Where Have All the Closers Gone?
From Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball by The Athletic
April 30, 2026 · 51 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the current state of closers in baseball, bullpen management, and features a guest interview with Adam Ottavino.
Eno and DVR welcome former major leaguer Adam Ottavino to the show to discuss closers and why more relievers are racking up saves this season than in years past. The guys also dive into bullpen management and the ever-perplexing question of why closers tend to struggle in non-save situations. Later, Eno and DVR share their desert island favorite starting pitchers and reveal the biggest OOPSY droppers – with the correct chart this time. Rundown: 1:04 Where Have All the Closers Gone? 5:12 How Should Baseball Value & Reward Relievers? 8:48 New Bullpen Management 11:00 Is Better Balance Possible? 14:32 Why Do Closers Struggle in Non-Save Situations? 19:40 The Desert Island: Favorite Pitcher 26:33 Will Tigers Stick with Kenley Jansen? 29:40 Is the New Zone Causing K% and BB% Fluctuations? 32:48 Seattle’s Starters’ Early Strikeout Rate Slide? 39:08 The Biggest OOPSY Fallers 44:52 A Case for Lawrence Butler Despite Projections Drop Eno’s Article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7241759 Follow DVR on Bluesky: @DVR.bsky.social Follow Eno on Bluesky: @enosarris.bsky.social Follow Adam on Instagram: @adamottavino e-mail: ratesandbarrels@gmail.com Join our Discord…
People in this episode
Hosts: Eno Sarris, Derek VanRiper
Guest: Adam Ottavino
Topics covered
- closers
- bullpen management
- relievers
- saves
- pitchers
- baseball strategy
Keywords
- closers
- saves
- bullpen
- relievers
- baseball
- pitchers
- non-save situations
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Athletic
Books & works: Where Have All the Closers Gone?
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