying not to walk him.

No pitcher in the history of the game has ever thrown that type of pitch on purpose.

Throwing a strike does not equal throwing a meatball at any level.

[Bowser]

Escobar!

[stonedstooge]

Escobar has finally slowed that swing down and now is smoking the ball

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

I'm loving this "real closer"

[tk13]

No pitcher in the history of the game has ever thrown that type of pitch on purpose.

Throwing a strike does not equal throwing a meatball at any level.

You obviously never watched Albie Lopez pitch.

[Bowser]

MorEland

[Al Bundy]

Crow with a chance for the win... after serving up a meat pitch.

[DeezNutz]

You obviously never watched Albie Lopez pitch.

Psychologically repressed pitcher is repressed.

[CaliforniaChief]

Would it be too much to ask the Yankee/Red Sox knob slobbers at ESPN to mix in a picture of Eric Hosmer for GameCast?

[Blankey]

Don't know if I want to watch Soria here

[Bowser]

Okay, Soria. You can do this.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

How do you say heart attack in spanish?

Soria's new nickname

[stonedstooge]

I think this is Soria's make it or break it game

[CaliforniaChief]

I'm just going to go ahead and ignore his wishes here.

MEXICUTIONER TIME

[siberian khatru]

Okay, Soria. You can do this.

YOU CAN DO EEEET!!!!!

[Bowser]

How did that baseball smell, Cruz?

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Jesus

[petegz28]

Soria bliows another one

[Bowser]

Are you fucking kidding me

[Blankey]

FUCK YOU SORIA

[AndChiefs]

put him on the dl...

[CaliforniaChief]

:facepalm:

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

This is getting fucking ridiculous

Put him on the DL already

[Priest31kc]

Soria needs to go to the DL. Pathetic.

[Three7s]

When are the Royals actually going to admit that Soria blows ass?

[Bowser]

Get him out of there.

[Al Bundy]

Fuck off Soria... drop dead.

[tk13]

The funny thing is you could tell two weeks into the season he wasn't right. It wasn't just a warm weather thing. And we just keep running him out there. I don't know what they expect to change.

[Three7s]

McClure: Okay, Soria, you gave up a dinger and a rope, but we still believe in you and love you to death. We won't give up on you, now go give em hell!

Soria: DO I GET TO THROW MY AWESOME CUTTER?!

McClure: Whatever you want champ.

[Bowser]

The funny thing is you could tell two weeks into the season he wasn't right. It wasn't just a warm weather thing. And we just keep running him out there. I don't know what they expect to change.

How does that definition of insanity go again?

[stonedstooge]

That 90 mile an hour high fastball is going to get crushed

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Toughness is great, but he's doing more harm than good

I don't buy the cutter messing with his delivery story one bit

[milkman]

How does that definition of insanity go again?

Trotting Soria out to the mound in a save situation again and again.

[CaliforniaChief]

Time to put an ICE jacket on McClure and deport his ass to Omaha.

[Ceej]

This sure is getting old. Coleman or Crow please.

[Three7s]

That 90 mile an hour high fastball is going to get crushed
It's not even a fastball really. It's Soria's supposedly epic cutter.

[stonedstooge]

It's not even a fastball really. It's Soria's supposedly epic cutter.

Looks like a fat fastball to me

[DeezNutz]

I wish this were the Yankees' problem.

[Bowser]

A gift K there

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

That wasn't even close

[petegz28]

HTF WAS HE SAFE???

[DeezNutz]

Wow.

That was a terrible effort on the tag.

[milkman]

That was a good call.

[siberian khatru]

I wish this were the Yankees' problem.

Jesus Montero ... Jesus Montero ... Jesus Montero ...

[Bowser]

LMAO

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Fuck you Pena

[Old Dog]

good call...he got under teh tag....block the fucking plate...damn little league baseball

[Al Bundy]

and they find ANOTHER way to lose....

[DeezNutz]

Safe by a fucking mile.

[Priest31kc]

Fuck this team.

[petegz28]

:facepalm: TOTAL FUCKING FAIL!

[milkman]

That was terrible on Pena's part.

[Al Bundy]

Pena had visions of Posey in his mind there....

[DeezNutz]

Little League shit right there, Pena.

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Tie goes to the runner

Shitty effort by Pena

[DeezNutz]

Get the fuck out, Ryan. Half of Napoli's body is across the plate before the tag. Even if there was miraculously no contact, no one could tell that.

[Bowser]

Ok, Pena didn't do himself any favors with piss poor effort, but Napoli's leg didn't touch the plate before Pena tagged him on the arm. Whatever, he should have blocked the plate or slapped the tag like he meant it. Jesus.

[Al Bundy]

Little League shit right there, Pena.

Posey had a huge effect on that one.... Fuck off Soria for giving up the game AGAIN!!!!!

[stonedstooge]

Close play, tough to lose this one. Need lots of runs in that bullpark to win, that's for sure

[Three7s]

**** this team, I'm sick of the shitty ass pressing hitters we have on this loser team. Pitchers scared to throw strikes, and a staff full of managers that could be properly defined as insane for continuously running a shitty closer out to the mound every 9th inning with a lead.

Again, **** this team.

[Bowser]

Get the fuck out, Ryan. Half of Napoli's body is across the plate before the tag. Even if there was miraculously no contact, no one could tell that.

Exactly. In slo mo, it looks like he may have missed the plate with his leg by a half an inch. This is squarely on Pena and Soria.

[Ceej]

Now THIS is the Royals we've all grown to love/hate. Awesome.

[stonedstooge]

**** this team, I'm sick of the shitty ass pressing hitters we have on this loser team. Pitchers scared to throw strikes, and a staff full of managers that could be properly defined as insane for continuously running a shitty closer out to the mound every 9th inning with a lead.

Again, **** this team.

Haven't been a Royal's fan long?

[Bowser]

Mike Fucking Napoli scores on a single from right. LMAO


Yeah, piss on these guys.

[Jenson71]

Depressing

[Al Bundy]

RoyalsChristopher wrote: Sweet lollipop throw from Maier to Hosmer. Maier is a ******* piece of trash.

That is from the scout royals sight... that dude is a moron.

[Ceej]

Time to pull off 11 in a row at home.


LMAO

[BillSelfsTrophycase]

Soria didn't just magically become shitty after multiple dominant seasons, dude's trying to power through an injury and needs to be DL'ed yesterday

[Three7s]

Haven't been a Royal's fan long?
I've been one for 25 years. Ironically, from the time I was born, that was the end of their reign.

And yes, I'm used to this shit, but it's still amazing to me how retarded everyone is in this organization.

[siberian khatru]

Game 3 1978 ALCS, Lou Piniella slides home ahead of the throw, but his leg bounces up and over the plate and Darrell Porter tagged him on the arm for the out. Piniella threw a shit fit at home plate, but it was the right call by the ump.

[petegz28]

I think we all knew the game was over when Soria came in

[DeezNutz]

Blaming Maier or Hosmer for that last play is laughable.

[stonedstooge]

I've been one for 25 years. Ironically, from the time I was born, that was the end of their reign.

And yes, I'm used to this shit, but it's still amazing to me how retarded everyone is in this organization.

They're like a train wreck, you don't want to look but you end up doing it anyway

[Ceej]

It's reasons like today's game where we CP'ers desperately need an NFL season. If not we'll all be dead by mid-July.

[Arsonist]

I about punch3ed my friend when that unp signed safe that's all I gotta say about that

[chiefqueen]

Time to pull off 11 in a row at home.
LMAO

Unfortamately you are right about that. On Tue. its Dayton's 5-year anniversary. If is has his review this week I hope the Glass family the 2 players he has signed to long-term contracts the league has figured out.

[Al Bundy]

Soria is cooked... they need to at least yank him from the roll or DL him.

[Al Bundy]

Yost seems to be taking the "Lose with Soria" approach. Now the line has been drawn, Soria needs to not go to the DL for the season.

[alnorth]

Geez. Didn't watch or listen to a minute of this game. Looked at the box, saw two blown saves by the bullpen including Soria's 4th, and didn't want to read any more. (oh hey, Duffy had an OK day. No great, but considering the rest of our rotation, it was OK)

This is why you gotta take occasional breaks from watching the Royals.

[Three7s]

Geez. Didn't watch or listen to a minute of this game. Looked at the box, saw two blown saves by the bullpen including Soria's 4th, and didn't want to read any more. (oh hey, Duffy had an OK day. No great, but considering the rest of our rotation, it was OK)

This is why you gotta take occasional breaks from watching the Royals.
Might as well for the rest of the season. At least until Moose, Monty, and some of the other kids come up. This team is a complete waste of time until then.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Ok, Pena didn't do himself any favors with piss poor effort, but Napoli's leg didn't touch the plate before Pena tagged him on the arm. Whatever, he should have blocked the plate or slapped the tag like he meant it. Jesus.

THIS. Not sure what angle the KC broadcast had for the play at the plate, but the camera angle for the TX broadcast showed clearly that Napoli's foot was in the air as Pena was FINALLY applying the tag to Napoli's arm. It was an out. That doesn't change the fact that Pena screwed up. The ump either a.) missed the call from being distracted by Pena's bonehead move or b.) just couldn't see that the Napoli's foot was in the air.

[gblowfish]

Another exciting Sunday of quality Kansas City Royals Baseball!

[milkman]

THIS. Not sure what angle the KC broadcast had for the play at the plate, but the camera angle for the TX broadcast showed clearly that Napoli's foot was in the air as Pena was FINALLY applying the tag to Napoli's arm. It was an out. That doesn't change the fact that Pena screwed up. The ump either a.) missed the call from being distracted by Pena's bonehead move or b.) just couldn't see that the Napoli's foot was in the air.

Looked to me like Napoli's heel touched home plate as he slid in, after which his foot went into the air.

[dallaschiefsfan]

Looked to me like Napoli's heel touched home plate as he slid in, after which his foot went into the air.

Yeah...it seemed real close in the moment, but we did the rewind deal several times and he definitely missed the plate until well after the tag when his other leg/a$$ touched. Again...doesn't excuse Pena's move. He screwed up...period. But it was an out.

[DeezNutz]

What I know is that when the catcher is standing on the back side of the plate and tags the runner in the chest, the call will be "safe" almost 100% of the time, right or wrong, and it will almost always be right.

[milkman]

Yeah...it seemed real close in the moment, but we did the rewind deal several times and he definitely missed the plate until well after the tag when his other leg/a$$ touched. Again...doesn't excuse Pena's move. He screwed up...period. But it was an out.

Each time they showed the replay, Lefevbre and White kept questioning whether his front foot caught the plate, and a kept saying, look at the heel, it catches the corner of the plate.

Deez is right, whether you're wrong and I'm right, the Ump is going to call it safe.

[siberian khatru]

(oh hey, Duffy had an OK day. No great, but considering the rest of our rotation, it was OK)



Duffy has improved each start. That's encouraging.

[BigMeatballDave]

I'm done blaming Soria. Fuck you, Yost!

[gblowfish]

Well, if it wasn't for Pena's HR, they wouldn't have been in this game anyway.
So, Pena givith, Pena taketh away.

[alnorth]

I'm done blaming Soria. **** you, Yost!

Not me, and I don't buy the theory that he's playing hurt, at all. We have over $25MM sunk into him, if he were hurt, he'd be on the DL and he hasn't lost his velocity. If Soria is hurt and is lying through his teeth convincingly to the point where he can convince his coaches and trainers, then thats on him, but that doesn't really seem believable.

The Royals have JUST signed this dude to a large long-term contract, and we aren't competing this season. He needs to fail spectacularly before we give up on him.

edit: in hindsight, its rather fortunate that DM insisted on giving him team options rather than a big guaranteed contract. At the time a lot of people thought there was no chance we wouldn't exercise the options, but now if Soria crashes and burns, we could ask him to either renegotiate or take a $2.25MM buyout after this season and be done with him.

So, I guess we don't have much money sunk into him.

[milkman]

Not me, and I don't buy the theory that he's playing hurt, at all. We have over $25MM sunk into him, if he were hurt, he'd be on the DL and he hasn't lost his velocity. If Soria is hurt and is lying through his teeth convincingly to the point where he can convince his coaches and trainers, then thats on him, but that doesn't really seem believable.

The Royals have JUST signed this dude to a large long-term contract, and we aren't competing this season. He needs to fail spectacularly before we give up on him.

Well on his way to achieving spectacular fail.

[Hammock Parties]

http://images.wikia.com/simpsons/images/6/6a/Mr_Burns_evil.gif

[alnorth]

Well on his way to achieving spectacular fail.

Given the fact that every year after this season is a team option, the "let him either figure it out or rot" approach makes a little more sense. We have a $23MM decision to make after this season. (or a ~$17MM decision if we decide to just pay for 2012 and see)

If he's not hurt and we demote or shut him down a month, tinker around here and there, go with another closer for a while, then go back to Soria for the last few weeks and Soria does OK right at the end, suddenly its a tough decision to decide to pay him or not.

I think DM's basically telling Soria "hey man, its still early and you can still pull out of this, but we need to figure out whether to keep you. If you want that $23MM, you better start performing now, or we'll just give you your buyout and say good-bye."

[DeezNutz]

If Soria goes tits up, it will be spectacular fail on Moore's part for not trading him last year. This isn't a hindsight thing, since many were claiming then that it was the right thing to do at the time. And we're just dumbass message board posters.

Again, 100-loss teams don't need great closers, and these types of players aren't that hard to find. Again again, the Cards ****ing won the whole thing with Adam ****ing Wainwright, who is distinctly NOT a closer, just a great talent.

[tk13]

If Soria goes tits up, it will be spectacular fail on Moore's part for not trading him last year. This isn't a hindsight thing, since many were claiming then that it was the right thing to do at the time. And we're just dumbass message board posters.

Again, 100-loss teams don't need great closers, and these types of players aren't that hard to find. Again again, the Cards ****ing won the whole thing with Adam ****ing Wainwright, who is distinctly NOT a closer, just a great talent.

Yeah, but Adam Wainwright was a great closer. Is that what he'll be remembered for, no. But I believe you have to have someone who will make it almost impossible to win after 8 innings. But we've had this argument for 10 years on this board. The Cardinals never won with Isringhausen and Franklin lobbing stuff up there, they won with a shutdown guy. And I don't think they are that easy to find. I've always thought the "anybody can be a closer" thing is totally out in left field. There's a sea of pitchers who are great relievers but crap themselves when it's the game on the line.

[DeezNutz]

Yeah, but Adam Wainwright was a great closer. Is that what he'll be remembered for, no. But I believe you have to have someone who will make it almost impossible to win after 8 innings. But we've had this argument for 10 years on this board. The Cardinals never won with Isringhausen and Franklin lobbing stuff up there, they won with a shutdown guy. And I don't think they are that easy to find. I've always thought the "anybody can be a closer" thing is totally out in left field. There's a sea of pitchers who are great relievers but crap themselves when it's the game on the line.

But this is taking the argument to another extreme. Yes, not anyone can be a closer, but locating one isn't like the quest for the grail, as some make it out to be.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

If Soria goes tits up, it will be spectacular fail on Moore's part for not trading him last year. This isn't a hindsight thing, since many were claiming then that it was the right thing to do at the time. And we're just dumbass message board posters.

Again, 100-loss teams don't need great closers, and these types of players aren't that hard to find. Again again, the Cards ****ing won the whole thing with Adam ****ing Wainwright, who is distinctly NOT a closer, just a great talent.

Wainwright would have been a dominant closer though if they decided to go that route. This year the Cardinals have one of the best offenses and very good starting pitching, but not having a dominant 9th inning guy will likely cost them in the end.

[tk13]

But this is taking the argument to another extreme. Yes, not anyone can be a closer, but locating one isn't like the quest for the grail, as some make it out to be.

Well I don't know if I'd say that, but it's not easy. It can't be an average reliever... it has to be someone who is totally unstoppable out there. Wilson, Rivera, Lidge, Jenks, Papelbon... those guys were completely nails. They were definitely top 10, if not better, closers the years they won.

[alnorth]

Well I don't know if I'd say that, but it's not easy. It can't be an average reliever... it has to be someone who is totally unstoppable out there. Wilson, Rivera, Lidge, Jenks, Papelbon... those guys were completely nails. They were definitely top 10, if not better, closers the years they won.

Not necessarily. Having an elite closer for a team wanting to win falls into the "it would be nice" category, behind many, many other positions. You don't want a bad closer, but the difference between an average closer and an elite closer isn't very big at all.

[tk13]

We'll spend three hours having a knock down argument over this... but instead I'll just disagree. I think it's totally off base, and I think having someone who shortens the game to 8 innings is a huge weapon. I don't think the quality of the team makes a difference.

If we had a lights out closer, we'd be 26-26 right now, and things wouldn't look quite as bleak.

[alnorth]

We'll spend three hours having a knock down argument over this... but instead I'll just disagree. I think it's totally off base, and I think having someone who shortens the game to 8 innings is a huge weapon. I don't think the quality of the team makes a difference.

If we had a lights out closer, we'd be 26-26 right now, and things wouldn't look quite as bleak.

You are comparing an elite closer to a terrible closer. An average closer would also have us at or close to 26-26 right now. As I said, you dont want a bad closer, but it is difficult to tell the difference between an average closer and an elite closer without a whole lot of games.

The value of the elite closer has been psychologically over-valued by fans who are devastated when they see a 9th-inning loss, but quickly forget games they were never a part of.

[Titty Meat]

BUT THEY'LL BE GOOD IN A DECADE!

[tk13]

It's the opposite. This is baseball, you don't get devastated after one 9th inning loss. I think they are undervalued by people who evaluate baseball completely on statistics and take all emotion out of the game. You go back over the last 15 years or so and pretty much every team that won it all had an elite level closer in that season... except for the 2001 D'backs, and they had Randy Johnson close out game 7 on the mound.

[DeezNutz]

Greinke was a dominant reliever when he was put in that role, and I have no doubt that he could be an absolutely nasty closer, which would be in the Wainwright mold.

Thus, if you have enough pitching talent, my guess is that somewhere in your stable is an effective closer. Getting that talent is the catch, of course.

Soria is failing at a 36% clip right now, so things might seem a bit exaggerated.

[CoMoChief]

soria blows

[alnorth]

It's the opposite. This is baseball, you don't get devastated after one 9th inning loss. I think they are undervalued by people who evaluate baseball completely on statistics and take all emotion out of the game. You go back over the last 15 years or so and pretty much every team that won it all had an elite level closer in that season... except for the 2001 D'backs, and they had Randy Johnson close out game 7 on the mound.

The numbers simply don't support the value you are ascribing to an elite closer. Teams that win it all tend to have great players at many positions, including closer, its not like an elite closer can carry the bad news bears to the world series.

World series teams probably tend to have great third baseman too, not because thats what you need, but because teams full of good players are likely to have a good player in a given position that you pull out of a hat.

The stats are what they are, and elite closers aren't that much more valuable than average closers. Saying essentially, "I don't care what the numbers say, they must be wrong" doesn't really cut it.

[tk13]

You could obviously spend all day arguing this. I agree a WS team is going to have great players at many positions... and the beauty of baseball is there truly isn't one way to build a successful team. And I think starting pitching is far and away the most important part of building a good team. But you have to have a closer. Well, that's what I would want if I was building a team. The third baseman is not going to be handed the ball to get the last three outs of a WS game... the closer is.

I don't know where I said "I don't care what the numbers say." You made that argument pretty much out of thin air. The stats say most WS teams of the last decade had a closer who posted a sub-2 ERA, or close to it. The ones who didn't were guys like Wainwright and Jenks who were almost unstoppable in the playoffs. That is not an average closer to me.

[Deberg_1990]

All i know is this team never seems to ever get everything aligned at the same time.

When we have a dominating closer, the hitting sucks....when we have good starting pitching our bats suck...when we have decent bats, our pitching blows.....

and on and on and on...for 26 years and counting......

[eazyb81]

Good news is that our farm system has been amazing lately......


.....Er, not.

Monty's ERA above 5, Dwyer's above 6, Lamb is going to be out for a year at least, Colon is terrible, Moose is hovering around .800 OPS, etc.

[DeezNutz]

The ones who didn't were guys like Wainwright and Jenks who were almost unstoppable in the playoffs. That is not an average closer to me.

Jenks is a prime example of what I'm alluding to, though. He's not a great player by any measure, but he had a great run. Teams can find these types of players.

[Brianfo]

Greinke was a dominant reliever when he was put in that role, and I have no doubt that he could be an absolutely nasty closer, which would be in the Wainwright mold.

Thus, if you have enough pitching talent, my guess is that somewhere in your stable is an effective closer. Getting that talent is the catch, of course.

Soria is failing at a 36% clip right now, so things might seem a bit exaggerated.

Greinke was a good reliever, but he never ever closed out games. To say that he was dominant is poppy cock.

[Imon Yourside]

Anyone remember Dennis Eckersley, average to good starting pitcher and the BEST closer of alltime imho.

[Hammock Parties]

You guys are only 5.5 games out of last place, keep it up.

[DeezNutz]

Greinke was a good reliever, but he never ever closed out games. To say that he was dominant is poppy cock.

I never said he closed games. In his role as a reliever, he was dominant, though.

[GloryDayz]

Ugh, just saw recap. Ugh! Getum next time boys....

[milkman]

Anyone remember Dennis Eckersley, average to good starting pitcher and the BEST closer of alltime imho.

He was actually a pretty damn good starter, winning 120-130 games in 8 or 9 years before transitioning to a closer.