Fred Kerber of the New York Post wrote a piece on how successful the Indians’ short relief was during the regular season.
In Cleveland, closer Joe Borowski, with a 5.07, was something of a high wire act all season. He would come in and paramedics stood by with paddles. But the bottom line: Borowski led the American League in saves with 45. OK, he blew eight, but his teammates are standing by him.
“More times than not, he got the job done,” right-handed Jake Westbrook said.
And in Borowski’s eyes, the main two-man bridge before him made all the difference. And that’s a pair of Rafaels: right hander power man Rafael Betancourt with power and command and left hander Rafael Perez, the seventh-inning set-up specialist with a slider that has been ruled illegal in 37 states.
Cleveland’s biggest problem is that they have by far the worst of the three pitching the 9th inning. Borowski is living proof that the save statistic is overrated. Either Perez or Betancourt could have registered 40 saves. Borowski is extremely hittable. Facing him after hard-throwers like Perez and Betancourt speeds up bats. Borowski owning the closer role also makes it most likely that the opposition will face the weakest short reliever on the team. If C.C. Sabathia pitches 8 innings, the Yanks will bypass Betancourt and Perez, instead of facing a dominant reliever. If Chien-Ming Wang goes 8, Cleveland will face Mariano Rivera. What Eric Wedge is doing would be equivalent to Joe Torre using Kyle Farnsworth as his closer, allowing the Tribe to avoid facing his best reliever. Borowski hardly fits in the category of Rodriguez, Papelbon, and Rivera in the club for American League postseason closers. The Yankees have made a habit of clubbing pitchers with stuff as pedestrian as Borowski’s. Indians fans should be nervous with any tight 9th inning lead in this series.
