Ex-closer Addison Reed's better than this (but not better enough)
Please repeat after me:
Addison Reed has thrown only 10 innings. He was never great anyway.
Addison Reed has thrown only 10 innings. He was never great anyway.
Addison Reed has thrown only 10 innings. He was never great anyway.
That's most of what you need to know.
Addison Reed's thrown only 10 innings this season. He's given up 15 hits and blown a couple of saves, including a particularly ugly incident Wednesday night against the Nationals.
But his statistics generally are within normal ranges, for him, and he's throwing the same pitches as usual.
And yet he's just been demoted from his closer duties, in a classic managerial overreaction, the sort of which we've seen so many times before.
Here's the funny thing, though: While it's not clear that Reed deserves a demotion now, it's also not clear that he ever deserved to be the Diamondbacks' closer in the first place. He entered this season with a 4.20 career ERA and a 3.53 FIP, hardly the numbers of a premier relief pitcher. And while he did improve his strikeout rate last season, he also gave up 11 home runs in 59 innings.
Reed is exactly the sort of useful pitcher who should NOT be locked into a critical and singular role, but instead should be used judiciously, in situations where he's got his best chance to succeed.
But that would mean managing. And if there's one thing most managers these days don't like to do, it's manage.
