The Rays have made the biggest impact on Mariano Rivera's reputation this season, twice rallying against the righthander, and leaving many to wonder if his days as the Yankees' closer are numbered.
But at least one person in Tampa Bay's clubhouse insists Rivera hasn't come upon the twilight of his career, even if his velocity has diminished and more balls are finding their way into the swaths of grass between outfielders.
Following the Yankees' 4-3 win at the Stadium Sunday - which ended on Evan Longoria's slow roller to second, capping a perfect ninth and Rivera's 13th save - the Rays' third baseman called the Sandman the best closer in all of baseball.
"Among the closers in the game, if I had to choose one guy, I would still want him running out there in the ninth inning," Longoria said. "If I was the manager, I would send him out there every day.
"I wasn't here when he was at the height, at the peak of his game, when every pitch he threw was 95-96 mph and cutting. The thing is, he's dropped a couple miles off his fastball, but he still puts it where he wants it. ... I don't really see his ability to get guys out in the ninth inning decreasing that much at all."
"He rarely makes mistakes. The times that he has, we've been able to capitalize on them," Longoria said. "He's still a big presence coming out of the pen. Maybe he's not as good as he was six years ago or when he was at his peak, but you have to be on the top of your game facing him. ... His ball is moving so much that even at 92-94 mph, it's still tough to handle."
But I'm wondering what you think. Do you think Mo is done (I know there are a lot of you out there who do)? If not, how long do you think he has left?
14 Comments:
I definately think he has at least a few more years without having to resort to the changeup. His velocity has been steadily increasing as the season goes on. By Spetember Im sure he'll be throwing 94-95. I dont know why people are ignoring the fact he just had surgery. It takes time to build your arm back to what it was. And Longoria has a great point. You dont need to throw 95 or 96 if you can pinpoint your throws and have movement on the ball. And if he ends up struggling a lot Im sure he'll start throwing a changeup and getting hitters off balance. I dont think he or the Yankees will want to hang up the towel anytime soon.
-G
Mo is clearly not done. Look at the closers out there. Please Mo has 2 more yrs in him.
I agree with both of you.
Until proven otherwise through the course of more the a year I think Mo is far from done. Even if he has a down year he can always bounce back, look at Tevor Hoffman.
people need to stop overreacting to this type of stuff. you have to take into account how many times a year and how many times over the last few years teams and hitters in the division have seen and studied Mo.
Blown saves happen, I'd be more alarmed if they happened in non divisional games or in Inter league play.
Great point, Miller.
I hope he stays long enough to take the #1 spot for the all time save leader. But Hoffman is still playing and he's been perfect this year. I don't even think he allowed a run yet. I wonder how much longer he is going to be around Hoffman.
you have to take into account all the extra playoff runs the yankees have made, they catch up to everyone on this team, & the fact that the playoffs are so much more highly pressureized...I think if we win a WS this season or next Mo will walk away, what more will he need to do, he was robbed of a cy young, other then that, he'll never catch Huffman,
Mo's very competitive. Its usually hard for those types to walk away.
-G
Mo normally gets off to slow starts, I'm not too concerned about him. It's great to see a young player being so respectful of an older player. Papelbon could learn a thing or two about humility from Longoria.
Rad,
You're right, Papelbon could learn a lot from Longoria. But he's an idiot so that won't happen. As for Longoria, he seems to be a class act.
It's remarkable that we have gotten so used to seeing Mo be infallible that whenever he actually does lose control of a ballgame we act like the sky is falling. I think he's fine, maybe he needs more work.
Who do you want out there that's better than Mo? Papelbon? His numbers in many respects are very close to Mo's and in fact he has a WHIP of 1.40, vs Mo's 1.151. No one says Papelbon is washed up.
Longoria is a loser
Why is Longoria a loser?
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