But before we banish him to eighth-inning duty or float him in a trade scenario, let’s re-examine the facts. Once we do I am confident you’ll find my client, your closer, fit for duty.
Sure, Jonathan’s numbers are not as flashy as they once were. He’s become a bit more charitable in his late 20s, what with a career-high six home runs given up in 2010 and as many walks in the past year-plus as he had in the previous three seasons combined.
And sure his blown saves have been like pile-ups on I-95 — how can you look away? There was the memorable meltdown in the American League Division Series, and a pair of ninth-inning collapses this year in which he has given up two round-trippers, the latest being the Coors Field debacle.
We all know he has shown less interest than many of his colleagues in signing with the Red Sox long-term, perhaps intent on testing the free agent waters after the 2011 season.
And yes we all see the shrinking strikeout rates, from 13.0 per nine innings in 2007 to 10.1 in 2009 to the current 7.6 rate. We are also aware that the walks have increased each of the last three years.
And finally, I understand after hearing from my colleague with the state that there is a viable candidate itching for my client’s job in Daniel Bard. Yes, Mr. Bard is a fine pitcher with a wonderful future and he retired four straight Wednesday night with absolute ease. But before we make a rash decision to supplant my client with a 24-year-old with limited closing experience, I implore you to reconsider the facts.
Jonathan remains an elite closer. Of the 18 relievers in the majors with as many as my client’s 16 saves, only four have fewer than Mr. Papelbon’s two blown saves. Eleven of them have a higher opponents’ batting average. And nearly half have a higher WHIP than Jonathan’s 1.21.
Of that group, only one, Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, can hold a candle to my client’s work in the postseason, last October notwithstanding.
Sure, my client is currently having some issues with the home run ball, but four of the six have been bunched together in dramatic fashion. Take away two bad pitches in Yankee Stadium on May 17 and two bad pitches in Coors Field on Wednesday, and we wouldn’t even be having this trial.
OK, so there was the collapse at the end of last season, a blown save against the Angels we don’t need to relive. But the fact that my client returned committed to righting a wrong and was 9-for-9 in save chances with a 1.47 ERA through mid-May, well, that signals a pretty driven individual.
Additionally, ladies and gentleman, you’ll recall the evidence we presented from May 18, when Jonathan returned to a soaking wet Yankee Stadium mound one day after one of the worst outings of his career and mucked his way through stormy seas to land the Red Sox a signature win that propelled them on their current hot streak.
Including that 7-6 win in The Bronx, punctuated by a Papelbon strikeout with runner on second and third, your boys from Boston won 23 of 31 games while my client went 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and seven straight successfully converted saves, all this around a stay on the bereavement list that robbed him of a week of action.
And this is a guy you want to lay waste to because of a straight fastball and a hanging splitter on an already wild night in the thin air of Denver? And you want to replace him with a guy whose career home run rate is actually higher, whose second-half ERA in 2009 was close to 5.00 and whose last save opportunity just two short weeks ago resulted in a loss equally as painful as Wednesday in Denver?
You see folks, my client faces an uphill battle. He is constantly compared to two people — himself of just a few years ago when he was so dominant and so young, and Rivera, the greatest closer of all time. So, when his ERA jumps from the mid-2s to the mid-3s in one bad night, which we’ve all had, you want to send him away?
Where is the crime?
It was in this courtroom a little over a year ago when Jonathan, a family man with a winning pedigree, had come to trial after giving up home runs in consecutive outings — one of which lost a game to the lowly New York Mets at Fenway Park — and saw his ERA jump nearly two runs.
We were able to convince a jury much like yours that Jonathan would be OK and is the right man for the job. He rewarded your just decision by going 1-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 26 saves in 28 chances over the remainder of the season.
So, on June 24, 2010, we come to you again seeking justice, logic and with a request to not overreact to a bad night in Denver.
