Joe Maddon has come around to a bullpen philosophy I have had for decades.
Growing up, starting pitchers were expected to pitch a complete game. Win or lose. Even in blow outs. Then, in the drag of hot summer days, a team may carry one, two or three "relief" pitchers to mop up games, come in for injury or spot start.
But bullpen evolution with the game has added, in the case of the Cubs, 8 relief pitchers on a 25 man roster. Because of pitch counts and salaries invested in starters, managers are mow trained to set up their pitching staffs in such a way to baby a starter through 5 or 6 innings, then have three relievers finish the game. The "closer" is the best relief pitcher on the staff - - - the one to get the last three outs.
But in reality, the "last" three outs count as much as the first three outs, or the middle of the 5th three outs.
Why the game has evolved to add pressure on the pitcher in the 9th inning is hard to qualify. The game now has "specialists" in all facets of the game. The lefty who gets out left handed hitters. The sinker baller who can induce a rally killing double play. The long reliever with the rubber arm who can eat up innings in a game. The "set up" guy to keep the game under control for the closer's 9th. It really seems silly to have a pitching staff blueprint of a "7th inning guy," an "8th inning set up man, and "a closer."
Games may not be won or lost in the 9th inning. In fact, the most damage usually occurs earlier in the game. Games can get out of control with your starting pitcher not having his best stuff. And that is where most games get lost.
So Maddon realizes that it is more important to stop the opponent from having a big early inning than coming from behind to win in the 9th inning.
Justin Grimm has had exactly half of his appearances this season -- 21 --
with men on-base.. More times than not
Grimm has shut the door. Grimm,
who turned 27 on Sunday, has become Maddon's most trusted middle
reliever -- or the "middle innings closer" as Maddon put it -- not that
he hasn't thrown late in games as well. It wasn't long ago he earned a
win against the Giants after entering the game in the fifth inning, and then got a save against them a couple days later.
I have always called the role Grimm has for the Cubs as being a "stopper." Not a closer, but a pitcher - - - the old adage, a fireman - - - called upon to put out a fire (potential big inning). A stopper may be more valuable than a closer who usually comes into a game at the beginning of the 9th inning with no one on base. A stopper is a pitcher who comes into a tight jam and tries to stop the team's bleeding away a game.
A stopper could come in a game in any inning, at any time. It is that true versatility in the modern bullpen that most teams do not cultivate in their staffs. Maddon has found Grimm to be the pitcher he has trust and confidence to stop an opponent from burying his team early in games.
