Personally, I believe Erceg should be the closer. I'm not complaining about Estevez, and except for one or two appearances, that every closer will have, I think he's been very good, but I just think Erceg is better, and frankly, he wasn't great last year in the "fireman" role. I don't know how many of his appearances have come in that role this season, or what his numbers are in that situation, compared to when he gets a fresh inning to work with— if you included them in your article, I must have missed it— but it just feels like he's been better in that role this year. Even so, it wouldn't surprise me if Erceg eventually ends up as the closer this year, and Estevez becomes the 8th inning guy. I understand the value of having a "fireman," and if Erceg continues to succeed in that role, Q may be proven right. But HDH proved the value of set roles in the bullpen, and I think a lot of relievers function best in that format these days, so if he stumbles, I hope Q won't be reluctant to make that switch. And again, if he does, I'd prefer he also swap Erceg to the 9th, but for now, it's hard to complain about the results.
We've already seen they're willing to use Erceg in save situations (the Friday against Houston when Lugo went eight innings and they knew they wouldn't need both Erceg and Estevez). I'd use Erceg exactly how Q is using him right now -- to get the highest-leverage outs, whether that's the fifth inning or the ninth.
I mean, as long as it works and Estevez gives them the luxury or using Erceg like that, I have no problem with it. Like I said, most of my misgivings come from him struggling in that role last year. No reason to fix what isn't broken right now though. I'm just saying, if it does break down, either because Erceg begins to struggle in the fireman role or Estevez stumbles in the ninth, I hope Q is flexible enough to make that change— and I think he is— and if it comes to that, I'd prefer to see Erceg in the ninth.
I'd like to see what this bullpen looks like if/when Hunter Harvey is healthy. I think Q could really mix and match then and Erceg might get more ninth inning work. I do think Q would be quick to make a change anyway--it took him what, a week, to yank "proven closer" Will Smith out of that role at the start of last season.
Good point about Smith. Harvey is a real wild card. Nothing about his short time in KC makes me feel confident he will get healthy (or stay that way), but if he does, he can radically change the look of the pen. He was impressive to start the season, and if he comes back, they can create their own imitation of HDH, regardless of what order Q uses them in.
Harvey may have been the most impressive reliever of all to start the season. He seems to be on the mend, so I'm hoping HEE is the best back-end of the bullpen since HDH.
I think Erceg was even more impressive on Saturday night at the game I was at. And he’s starting to get some respect from other teams, as I heard the air sucked out of the Os crowd when his name was announced.
That's a fair assessment, he probably was better on Saturday, just not in as tight of a spot. Feels like his dominance gets taken for granted a bit at times!
Personally, I believe Erceg should be the closer. I'm not complaining about Estevez, and except for one or two appearances, that every closer will have, I think he's been very good, but I just think Erceg is better, and frankly, he wasn't great last year in the "fireman" role. I don't know how many of his appearances have come in that role this season, or what his numbers are in that situation, compared to when he gets a fresh inning to work with— if you included them in your article, I must have missed it— but it just feels like he's been better in that role this year. Even so, it wouldn't surprise me if Erceg eventually ends up as the closer this year, and Estevez becomes the 8th inning guy. I understand the value of having a "fireman," and if Erceg continues to succeed in that role, Q may be proven right. But HDH proved the value of set roles in the bullpen, and I think a lot of relievers function best in that format these days, so if he stumbles, I hope Q won't be reluctant to make that switch. And again, if he does, I'd prefer he also swap Erceg to the 9th, but for now, it's hard to complain about the results.
We've already seen they're willing to use Erceg in save situations (the Friday against Houston when Lugo went eight innings and they knew they wouldn't need both Erceg and Estevez). I'd use Erceg exactly how Q is using him right now -- to get the highest-leverage outs, whether that's the fifth inning or the ninth.
I mean, as long as it works and Estevez gives them the luxury or using Erceg like that, I have no problem with it. Like I said, most of my misgivings come from him struggling in that role last year. No reason to fix what isn't broken right now though. I'm just saying, if it does break down, either because Erceg begins to struggle in the fireman role or Estevez stumbles in the ninth, I hope Q is flexible enough to make that change— and I think he is— and if it comes to that, I'd prefer to see Erceg in the ninth.
I'd like to see what this bullpen looks like if/when Hunter Harvey is healthy. I think Q could really mix and match then and Erceg might get more ninth inning work. I do think Q would be quick to make a change anyway--it took him what, a week, to yank "proven closer" Will Smith out of that role at the start of last season.
Good point about Smith. Harvey is a real wild card. Nothing about his short time in KC makes me feel confident he will get healthy (or stay that way), but if he does, he can radically change the look of the pen. He was impressive to start the season, and if he comes back, they can create their own imitation of HDH, regardless of what order Q uses them in.
Harvey may have been the most impressive reliever of all to start the season. He seems to be on the mend, so I'm hoping HEE is the best back-end of the bullpen since HDH.
Harvey is definitely a big "if."
I think Erceg was even more impressive on Saturday night at the game I was at. And he’s starting to get some respect from other teams, as I heard the air sucked out of the Os crowd when his name was announced.
That's a fair assessment, he probably was better on Saturday, just not in as tight of a spot. Feels like his dominance gets taken for granted a bit at times!
I'm not trying to say Erceg can be as good as Wade Davis for this team, but I'm also not saying he can't.
Smaller sample but you can make the case Erceg's three months with Kansas City have been as good as Davis's incredible three-year run from 2014-2016.
I make that statement without stats (which I don't like to do), but Erceg has been the closest thing since using my eye test.