.
Grant Balfour, $19 Roto
... here, this one is worth a 3B camera angle. :- )
Fascinating to see BaseballHQ so bullish on Balfour. HQ says,
While Ctl has been rising, big jump in Dom and plummeting FB% have led to his success. xERA and H% say the
ERA should be higher, but the skills remains strong. LI argues that managers have long liked using him in high leverage
situations; no reason to think that won't continue, wherever he ends up.
.
By LI he means "leverage index," which shows that the base/out/inning pressure, as such, on Balfour did NOT increase when he became a closer:
| Year |
Leverage Index |
| 2009 |
1.26 |
| 2010 |
1.25 |
| 2011 |
1.18 |
| 2012 |
1.33 (24 saves, converted midseason) |
| 2013 |
1.23 (38 saves) |
| |
|
It is true that Balfour's stuff is unimpressive by closing standards; he doesn't throw Tom Wilhelmsen's huge fastball, much less the shell-shocking yellow hammer. True also that Balfour doesn't have pinpoint command ... the BB's have risen from 2.9 to 3.4 to 3.9.
But you know what? He is an authentic Rocky Balboa out there on the mound, fearing absolutely no one, and (unlike Wilhelmsen) you know you are going to get a full-throated battle out of him. No quarter asked, none given. Pete Carroll would take a plane flight to recruit him.
Putting out a fire in the 7th and 8th, that's difficult. Coming into a clean 9th inning, bases empty, 5-3 lead, that's easy. All you need, to close, is authentic confidence. Dr. D is not huge on "makeup." But with closers, that's 80% of the battle, the "makeup."
Closing actually is a "hot seat," a situation in which a reliever is "pitching without a net," a situation in which he catches all kinds of flak every time he fails. Eddie Guardado can close. Bob Wickman can close. Most MLB pitchers could close, if they would only stay fearless. But Grant Balfour is better than "most MLB pitchers," and the makeup is a given.
Me personally, I think the man is a "gamer." Another guy I'd cheerfully bet on. The Baltimore contract? $7.5M times only two years? Big Moneyball opportunity. Other closers get four times that.
My $0.02,
Dr D