Over the weekend, the Phillies dropped a pair of one-run games to their Pennsylvania label-mates in Pittsburgh, and they did so without calling upon high-priced closer Jonathan Papelbon. Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer wondered why this was so. The answer? That's just the way things are done in baseball.
Pitching coach Rich Dubee dismissed the idea of calling on Papelbon with two outs in the eighth inning of Sunday's one-run affair. "No. It's too early," Dubee said. "You want to run them out there every 162 games?"
Suggesting that Papelbon be used in a critical eighth-inning situation is of course not tantamount to saying he be used every single game. Dubee knows this, obviously. Gelb and Brookover point out that Papelbon is no stranger to the multi-inning save, and, while it's prudent to space such appearances out, there's no reason to avoid them as a matter of policy. And, lest we forget, the games in April count just as much in the standings as the games in September.
There's also apparently some resistance on the part of the Phillies to use Papelbon in a tie game on the road. This also doesn't make much sense. If you deploy your closer in strict adherence to the save rule, then you're going to use him in a number of "three-run lead in the ninth" situations, which are far, far less perilous than tie games -- home, road or otherwise.
All of this is where the concept of "leverage" comes into play. A "properly leveraged" reliever is one whose abilities match the importance of his appearances. In the case of Papelbon and other shutdown closers, you want him in the most vital situations possible. Often, this doesn't overlap with save situations. Gone are the days when you can turn a one-run lead over to Goose Gossage and have him bring it to conclusion. Managers can, however, be a bit more flexible in their thinking.
For instance, back in 2008, when Manuel's Phillies won the World Series with Brad Lidge as closer, Lidge faced more batters in low- and medium-leverage situations than he did in high-leverage situations. He also made the same number of appearances in tie games (nine) as he did in games in which the lead was four or more runs. The patterns weren't much more encouraging with last year's closer, Ryan Madson.
In other words, Manuel seems a little too rigid in the use of his best reliever. That was certainly the case in Pittsburgh over the weekend, when he opted to use Kyle Kendrick, Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon in crucial late-inning spots. No Papelbon. In the hotly contested NL East, that could make a critical difference.
Simply put, elite relievers aren't used often enough in key situations prior to the ninth inning, and they're not used often enough in tie games.
