The Chicago Cubs already switched up their closer one time this season, and it seems like another change could be coming soon despite the success of their current pitcher in that role.
Many fans of the Chicago Cubs were asking for the team to make a change to their closer role after Adbert Alzolay blew a Major League-high four saves.
Manager Craig Counsell also decided that was the smart thing to do and ultimately made their offseason signing Hector Neris the closer.
So far, the results have been good.
In the last four save opportunities he’s had, the right-handed veteran has converted all four.
Yet, Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation doesn’t think that Neris is long for the role based on some underlying statistics that could turn ugly soon if things don’t get figured out.
The first area he points to is the worryingly high walk rate that the reliever has this season.
“Through 11 games (10.0 IP), Hector Neris has walked (11) more batters than he’s struck out (10) … For the season, he has the second-worst walk rate in baseball (23.9%) among all qualified relievers,” he writes.
Sure, that’s not something fans and the coaching staff like to sit through as their win hangs on the balance of getting out free baserunners in a tightly contested game, but as long as the closer does his job, then there should be no issue.
However, the next thing that Cerami points out is what could turn into a disaster for the Cubs.
“… Neris is allowing a ton of hard contact (52.0 hard%, 12 barrel%). If it wasn’t for a .250 BABIP and an 84.3% strand rate, his 3.60 ERA would look a whoooooole lot worse than it does. As a matter of fact, Statcast has him with a 6.50 xERA,” he adds.
Ok, that is the concerning thing about Neris’ profile.
Much of the positive stretch he’s had has been based off luck, with batters not being able to drive in baserunners despite hitting the ball hard.
Maybe he can turn these poor advanced statistics around. After all, he is a veteran pitcher who is no stranger to taking the mound in the biggest moments.
That would certainly be preferable for Chicago, as they don’t have many options they can turn to after already moving Alzolay out of closer role.
So, the Cubs need Neris to figure out what has been plaguing him or else they could have a real mess on their hands soon.
