I don't want to blame Bruce Bochy, Brian Sabean, or other members of Giants' management for the walk-off home run Santiago Casilla gave up against the A's yesterday, but it gets hard to watch Casilla be continually saved (pun semi-intended) for save situations. You might ask, "Shouldn't the closer always and only be used in save situations?"
No, he shouldn't, and I've got plenty of reasons why.
First off, let me just say that the save statistic is one of the most annoying, meaningless stats in baseball. If you're not sure why this is, click on the previous link and read the part where Wes Littleton "earned" a save in a 30-3 game. Looking at the box score, you might understandably be wondering how Littleton earned a save when he entered the game with a 14-3 lead. According to the save rules, if you pitch effectively for at least three innings with a lead, you get a save. I think it's pretty clear why this stat is so dumb.
So why do managers act like save situations are so damn important?
Well, sometimes these situations actually are vital, like if it's the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded and one out in a one-run game. You want your best reliever in that situation, and the closer is (or, at least, should be) your best reliever.
But most save situations aren't as dire as the previous scenario. For instance, yesterday was the first time since May 8th (14 saves ago) that Casilla entered a game in a save situation with only a one-run lead to protect. Casilla's two blown saves? Both when he entered the game with a one-run lead. Now, to be fair, Casilla hasn't had too many "Hoffmans" (saves when giving up at least one run), so he's been a shut-down guy in save situations with 2-3 run leads, but it's easy to see how the save stat can make an average reliever look elite.
So why else do managers value save situations so much? Well, because they're misguided.
If the scenario were bottom of the ninth inning, bases loaded, one out, but a tie game, many managers would be reluctant to use their closer there. Unless the manager is simply resting his closer for that game, there's zero reason why he shouldn't use his closer in that situation. If you're trying to win the game, you need to get two outs without giving up a run, so you want your best reliever (your closer) in this spot. If you don't think your closer is the best guy in the bullpen to do the job, he shouldn't be the closer.
This saving the closer for save situations is the main problem I have with how Bochy has been using Casilla this season.
Casilla pitched in all three games against the A's this weekend. In the first game, he pitched the ninth inning with a 5-3 lead when he entered. No issue there. It had been two games since he'd pitched, so he had plenty of rest and there hadn't been any situation earlier in the game where he would've been more helpful. However, he was misused in the second game. The Giants had a four-run lead with two outs and runners on first and second base when Casilla came in. A "save situation". It's as if a siren went off in Bochy's brain that was screeching "SAVE SITUATION!!" before he replaced Shane Loux with Casilla. Bochy should have brought in Clay Hensley or Javier Lopez, both whom had pitched less than Casilla the night before. If one or both of those two pitchers gave up some runs, and the situation became tense, then Casilla would be a good choice to bring in but why waste your closer in a four-run game just because he had a chance to record a save?
If Bochy would just use Casilla (and Sergio Romo, who many think is the best reliever on the Giants) in the tightest spots and ignore the save stat, he would almost certainly see results in the win column. Instead, he risks overusing his closer because the Giants play so many close games where they have small leads in the ninth inning. Maybe Brian Wilson wouldn't be out for the year if Bochy used this method in the previous seasons (only speculating because no one knows if Wilson's arm would've broken down regardless of how he was used).
Get rid of the save!
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