Those who watched the end of the Milwaukee Brewers/Cincinnati Reds game last night must have thought they had been transported back in time. Reliever Josh Hader–who has become the de facto closer for the Brewers following the hamstring injury suffered by Corey Knebel–was brought on with one out in the 7th inning and the Crew nursing a one run lead. The Reds were sending two lefties to the plate in their batting order, so it made sense for Manager Craig Counsell to go to his best southpaw to shut down the inning. And Hader did just that, striking out the next two batters.
Under the “new rules of baseball”–which are governed by Advanced Analytics and are solely based on individual matchups–that should have been the end of Hader’s night. The Reds had three right-handed hitters coming up in the 8th inning–and “the numbers” tell you not to throw lefties out of the bullpen against righties late in games. But Counsell sent Hader back out there to start the 8th. “Well, if anyone gets on, he’ll pull him” everyone thought. However, after another strikeout and a walk–putting the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate–Counsell still didn’t pull Hader, who proceeded to strike out the next two right handed batters and get out of the inning.
Surely that was going to be the end of Josh Hader’s night. “The Book” says you don’t even think about sending a reliever out for a third inning of work! “His arm is likely to fall off in mid-delivery and then you will have lost him for the rest of the year!” But imagine everyone’s surprise as Hader came back out to start the ninth. Concern had to be building among the “Analytics” as his pitch count exceeded 25 and then 30. “What could Counsell be thinking? Doesn’t he know how many pitches Hader has thrown?”
But with no one else warming up behind him, Josh Hader struck out all three Reds in the bottom of the 9th–becoming the first pitcher in modern baseball history to record an eight-out save by getting eight strikeouts.
While younger “seamheads” go ga-ga over Hader’s performance last night, those of us who watched baseball in the pre-Tony LaRussa era remember closers regularly going multiple innings to get saves. Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter and Rollie Fingers were often called upon in the 7th inning of games–often with runners on base and one-run leads to hold. It’s why those guys came to be known as “Firemen”–because they usually were called in to rescue the team from a tough spot. But once LaRussa found success using his closer Dennis Eckersley for just one inning a game–and always bringing him in to start an inning with no one on base–every other manager started to copy that formula. Advance Analytics were developed and soon, every guy in the bullpen had a certain inning or batter or two in the lineup that they were only allowed to face–even if it meant throwing two or three pitches.
Might Craig Counsell’s new approach to bullpen management signal a return to real “closers” in Major League Baseball. Could other managers think “I’m not sure why I’m limiting my best relief pitcher to just one inning a game a few nights a week”? That remains to be seen. I’m sure if Josh Hader gets rocked in his next appearance–or goes on the Disabled list with elbow problems in a couple of weeks the Advanced Analytics crowd will be howling–and no other manager will dare “risk” his bullpen like that ever again. But for one night it was a joy for us purists to see old-school baseball make a comeback.
