Joe Torre's New Tactic Could Bend Baseball's Flawed Logic

Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre could be on the verge of something so simple, so basic, so right, but I’m not sure whether he knows it or not. He may just be making a move to stabilize the bullpen, but he may be bucking a trend of common, yet flawed, thought throughout baseball that foolishly says your “best” reliever must pitch the ninth inning in a close game. Your best reliever would be your closer, and your closer would be in the game to get the save, but why? What about those three outs in the eighth inning of a one run game, the outs that allow your club to tack on two more in the bottom of the frame and therefore give your closer a three-run cushion to work with in the ninth? What about that guy? Shouldn’t your best be getting those outs instead? Common sense would say so, and perhaps Torre too. On Saturday, Torre got closer Jonathan Broxton heating up in the seventh inning instead of his normal routine in the eighth when the Dodgers were ...