Is Broxton Still The Dodger’s Closer?
Saturday night, Broxton was the set up man and Sherrill the closer for the Dodgers. Do we have a trend here?
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Set up man?
Saturday night, George Sherrill got his first save as a Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching a scoreless ninth inning and looking like the All Star closer he was in Baltimore.
Jonathon Broxton, the Dodgers existing All Star closer, pitched a scoreless eighth inning and earned his first hold of the season, which was a welcome relief after his number of blown saves in recent weeks.
Does this mean Joe Torre is thinking about a role reversal — Broxton the setup man for closer Sherrill? Probably not, at least not yet.
There’s a school of thought among the stat-loving Sabermetrics guys that if your closer is your best pitcher for one inning, you should use him when he is most needed, not just save him for the ninth inning. Think of him like a “fire jumper,” you bring this “closer” out whenever you have a hot spot and ask him to put out the flames. What is the point of saving him for the ninth inning if you give up three runs in the eighth and are now behind?
Saturday Torre used Broxton as his fire jumper. Rookie knuckelballer Charlie Haeger had confused and confounded the Cubs for seven innings and the Dodgers led 2-0, but when he walked the leadoff batter in the eighth Torre yanked him and put Broxton on the mound. The heart of the Cubs lineup, the two through four hitters, were due up, this was the inning where the game would be won or lost.
And Broxton won it. Sure, he made it interesting by giving up a double to Cliff Lee so there were men on second and third with one out, but neither of those guys crossed the plate, so it’s all good.
By the time Sherrill came in, he just had to get the bottom of the order out. An easy save.
After the game, Broxton and Sherrill said all the right things. And Joe Torre had the quote of the day.
"If somebody gets offended by pitching to the three/four/five hitters in the eighth inning, they're not the person I think they are."
What will be interesting is the next time the Dodgers have a lead late — will it again be Broxton then Sherrill, or will the order revert to normal? The bigger question is: Does it really even matter, so long as the Dodgers get the win?
The way the Rockies have been closing in on the Dodgers, they had better be concerned about the win first and the personal stats second. The Dodgers need a team full of fire jumpers right now.
