Redefining the Closer Role: Why Can’t Aroldis Chapman Pitch the Eighth?

Aroldis Chapman is one of the most dominant pitchers in the game of baseball. If he’s pitching, there’s a good chance the batter strikes out. Chapman is by far the best pitcher the Reds have in the bullpen and quite possibly on the entire team, with the exception of Johnny Cueto. Yet Chapman is used only when the Reds have a lead or tie in the ninth because the Reds, like so many other teams in baseball, are stuck on the idea of having their closer pitch at a set time in the game.

Having a designated pitcher as a closer did not always exist in baseball. The save stat was first adopted for the 1969 season after Chicago Sun-Times and Sporting News writer Jerome Holtzman lobbied MLB for it. The stat was later amended for the 1974 and 1975 season. Because of the new stat, teams started choosing a specific pitcher to be the closer.

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Today, by rule, pitchers officially get a save when 1) they are the finishing pitcher in a game won by their team; 2) they cannot be the winning pitcher, i.e. if they enter a game when it is tied at home and their team wins the game in the bottom of the inning; or 3) they qualify under one of the three following conditions: enters the game with a lead of three runs or less and pitches at least one inning, enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run on base, at bat or on deck, or pitches for at least three innings. This is how managers have been using their designated closers since the stat was put into place. There have been many great closers such as Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. Because the saves stat is so highly regarded, they are the ones who get to shine in the spotlight. But even without the title of closer, both Rivera and Hoffman still would have been two of the best.

Baseball has an element of strategy to it and in order to win a game, one must try to think strategically. This can include figuring out how to use the closer, usually the best relief pitcher on the team, in the highest leverage innings. I’ve noticed at least two situations this season where Chapman could’ve been used in the eighth. The first situation happened on April 12 against the Cardinals. In the eighth, Jumbo Diaz came in to face the 3-4-5 hitters for St. Louis. Matt Holliday got on base to start the inning and the next batter, Jhonny Peralta, tied the game with a two-run home run. The Reds would go on to lose the game in 11 innings.

Two days later, on April 14 at Wrigley Field, Kevin Gregg entered the game in the eighth and gave up a two-run homer to make it a one-run game. Tony Cingrani was brought in to get the last out. The Reds did win this game, in large part because Chapman pitched the ninth. And while Cingrani did his job in the eighth, at the time I thought that it would’ve been the perfect scenario for a four out save.

Wouldn’t a team rather have their best relief pitcher face the opponent’s best hitters in a close game? It makes more sense to have Chapman face some of the best hitters in the league instead of the 7-8-9 hitters on a team.

In both of these situations, the highest leverage moment of the game came not in the ninth, but in the eighth. It’s not always the case, but many times the best hitters hit in the eighth rather than the ninth. Wouldn’t a team rather have their best relief pitcher face the opponent’s best hitters in a close game? It makes more sense to have Chapman face some of the best hitters in the league instead of the 7-8-9 hitters on a team.

It’s time for managers to start thinking outside the box instead of relying on specific roles. Sometimes the ninth inning is the best spot to use the closer, but there are situations when the closer is the best option for the eighth inning. Baseball, though, is a sport rooted in tradition and I don’t see the majority of managers, including Reds manager Bryan Price, deviating from what they know anytime soon.

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