Circling the Bases: On Closers

Alfredo Aceves was a pitcher I warned everyone about when he assumed the closing role early in the year for the Red Sox. I looked smart in April when he had a 10.29 ERA and 2.00 WHIP, but over the next three months he performed well. However, he tanked, and I mean went into the gutter and rolled around with the muck smearing it all over every crevice of his body, in August and September in two of the worst months of relief pitching that you will ever see. In 24 outings he posted an ERA of 8.89, a WHIP of 1.60 and he lost four games while blowing three more save chances. Overall he finished the year with 25 saves but boy did you pay a dear price for them as he had a 5.36 ERA, 10 loses and eight blown saves.

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