Friday, August 24, 2018

Trevor Hildenberger, committee chairman

Trevor Hildenberger pitched Thursday night. It wasn't a brilliant outing -- he served up another homer -- but he got the final three outs. It was an "easy" save, in the parlance of Baseball Info Systems, which tracks the difficulty of save opportunties.

Sine the Fernando Rodney trade as announced Aug. 9, Hildenberger has appeared in five games.  He has four saves and a win and was the final pitcher each time. The only save opportunity granted to anybody else came immediately after people started to suggest that Hildenberger was the new closer, as if to prove that no he isn't.

Paul Molitor says it's a committee to close. He may even believe that. But if it's a committee, Hildenberger is clearly the chairman. Molitor handled his bullpen, which had to get 13 of the 27 outs, as he would have to get to his closer -- four outs from one guy, three from the next, divvy up the eighth between a lefty and a righty, and now it's the ninth and time for the star to enter.

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