Quote Originally Posted by DeviousDawg View Post
Todd its all about pressure as a closer, its all about being mentally capable. If we put him in when we are way up or way down, that does not translate at all to closing. When you are way up or way down there is zero pressure. When you are up 1 in the bottom of the 9th at Alex Box with 10,000+ crazy coon asses screaming at you in a game 3 rubber match, that is pressure. Again, Eric?s main issue is between his ears. He needs time on the mound, and extended outings to grow confidence and find his groove. In bullpens, he hits his spots, and looks like a Friday night ace with ++ stuff and velo. Why doesnt he look like that in games? One word, PRESSURE. Some never can handle it, some figure it out, and I hope he does. I can tell you one thing though, the answer is not to put him under even more pressure where what he does directly decides if we win, or he blows it and we lose.

We have plenty of other guys that could potentially be a closer for us. I still think we are overreacting a bit on Spencer Price because of one 2-out bomb, you cant save them all, although, I do agree with most of the general concerns around him to an extent. Spencer believes no one can hit him, he wants the ball, he thrives on the pressure, and he has a short memory. You cannot put someone in as a closer until they show you that they can, 1) handle the pressure, and 2) throw freakin strikes. Right now Eric can do neither consistently, when/if he shows he can, he will be one of the best starting pitchers in college baseball, not a closer.

Sorry if I was harsh, didnt mean it. Just a terrible take, my man, it happens to all of us every now and then.
The biggest difference between starting and closing is starters have to be able to go through the lineup three times. A closer only has to go through a lineup once. Totally different mentality from an approach standpoint. It's also a little different because most hitters are going to look to work the count meaning that they are typically going to take pitches. Closers know this- and that sometimes relaxes them too.

There is a fallacy that there is less pressure as a starter. It's just a different type of pressure. But it's not the SAME type of pressure as a closer. Some guys do better in relief than they would as a starter, and some guys can start and not relieve- usually because they like to be in a consistent routine, and then some like Randy Johnson can do both.

A lot of MLB closers start out just like Cerentola before they find their role. I'd even go so far as to say most start out as starting pitchers. And a lot of them have the exact same issues that Cerentola has as starting pitchers. So much so it's almost like a broken record. And it looks like you don't get my point about breaking him in slowly. You're acting like I'm saying annoint Cerentola the closer now. No- you bring them along slowly and that's how you know if he can do it or not without hurting the team. Mariano Rivera has to be a set-up man for a little while. And he was the best to ever do it. Dennis Eckersley started for years. I remember when Jason Isringhausen was one of the top starting pitching prospects for the Mets.

I mean, I'm glad we completely gave up on Daniel Brown after he failed as a starter in 2016.** He struggled as a starter for us and we moved him to the bullpen and he was quite effective and now has a pretty good shot of being a Big Leaguer. Now how could that ever happen with all that PRESSURE?

I'm just saying it's worth looking into because it might work. If it doesn't - we have plenty of other options. Heck - Preston Johnson and Stone Simmons look like really good options too.

But yeah- what do I know? I only have someone on speed dial on my phone that has saved MLB games for a living for nine years.**