MVN - Most Valuable Network

Wilson’s Ninth-Inning Collapse Leads Braves Over Rangers, 5-2

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington, as quoted by MLB.com’s Drew Davison on September 22nd, 2007:

“You’re not going to go into a season expecting to win without somebody who can close a ballgame down. It’s that simple.”

It really is. And, as much as I fear to say it, I’m not so sure the Rangers have that somebody right now.

Knee-jerking? Perhaps. Since I extensively profiled closer C.J. Wilson back on May 15th, the blue-gloved southpaw has quietly improved his strikeouts per nine innings ratio (4.08 to 6.60), ground-to-fly ball ratio (0.88 to 1.26), and ERA (5.09 to 4.50). Those are obviously all very, very good things.

He has also begun yielding more free passes than ever before, hiking his walks per nine innings ratio to a career-high of 4.50 through 30 relief innings pitched thus far this season. Not so good.

Wilson’s latest ninth-inning meltdown on Wednesday evening ostensibly appeared to be but a microcosm of a larger, potentially more worrisome dilemma facing the organization, in that the 27-year-old Taoist yet again failed to shut down - or, for that matter, even marginally impede - the opposition in a critical late-game, high-leverage situation.

A harmless infield chopper off the bat of Atlanta’s Jeff Francoeur sparked the game-breaking rally for the Braves. Though catcher Gerald Laird tore off his mask and charged full steam towards the roller while frantically calling off Wilson, C.J. snatched up the ball and threw errantly between a sprinting Francoeur and a bewildered Chris Shelton at first base, who apparently never even saw the horrid toss as it trickled into foul territory.

C.J. proceeded to indignantly raise his arms as he stared down the first base line at Shelton, as if he were nonverbally asking “What was that?” A fine question, though unfortunately posed to the wrong player.

A five-pitch strikeout of Brandon Jones that featured 96 MPH heat from the furious left-hander offered only a temporary respite from the inevitable. With one out, Omar Infante slashed a 2-1 fastball to right field, which Josh Hamilton scooped up and rifled home in a desperate attempt to cut down Francoeur at the plate. The throw was strong, but wide of home plate, and the Braves had obtained a 3-2 lead.

The suffering wasn’t over. Gregor Blanco’s - seriously, Gregor Blanco? - triple easily plated Infante from second base, while Yunel Escobar’s six-pitch walk and Kelly Johnson’s fielder’s choice RBI ground out expanded Atlanta’s lead to an insurmountable 5-2 margin. Texas went down without a whimper in the bottom of the ninth inning, wasting a solid, if not spectacular, second big league start from Eric Hurley, and three rare shutout innings from the bullpen.

I can’t possibly emphasize enough how much of a disaster this was.

After reportedly sitting alone on the dugout bench as his teammates and coaches dejectedly filed towards the home clubhouse, Wilson offered the following concise summation of his miserable 28-pitch performance:

“I gave them the winning run on a platter. I blew it. It’s pretty simple.”

It really is.

Will Ron Washington now begin to reconsider the idea of inserting veteran southpaw Eddie Guardado into the ninth-inning role? Could sinkerballer Jamey Wright or flamethrower Frankie Francisco emerge as realistic options? Might the dreaded closer-by-committee be enacted at some point, headed by the currently recuperating Joaquin Benoit?

All legitimate questions, if not a trifle premature; Wilson, in spite of Wednesday’s debacle, has locked down nine of his last 10 save opportunities, and 14 of 16 overall in 2008. But the increasingly prevalent line of thought regarding C.J. seems to be that he possesses neither the lights-out command, nor the one truly dominant out pitch, to be effective in that role over the long haul. The statistics appear to be presently backing at least one of those assertions up.

Or perhaps he just lacks “it.” You know, the intangible quality that players constantly proclaim lies within baseball’s best closers. Mariano Rivera, Francisco Rodriguez, Jonathan Papelbon - you name it. They’ve all got “it.” Does Wilson?

Granted, I’m not certain it benefits anybody - the Rangers, the shell-shocked relief corps or C.J. - to displace him from his current stead right now. But you can bet it’s something to keep an eye on going forward, because as much as Washington might outwardly affirm his confidence in Wilson, there comes a point where performance has to supersede expectations.

Whether that point will arrive in time to save C.J. Wilson’s job has fast become one of the many fascinating interweaving subplots revolving around this 2008 squad. To that end, I’d like to call back to the guest spring training preview I penned for SpringTraining08.com back in February:

Injury avoidance and a little help from some overachievers could propel this team beyond the 90-win threshold; conversely, an ACL tear here or some lingering elbow tendinitis there, or a return to the underachieving ways that derailed the Rangers’ 2007 campaign before it really had an opportunity to get started, might send Texas tumbling back into last place for a second consecutive season.

But no matter the outcome, it promises to be an exciting ride.

Always, always exciting.

Quick Hits: Outfielder Milton Bradley (strained left quadriceps muscle) did not play on Wednesday, but should start in Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Braves…ailing veteran reliever Joaquin Benoit (right shoulder inflammation) will throw a light bullpen session on Thursday in the hopes of being ready for Friday’s series opener in Washington.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 2:58 am and is filed under The Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.