Closers In Non Save Situations
I can't find any really conclusive studies, but from what I have seen in my 26 year of baseball watching closers often don't do as well in non save situations. For example, when Papelbon came in tonight it was 5-1. ie a none save situation. He let the bases get loaded (not with hard hits) which kind of made it a save situation and promptly struck out the next 3 guys. Here are a few theories as to why closers don't thrive when the game is not on the line.
1. Baseball is a game of routine. Closers build intensity into their routine as they come to the mound. That is why so many closers have little things to pump themselves up like entrance music, strange glasses, a big breath followed by a glare, and other stuff. When they come into the game when it is not on the line with every pitch, cognitive dissonance sets in because the intense routine does not fit the reality of the game.
2. Many times when closers come into non save situations it is because they are getting work in after not pitching a lot. Thus, they may either be a little rusty or treating it almost like a side session and working on their wind up or on certain pitches more then working on getting a specific batter out.
3. The Baseball Gods: Sometimes the baseball gods see a closer in a non save situation and then let bloops and bleeps drop in for singles to start a rally. I think it may be because using a talented pitcher in a less important spot may offend the baseball gods in some way.
4. The batters may be less stressed because the situation is not as important as a very tight game. The less stress leads to better hitting. I see a variation of this a lot in basketball games. If a team is down by 4 with 1 second left or something like that, many times someone from the trailing team will drain a 3 so they can lose by one, but they might not have been able to hit that 3 if the pressure was on and it would have tied the game.
1. Baseball is a game of routine. Closers build intensity into their routine as they come to the mound. That is why so many closers have little things to pump themselves up like entrance music, strange glasses, a big breath followed by a glare, and other stuff. When they come into the game when it is not on the line with every pitch, cognitive dissonance sets in because the intense routine does not fit the reality of the game.
2. Many times when closers come into non save situations it is because they are getting work in after not pitching a lot. Thus, they may either be a little rusty or treating it almost like a side session and working on their wind up or on certain pitches more then working on getting a specific batter out.
3. The Baseball Gods: Sometimes the baseball gods see a closer in a non save situation and then let bloops and bleeps drop in for singles to start a rally. I think it may be because using a talented pitcher in a less important spot may offend the baseball gods in some way.
4. The batters may be less stressed because the situation is not as important as a very tight game. The less stress leads to better hitting. I see a variation of this a lot in basketball games. If a team is down by 4 with 1 second left or something like that, many times someone from the trailing team will drain a 3 so they can lose by one, but they might not have been able to hit that 3 if the pressure was on and it would have tied the game.
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