by AeroDave10 » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:09 am
It's the pitcher's closer rating. Similar to starting and relief pitchers, it indicated at what point the pitcher will become fatigued. For example an S6 will become fatigued after 6 innings. The pitcher continues to be ok, but may begin to struggle once a runner reaches base. The same principle applies to closers, but the number is in terms of outs rather than innings. Therefore, a guy who is an R2/CO (e.g. Carlos Marmol) will be at full strength for two relief innings, provided that it is not a closing situation. If it is a closing situation, he is ok only until he gets a runner on base. If he were an R2/C1, his fatigue would kick in once a baserunner reached following 1 out being recorded. That's why most of the top closers are R1/C6. They are probably ok for an inning if it's a non-save situation, but if they are really needed to finish a game, they can suck it up and mow 'em down for 2 innings before starting to break down. I hope this makes sense, and if anyone has anything to add or correct what I said, I welcome him/her to do so. I do wonder why some guys that don't have a closer rating (e.g. Troy Percival) can be placed in save situations and routinely pick up saves. Perhaps someone else can answer that.
Last edited by
AeroDave10 on Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.