Owens is the Closer

by craig on May 3, 2007 6:59 AM EDT in News Comment 0 comments

It's about time and the club will use him in the traditional manner.

Gonzalez and pitching coach Rick Kranitz discussed how to use closer Henry Owens in save situations. They agreed to limit his duty to the ninth inning and not to bring him into games in the eighth.

"Let's not overbear him or give him more than he can handle,'' Gonzalez said.

Naturally Henry is still learning his new role on the team and probably will be for a majority of the season. Kranitz is helping him along.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz sees progress in Owens, and points out that young pitchers have to adjust to learning how to log outs by being crafty.

"There comes a time when it's not all about stuff," Kranitz said. "You get the job done by making pitches, it's not about stuff. I think with young pitchers, the sooner they realize that [the better]. It's about just making a pitch. It doesn't have to be about, 'Oh, I threw 95 and 96 mph.' You can get a groundout on 91 or 92 [mph]. Young guys have a hard time figuring that out."

I can't remember who said it, but it went something like this: Pitchers are generally drafted because of their velocity. But after they receive their signing bonus, that is the last check they will get for velocity. The rest will come for their ability to locate pitches.

In almost all cases, that is true.

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