Quote:
Originally Posted by Where ru Chris O'Sullivan
It's all mental, repetition and being consistent. Its much easier and better to have a Closer know that the 9th inning is his. 1,2 or 3 run lead, 1,2,3 or 7,8,9 hitters due up. That way they know, 9th inning is their domain and the other factors are not controllable (so why worry more).
Its also why so many teams now try to have an 8th inning "Setup" guy so they too, can have a more consistent schedule of work. I'm sure if you asked Veteran Closers about this, they'd prefer coming in at the start of the 8th and getting 6 outs vs. being asked 2x a week to come into a "8th inning 1,2 out Jam". These are Vets that have done this for 5+ years, imagine bringing in someone unproven or new to the role (like a Rauch), those Blown Saves would pile on early and often, bound to affect them the entire season. Even if you blow an 8th inning lead, you can still take back lead or win in the 9th, that is why shuting the 9th down is of MOST importance.
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Relievers didn't seem to have a problem not having "consistency" in the 70's and 80's when their role was to get their team out of high leverage situations, not accumulate saves. Either way, a player should be worried more about what helps his team wins ball games and not only being put in situations where he's set up to succeed. You do that and those high leverage situations in the 7th and 8th go to mediocre pitchers and then the closer doesn't even get a chance to affect the outcome.
And I've never understood this notion that the 9th inning is some magical inning where only certain players can make outs. Apparently coming into the 9th inning with a 2 run lead is only something special veterans are capable of doing (ignoring the fact that giving up a 2 or 3 run lead in one inning of work is something that's hard for any MLBer to do).
And, no, it's ignorant to think that the 9th is always of most importance. Saying that if you blow the lead in the 8th you still have a chance to come back in the 9th is completely ridiculous. You do realize that the probability of scoring a run in one inning is 30%, right? So you're saying you're better off risking your lead in the 8th because you have a 30% chance of coming back in the 9th (which is probably even lower because the other team is using their best reliever)? The 9th can be of most importance, but to say that it always is is just wrong.