Closer situation 2014

[brewtown82]

I think it was a good, proactive move not letting Henderson close until he shows some more in games, but it has no doubt become controversial. What are your thoughts? Do we have reason to be fretful?

[crossface21]

I think as long as RR says that KRod is the closer and stays the closer, there's not a controversy. If he starts going back and forth, then I think there's a problem.

[djoctagone]

k-rod is being paid closer money to close games. if he's successful at it, he becomes a sought-after reliever before the 31 july trading deadline. i'm not suggesting that the brewers trade him yet again . . . just suggesting that they're putting themselves up for a better return if they audition k-rod as a closer now.

 

the brewers still have control of henderson for many years to come (plus he has three minor league options remaining should he falter).

[chadomac]

It seems important to the team to have a good start for once, so I like that.

[JimH5]

KRod got the save, so there shouldn't be an issue.

 

If Henderson is torqued off, then so be it. Take the job back.

[BallFour]

I am of the opinion that when Axford got of to horrid starts in April, he not only cost the team some games but hurt team psyche, so Ron looks like he learned from his mistake when he knew Ax wasn't ready. I am glad Ron went with who he thought gave him the best chance to save the game and not going with what is on paper. Henderson will get his bearings back just give it some time.

[TURBO]

I have to think that this has a little to do with who gave us the best chance to win (in HIS Mind) but mostly to do with K-Rod's veteran grittiness, moxy, experience...

 

Yes, this worked out for RRR this time, but the more he tinkers with things the more things seem to go wrong in the long run. He may have made the right decision this time, but now that K-Rod is his closer, it may take 7 or 8 blown saves to remove him from that position. That is what I find scary.

[brewtown82]

7 or 8? He's not Ned Yost.

[TURBO]

7 or 8? He's not Ned Yost.

 

ok, 5 or 6... How long did he allow Axford to flounder in that role? That was RRR, not Nedley...

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm miffed if I'm Henderson. He shouldn't have lost the closer role based on 9 spring training innings, where his concentration level was likely nowhere near where it is in the 9th inning of regular season games. I consider Henderson a veteran and therefore would put no stock in spring training performance.

 

It's not like K-Rod was great this spring either. He allowed 10 hits, 8 runs/5 earned in 6 innings, and had both a higher WHIP and higher ERA. I'm not concerned about either, but why the switch?

 

Could the Brewers be playing games to lower Henderson's arbitration number next winter?

[RobDeer 45]

I don't know what to think right now but I think I want to give him praise for going with K Rod. I also do think he knows that when Henderson is pitching well and closing, our bullpen is much better off. I think it was a proactive move and I hope he follows through with getting Henderson back in there when he's back to himself. I also hope Henderson gets back to being himself!!!!

[Thurston Fluff]

Henderson is a nice story. He did well for a couple seasons. But the league is littered with guys with a decent year or two and a lot of crapitude beyond that small window. A 10 year minor league journeyman who suddenly does well seems to be the perfect candidate to be one of those types. It shouldn't be mandatory to let him totally flop in a closing role trying to show he is more than that. It isn't like Henderson won't be given a shot to show he deserves the role again.

I don't blame RRR for wanting Henderson to prove he is more than a flash in the pan. Especially in a season his boss publicly said the team needs to play better early. After all it is probably his job on the line if another slow start dooms another season.

[MJLiverock]

I have to think that this has a little to do with who gave us the best chance to win (in HIS Mind) but mostly to do with K-Rod's veteran grittiness, moxy, experience...

 

Yes, this worked out for RRR this time, but the more he tinkers with things the more things seem to go wrong in the long run. He may have made the right decision this time, but now that K-Rod is his closer, it may take 7 or 8 blown saves to remove him from that position. That is what I find scary.

 

 

If Henderson's velocity was down from 97 to 91 then it absolutely made sense and has nothing to do with experience or grittiness. I applaud RR for making the call and not just sticking with the closer of last year even though something is clearly wrong, be it injury, dead arm, etc. Just like if KRod was throwing his fastball in the low 80's I think many would be happy with him not getting any work. Henderson has been successful when his FB is in the mid to upper 90's, if he can't pitch in the zone where he has been successful it makes zero sense to just trot him out there.

[lcbj68c]

I don't understand what all the ballyhoo is about. Most of us for YEARS have said having a set closer is ridiculous. Go with the matchups that give you the best opportunity to win and RRR did that with Smith facing those lefties in the 8th and Rodriguez in the 9th. It matters ZERO who gets the overglorified save. The Brewers won and that is all that matters. This fan belief thaat "RRR" does things to favor veteran grittiness is getting old. Give it a rest people. We don't need a defined closer. Everybody in that pen can pitch whatever inning that finds the best matchups in their favor. Maybe this will lead to a transition away from the stupid Save stat in the first place.

[brewers4eric]

We'll need to boost KRod's stats if we're going to use him to restock our farm system each year.

[monty57]

I don't understand what all the ballyhoo is about. Most of us for YEARS have said having a set closer is ridiculous. Go with the matchups that give you the best opportunity to win and RRR did that with Smith facing those lefties in the 8th and Rodriguez in the 9th. It matters ZERO who gets the overglorified save. The Brewers won and that is all that matters. This fan belief thaat "RRR" does things to favor veteran grittiness is getting old. Give it a rest people. We don't need a defined closer. Everybody in that pen can pitch whatever inning that finds the best matchups in their favor. Maybe this will lead to a transition away from the stupid Save stat in the first place.

 

Nice post. There are cases where most managers favor veterans, but I don't think this is one of them. On-field management gets to see things none of us see, so I applaud Roenicke for noticing that there is something wrong with Henderson and acting on it. He has a perfectly fine candidate to pitch the 9th in K-Rod, so it makes sense to use him. Henderson can work things out and if he looks like the better candidate when he "gets his stuff back," then he can pitch in the 9th. He got Henderson in in a "low pressure" situation yesterday and he struck out the batter he faced. That's a positive to build on, whereas a blown save on opening day could have been a big psychological negative.

[jerichoholicninja]

This is the rare move I agree with Ron on. However, if Henderson doesn't have his "stuff," why is he on the major league roster right now? He should be DL'd and in extended spring training. When your "stuff" isn't good, the amount of "pressure" in a situation isn't going to make it easier to pitch if you don't have your A-game.

[monty57]

You can't DL him without an injury, and I think it would be a bit fishy if they DL'd him and immediately had him throwing games somewhere.

 

Who knows what's going on with Henderson, but these things are usually mechanical or mental. Either way, if he's a little off I'd rather have him working on it in a game we're down three runs in the 8th than in a game we're up a run in the 9th. If it gets really bad, they could option him (I believe he has options remaining) and let him work things out in the minors, but management must not think it's that big of an issue. Rodriguez is perfectly capable of closing, so let him. If Henderson pitches well, he can fight his way back to the closer role.

[bjkrautk]

How many games have we lost over the years as a manager sticks with a closer who gets off to a slow start? Turnbow, Gagne, Hoffman, Axford, all of the Brewers closers in the past decade have had at least one start to the season where they've ended up getting bounced out of the job at some point due to early struggles before they were in mid-season form (if they did manage to recover).

 

If RR decided that it was worth putting someone else - with plenty of experience pitching the 9th inning - into that closer's spot before it costs us early wins, I give him credit for not doing the easy thing and rolling out the designated closer in the 9th because that's "his inning." (Wasn't that supposed to be the knock on how RR handles the bullpen, after all?)

[3and2Fastball]

I don't think there'll be a ton of save situations this year so it doesn't matter.

 

Hopefully Henderson can develop more as he isn't even arby eligible until 2016 but he's on the wrong side of 30. Maybe we can trade K-Rod at the deadline.

[LouisEly]

Based on the small sample of watching Henderson and K-Rod pitch in the Boston series, K-Rod looked a lot better than Henderson. Not only was Henderson's velocity down, but he seemed to have location issues as well. K-Rod's ability to hit the bottom edge of the strike zone with his fastball and changeup looked really good. From what I saw, it seems like the right move for now.

 

As far as veteran grittiness, keep in mind that Henderson is less than 11 months younger than K-Rod. Both were born in 1982, so it's not like going with Overbay over a decade-younger Francisco or Halton.

[danzig6767]

Based on the small sample of watching Henderson and K-Rod pitch in the Boston series, K-Rod looked a lot better than Henderson. Not only was Henderson's velocity down, but he seemed to have location issues as well. K-Rod's ability to hit the bottom edge of the strike zone with his fastball and changeup looked really good. From what I saw, it seems like the right move for now.

 

As far as veteran grittiness, keep in mind that Henderson is less than 11 months younger than K-Rod. Both were born in 1982, so it's not like going with Overbay over a decade-younger Francisco or Halton.

 

The difference between the two is Henderson is more reliant on his velocity to succeed. K-Rod can be really good only throwing 90-91 because he generally has very nice command of a nasty changeup at any point in the count, thus hitters can't ever just sit on a fastball coming. Henderson is mostly a fastball pitcher with some sliders sprinkled in. When he can't just rear back and blow a 95-96mph fastball past a hitter when even or behind in the count, it causes him to be pinpoint with his command by only throwing in the 90-93 range, as is the case right now. Those missing 3-6mph are a huge difference for a pitcher like Henderson.

[jerichoholicninja]

Henderson is probably done. His Brewer closer clock has finally run out. Pretty much right on schedule too.

[reillymcshane]

I haven't watched any games this year, but I saw the highlights from Saturday's game. I have to admit that K-Rod had some wicked action on those strikeouts to close out the game. The ball was just slightly tailing off right as it reached the plate. Pretty sweet. If he pitches like that, he deserves to close.

[Nottso]

Roenicke started off the year by NOT doing the same old things for which he's been raked over the coals repeatedly and some people are now upset? I'm having a hard time wrapping my feeble old melon around this. It seems like blind hatred to me wherein Roenicke is "darned if he does and darned if he doesn't." What's this poor guy got to do to catch a break?