*FAN SUBMISSION by Tyler Young of Baltimore, Md. Follow him on Twitter @CamdenYdsCrazy.*
The Baltimore Orioles sit in 3rd place of the AL East with a record of 28-24, only 3.5 games back of the Red Sox for 1st place and 2.5 back of the Yankees. The difference between New York and Baltimore has been the man that pitches in the 9th inning for each club
Up until last night in Queens, Rivera had been perfect this year. Before that, he had 18 chances to shut the door and has done just that each time, while carrying a 1.40 ERA and holding opponents to a .200 batting average. Mo is not striking out hitters as often as he used to, only 16 K’s in those 19.1 innings pitched. Number 42 has a really good May; since allowing a run to the Athletics on May 4th he has gone 7 consecutive innings without allowing a run and only allowing 3 hits and converting all 7 opportunities into saves.
The closer for the birds of Baltimore has no fared as well. 5 of Jim Johnson’s last 6 appearances have been save opportunities. Johnson has only been able to convert one of those chances, blowing the other 4 that have all led to loses for the Orioles. Statistically his last 6 appearances look like this. He has thrown 5 innings, given up 13 hits, and allowed 12 earned runs. His record in those games is 1-3, 21.60 ERA, 1 save, 4 blown saves. In that time his ERA for the entire season has climbed more than 4 runs from 0.95 to 5.25.
Obviously, it hasn’t been good and it has left the Orioles and Buck Showalter with an apparent decision to be made. If those saves are converted Baltimore would be in first place of the AL East, can Jim Johnson be relied on in the 9th inning at this point?
The impression that Buck Showalter and the entire Orioles clubhouse has given is that Jim Johnson is still the guy. Although if it comes down to it Wednesday, against the Nationals, it is unsure that Johnson will throw, because of his heavy workload in Toronto (51 pitches in two outings). So don’t take what happens in DC as gospel.
The likely alternative to Johnson would be righty submarine pitcher Darren O’Day. O’Day has been even better this year than in 2012. His ERA sits at 1.96 and he is striking out a little more than 1 hitter per inning. Also, O’Day has closed games before as a professional, however, that was back in 2007 as a minor-leaguer.
Another possibility is Tommy Hunter; he has that closer fastball that touches triple digits from time to time and has been magnificent this season for the birds throwing 29 innings to the tune of a 1.86 ERA. However, he has a low strike out rate, only 20 K’s in those 29 innings. Added to that, Hunter made a great barehanded play in Toronto on Sunday, where he caught a hard grounder up the middle off the bat of slugger, Jose Bautista, but who knows how he will be throwing coming off that incident.
Courtesy: Washington Post
One final pitcher that can even be viewed as an option to close would be lefty Brian Matusz. The lanky relievers statistics are not as impressive as Hunter or O’day, as his ERA is a modest 3.15 for the season but he has held hitters to a measly .147 batting average. That is a ridiculous number and has the look of a closer. The problem is Matusz faces mostly lefties and the role of a closer requires a pitcher to dominate both types of hitters.
It looks like Johnson is in a funk; he has lost his release point and everything is up in the zone. Hitters aren’t swinging at the off-speed stuff, making his fastball easier to hit. The time seems right for Showalter to push Johnson back into a less pressure-packed situation in the middle innings and let him figure things out. O’Day would take the ninth inning until Johnson is ready again.
I don’t see that happening; Buck backs his guys and Johnson is no different. He has a track record of success and the Oriole fans will have to deal with some growing pains of sorts. There may be a shorter lease for the closer but he is likely to still trot out there.
Keep the oxygen tank close by O’s faithful. Those last 3 outs are going to feel like an eternity.
