Dial Back The Panic, K-Rod Will Be Fine
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Francisco Rodriguez talks frequently about the importance of having a short-term memory as a closer.
Look no further than the month of August for a reason why.
After cruising through the first four months of the season, Rodriguez has suddenly fallen into a rut. In his past five appearances, dating back to August 3, K-Rod has a 9.00 ERA, a 2.75 WHIP and a .444 batting average against.
Last night, with the Tigers on the verge of a dramatic 15-inning victory, their usually reliable closer turned a 5-4 lead into a 6-5 loss. Coupled with his defeat on Sunday afternoon versus the Mets, it was the first time in four years that Rodriguez had suffered consecutive losses.
Cue the panic.
Tigers' fans are familiar with shaky closers. They're used to sweating out late-game leads, never convinced of a victory until the final out is recorded. Never was this truer than last year, when the bullpen racked up a ghastly 24 blown saves.
So the Tigers acquired Rodriguez in the offseason, hoping to mitigate their late-game woes. And the proven K-Rod quickly put the fan base at ease. Entering August, he was 30 for 32 in save opportunities with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.
That latter number is worth particular mention. Despite widespread cries that K-Rod was the second coming of Jose Valverde, often teetering on the edge of disaster, his WHIP through July suggested just the opposite. And in predicting his performance moving forward, the past four months are far more telling than the past seven days.
It is for this reason that Brad Ausmus is hardly concerned about his 34-year-old, been-there-before closer.
"There's nothing wrong with him," Ausmus told reporters after Tuesday night's loss. "His outings weren't as sharp the last couple of times but those can happen over the course of the year. He's been pretty darn good all year long."
He's been pretty darn good for his entire career, in fact. Few relievers in the past 15 years have been as consistent as K-Rod, who ranks first among active pitchers with 418 saves. And though his arm isn't as electric as it once was, Rodriguez possesses the savvy and the ninth-inning knowhow to more than make up for it.
The challenge of pitching in a save situation can be debated, but Ausmus, for one, thinks it's a task unlike any other on the mound.
"Closing games is different. I don't care what anyone says, I don't care what sabermetricians say. Closing games is different," he said earlier this season. "All 27 outs are not created equal and the last three are much tougher to get than any other three."
If certain pitchers are more fit for the task than others, Rodriguez certainly fits the bill. It's his mental toughness that sets him apart, the logic goes, both in the moment and after it. In the wake of a poor performance, K-Rod is always looking ahead.
"It's time for me now to make adjustments and try to find a way to turn the page and make sure I'm ready for tomorrow," he said on Tuesday night.
There are concerns that Rodriguez may be tired, that his arm may be suffering from over-use. But Ausmus has been diligent about keeping him fresh since the beginning of the season, rarely using him more than two days in a row and never pitching him for more than an inning. In fact, with 41 innings pitched through the first five months of the season, K-Rod is on pace for one of the lightest workloads of his career.
Baseball is an imperfect game. Pitching is an inexact science. Struggles happen. What matters is a player's ability to bounce back.
Few are better at this than K-Rod.
Just last year, at just this time of the season, Rodriguez fell into a two-week trough. After surpassing the 40-inning threshold, he pitched to a 10.50 ERA and 1.83 WHIP over his ensuing seven appearances. In the 13 after that, he promptly turned in a 0.77 ERA and 0.69 WHIP to close out the year.
"I've been there many times," Rodriguez said in reference to his recent slump. "One thing that I have is a short memory. I'll be back tomorrow once again. Tomorrow's a different game, a different situation."
And likely a different result.
