Giants taking bullpen-by-committee approach
PITTSBURGH – A week after losing Armando Benitez to a torn hamstring, Giants manager Felipe Alou is holding open auditions for his next closer. He'll need a strong stomach, an open mind, and a pedometer to keep track of his mound visits.
Consider the micro-managerial manner in which Alou has employed his bullpen the past few days. After using seven relievers in a 7-6 win Saturday night in Pittsburgh, Alou went to the pen four times Sunday. First, starter Brad Hennessey threw 105 pitches over seven innings. Then, Jason Christiansen, Tyler Walker, Scott Eyre and Jim Brower divvied up 26 pitches over two innings.
Good thing the Giants were winning an 8-3 laugher, or they might have had to summon Atlee Hammaker out of retirement.
If you think general manager Brian Sabean should just trade for a new closer, consider that the Giants are one of numerous teams with late-inning issues. Boston's Keith Foulke has a 7.50 ERA. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa is going with Julian Tavarez while Jason Isringhausen recovers from a strained abdominal muscle. The Marlins, missing Guillermo Mota and Antonio Alfonseca, have put their faith in Todd Jones. Eric Gagne has more suspensions (one) than pitches thrown for the Dodgers this season. And the Cubs, well, the less said about their situation, the better.
"Under normal circumstances I would say the Giants would be in trouble," said a National League scout. "But I've seen so many teams that have problems with their own bullpens. It's like, 'Who's going to score last?' "
It's the suddenness and rapidity of the Giants' plight that makes it so stunning. After recording 28 blown saves last season, third-highest total in the majors, the Giants spent $21.5 million over three years on Benitez, who was coming off the best year of his career with Florida. He looked like a ready-made, gas-throwing antidote to the late-inning anxiety that plagued Alou for much of last season.
Benitez started slowly, throwing in the low 90s and blowing a three-run lead in an early loss to the Dodgers, before regaining the zip on this fastball. Then he hurt his hamstring while covering first base against San Diego, and Alou could only look on helplessly as his ninth-inning security blanket limped up the dugout runway.
While Alou exudes an old-school mentality on many baseball-related topics, he doesn't subscribe to the notion of closer as overblown, mystique-filled media creation. He broke into major-league managing in Montreal, and several years of giving the ball to John Wetteland, Mel Rojas and Ugueth Urbina conditioned him to the concept of closer-as-mortal lock.
"I don't believe that everyone is capable of withstanding the type of pressure that a closer faces for six or seven months," Alou said. "Some guys are born to be closers."
Unfortunately, none of them currently resides on the San Francisco roster. Jeff Fassero is the most experienced guy in the Giants' pen, but he's 42 years old and hasn't closed games on an even semi-regular basis since 2001. Then there's Matt Herges, who won the closer's job in spring training last year before faltering and losing it to Dustin Hermanson in August.
Assuming that Walker is San Francisco's long man, Al Levine the journeyman innings eater and Christiansen the team's resident situational lefty, that leaves Brower and Eyre as Alou's most appealing options.
Brower's slider is tough on right-handed batters, but lefties have a .293 average and a .379 on-base percentage against him over the past three seasons. Eyre, who has overcome Attention Deficit Disorder through medication, has the mind-set to handle the pressure, in a left-handed sort of way. But he's not always a consistent strike thrower.
In 615 major-league appearances, Brower and Eyre have combined for nine saves. "On a real good staff, they're probably seventh-inning guys," said a National League scout.
Whoever gets the job is going to find that it's a gut buster. Herges danced out of enough jams to save 22 games by the All-Star break in 2004. Then his stuff flattened out, and he grew increasingly more tentative in the role. Herges' wife and kids still loved him, but when he was out and around town in San Francisco and fans started urging him to pick up the pace, the weight of his new role began to dawn on him.
"It's brutal, because when you blow a save and your team loses, you think it's all you," Herges said. "You lie in bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about that pitch when you gave it up, and it can be hard to sleep sometimes.
"Doubt in yourself starts creeping in. Then you have a lack of confidence and it's like being out there without a loaded gun, almost. And hitters can sense it. You can have the best stuff on the planet, but if you don't believe in it, hitters can sense it and they're on you."
Herges is a believer in intestinal fortitude and heart over pure stuff for a closer. He reached that conclusion while setting up Jeff Shaw in Los Angeles and then Tim Worrell, who assumed the San Francisco closer's job when the Giants lost Robb Nen to arm trouble in 2003. Worrell responded by saving 38 games.
Worrell told Herges that since he had the ball and the lead in the ninth inning, the pressure was on the hitter. Shaw compensated for average stuff by throwing it with the utmost conviction. This, too, made an indelible impression on Herges.
"Jeff Shaw didn't have the big yellow hammer," Herges said. "He had an average changeup, a four-seam fastball and a little cutter, but he was one of the best in the game. He truly believed, 'If I throw this cutter where I want to, it's gonna be good.' "
It's noteworthy that Alou, in his daily gab sessions with reporters, is going to great lengths to avoid anointing someone as Benitez's replacement. He talks about matchups and alludes to a bullpen-by-committee approach, while refraining from bold pronouncements that he might regret two blown saves from now.
So the writers and Alou's relievers are forced to read the signs. In the ninth inning of Brett Tomko's complete game Friday in Pittsburgh, Brower and Eyre were warming up in the pen just in case. The following evening, Brower picked up the save.
Monday night in Arizona, Brower gave up a solo homer to Luis Gonzalez to blow a 9-8 lead in the ninth. After the Giants scored in the 10th, Tyler Walker came on for the save.
"I know Felipe doesn't like the 'closer' label," Brower said. "He thinks it's more stress, and he wants to take stress off the players. He wants to take pressure off so it really isn't a big deal."
But it is a big deal, and Alou knows it. During the Pittsburgh series, he chafed when a national publication ran a story on how much the Giants miss Barry Bonds in his recovery from knee surgery. Yet even without Bonds, San Francisco leads the National League in runs scored. The question is, can Alou's bullpen pitch well enough to make those runs hold up?
"The bottom line is, we have to win – period," Herges said. "There's no next year with this team. There's no building. There's no playing this guy to see what he'll do. There's no leeway."
And when it comes to finding a closer, there's no definitive Plan B. Alou and the Giants will have to make things up as they go along.
Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN Insider. His book "License To Deal" will be published in May by Rodale. Click here to preorder a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.
PITTSBURGH – A week after losing Armando Benitez to a torn hamstring, Giants manager Felipe Alou is holding open auditions for his next closer. He'll need a strong stomach, an open mind, and a pedometer to keep track of his mound visits.
Consider the micro-managerial manner in which Alou has employed his bullpen the past few days. After using seven relievers in a 7-6 win Saturday night in Pittsburgh, Alou went to the pen four times Sunday. First, starter Brad Hennessey threw 105 pitches over seven innings. Then, Jason Christiansen, Tyler Walker, Scott Eyre and Jim Brower divvied up 26 pitches over two innings.
Good thing the Giants were winning an 8-3 laugher, or they might have had to summon Atlee Hammaker out of retirement.
If you think general manager Brian Sabean should just trade for a new closer, consider that the Giants are one of numerous teams with late-inning issues. Boston's Keith Foulke has a 7.50 ERA. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa is going with Julian Tavarez while Jason Isringhausen recovers from a strained abdominal muscle. The Marlins, missing Guillermo Mota and Antonio Alfonseca, have put their faith in Todd Jones. Eric Gagne has more suspensions (one) than pitches thrown for the Dodgers this season. And the Cubs, well, the less said about their situation, the better.
"Under normal circumstances I would say the Giants would be in trouble," said a National League scout. "But I've seen so many teams that have problems with their own bullpens. It's like, 'Who's going to score last?' "
It's the suddenness and rapidity of the Giants' plight that makes it so stunning. After recording 28 blown saves last season, third-highest total in the majors, the Giants spent $21.5 million over three years on Benitez, who was coming off the best year of his career with Florida. He looked like a ready-made, gas-throwing antidote to the late-inning anxiety that plagued Alou for much of last season.
Benitez started slowly, throwing in the low 90s and blowing a three-run lead in an early loss to the Dodgers, before regaining the zip on this fastball. Then he hurt his hamstring while covering first base against San Diego, and Alou could only look on helplessly as his ninth-inning security blanket limped up the dugout runway.
While Alou exudes an old-school mentality on many baseball-related topics, he doesn't subscribe to the notion of closer as overblown, mystique-filled media creation. He broke into major-league managing in Montreal, and several years of giving the ball to John Wetteland, Mel Rojas and Ugueth Urbina conditioned him to the concept of closer-as-mortal lock.
"I don't believe that everyone is capable of withstanding the type of pressure that a closer faces for six or seven months," Alou said. "Some guys are born to be closers."
Unfortunately, none of them currently resides on the San Francisco roster. Jeff Fassero is the most experienced guy in the Giants' pen, but he's 42 years old and hasn't closed games on an even semi-regular basis since 2001. Then there's Matt Herges, who won the closer's job in spring training last year before faltering and losing it to Dustin Hermanson in August.
Assuming that Walker is San Francisco's long man, Al Levine the journeyman innings eater and Christiansen the team's resident situational lefty, that leaves Brower and Eyre as Alou's most appealing options.
Brower's slider is tough on right-handed batters, but lefties have a .293 average and a .379 on-base percentage against him over the past three seasons. Eyre, who has overcome Attention Deficit Disorder through medication, has the mind-set to handle the pressure, in a left-handed sort of way. But he's not always a consistent strike thrower.
In 615 major-league appearances, Brower and Eyre have combined for nine saves. "On a real good staff, they're probably seventh-inning guys," said a National League scout.
Whoever gets the job is going to find that it's a gut buster. Herges danced out of enough jams to save 22 games by the All-Star break in 2004. Then his stuff flattened out, and he grew increasingly more tentative in the role. Herges' wife and kids still loved him, but when he was out and around town in San Francisco and fans started urging him to pick up the pace, the weight of his new role began to dawn on him.
"It's brutal, because when you blow a save and your team loses, you think it's all you," Herges said. "You lie in bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about that pitch when you gave it up, and it can be hard to sleep sometimes.
"Doubt in yourself starts creeping in. Then you have a lack of confidence and it's like being out there without a loaded gun, almost. And hitters can sense it. You can have the best stuff on the planet, but if you don't believe in it, hitters can sense it and they're on you."
Herges is a believer in intestinal fortitude and heart over pure stuff for a closer. He reached that conclusion while setting up Jeff Shaw in Los Angeles and then Tim Worrell, who assumed the San Francisco closer's job when the Giants lost Robb Nen to arm trouble in 2003. Worrell responded by saving 38 games.
Worrell told Herges that since he had the ball and the lead in the ninth inning, the pressure was on the hitter. Shaw compensated for average stuff by throwing it with the utmost conviction. This, too, made an indelible impression on Herges.
"Jeff Shaw didn't have the big yellow hammer," Herges said. "He had an average changeup, a four-seam fastball and a little cutter, but he was one of the best in the game. He truly believed, 'If I throw this cutter where I want to, it's gonna be good.' "
It's noteworthy that Alou, in his daily gab sessions with reporters, is going to great lengths to avoid anointing someone as Benitez's replacement. He talks about matchups and alludes to a bullpen-by-committee approach, while refraining from bold pronouncements that he might regret two blown saves from now.
So the writers and Alou's relievers are forced to read the signs. In the ninth inning of Brett Tomko's complete game Friday in Pittsburgh, Brower and Eyre were warming up in the pen just in case. The following evening, Brower picked up the save.
Monday night in Arizona, Brower gave up a solo homer to Luis Gonzalez to blow a 9-8 lead in the ninth. After the Giants scored in the 10th, Tyler Walker came on for the save.
"I know Felipe doesn't like the 'closer' label," Brower said. "He thinks it's more stress, and he wants to take stress off the players. He wants to take pressure off so it really isn't a big deal."
But it is a big deal, and Alou knows it. During the Pittsburgh series, he chafed when a national publication ran a story on how much the Giants miss Barry Bonds in his recovery from knee surgery. Yet even without Bonds, San Francisco leads the National League in runs scored. The question is, can Alou's bullpen pitch well enough to make those runs hold up?
"The bottom line is, we have to win – period," Herges said. "There's no next year with this team. There's no building. There's no playing this guy to see what he'll do. There's no leeway."
And when it comes to finding a closer, there's no definitive Plan B. Alou and the Giants will have to make things up as they go along.
Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN Insider. His book "License To Deal" will be published in May by Rodale. Click here to preorder a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.
