Billy Wagner is 15 games shy of 400 saves. He came to Boston for one reason -- to win a World Series ring. Wagner stated yesterday that he would like the opportunity to again close & try to reach the 400 saves plateau.
Jon Papelbon recently recorded his 30th save for the 4th season in a row. He is one of the few closers to ever reach that milestone in his first 4 seasons. Yes, he has had a number of dirty saves this year & his pitch count is up. But, in the end, there is only one stat that matters & Pap is 30 out of 33 in saves. He also has 25 scoreless innings in the playoffs to his resume.
I think this is a great situation. You know can shorten the game to 7 innings with Wagner in the 8th & Pap in the 9th. Wagner will want to prove he still has game after Tommy John surgery so another club will pick up his services as a closer next year. Pap will now be motivated to show that he is the closer of this team now & for the near future.
Any motivation & any player that helps the Red Sox win in September is a good move.
No comments:
Post a Comment