Closer ratings

[elpasopesos]

What do closer ratings actually mean? How does being an /N up to C6 really affect the way a closer can close games?

[Mean Dean]

The rating represents the number of outs he can get in a closer situation before he encounters the possibility of getting tired. Once he hits that point (e.g., if he is a C2, once he gets two outs in a closer situation,) the next hit or walk he gives up will make him tired. Getting tired, of course, means he will pitch worse. "N" means he's tired as soon as the closer situation comes up.

A "closer situation" is defined as having the lead in the 9th inning or later, with the tying run on base or at bat. Reading that, you may wonder what a C6 means if the closer situation begins in the 9th inning, when only three outs are usually left. The answer is that when the game becomes a closer situation, the number of outs that the pitcher has already recorded is subtracted from his closer rating. So the C6 can start the 8th inning, get those three outs, have them subtracted from his closer rating, and still be a C3, meaning he won't get tired (due to closer rules, anyway) before he finishes out the 9th.