The Reverse Closer: A Next Step in Specializing Pitchers

Aaron Crowe, Kansas City Royals

Since his All-Star rookie season, Aaron Crow has show he is a reliable reliever. Last year he was third on the team in holds, only trailing the team leader, Tim Collins, by two. This year he's third again, behind Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis. The difference this year is that Crow trails Davis by 19 holds and Herrera by eight, so he is generally an afterthought. However, Crow has been consistent through the years, and has shown he is trustworthy reliever.

His 2014 line consists a 3.71 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP and a 6-1 record out of the pen. Crow is not a big strikeout guy, and he does walk a lot of batters, which is reflected in his FIP, yet he continues to get the job done and keep his team in ball games as he’s done through his four year career. Crow’s drop in K/9 could be a result of his 2.6 mile per hour drop on his average fastball this year. Also, he is throwing his two-seamer just as much as his four-seamer now, which would hurt his strikeout total, too.