Repeat after me: Luis Ayala is the Mets closer; he is not the chairman of their bullpen by committee.
Contrary to what has been written and spoken, the Mets do not have a bullpen by committee. They have a new closer, Ayala, and a horde of other relievers from whom manager Jerry Manuel picks and chooses depending on the game situation and the next batter or batters.
If Ayala were not the closer but simply part of Manuel’s mix, the manager’s maneuvers would fall in the bullpen-by-committee category. But after Billy Wagner went out with a season-ending elbow injury, Ayala won his audition to replace Wagner and has performed impressively in the role. He has given the manager no reason to switch to a committee format.
Sports terminology can have different meanings to different people. In this instance, however, bullpen by committee means one thing. A team loses its closer and doesn’t have a designated replacement so the manager uses a variety of relievers to pitch the ninth inning and finish, or try to finish, the game.
Whitey Herzog is credited with being the first to use the term, describing his relief setup with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 as a bullpen by committee, according to research by the Hall of Fame. Bruce Sutter, who would later be elected to the Hall of Fame, left the Cardinals as a free agent after the 1984 season, leaving them with no established closer.
Herzog wound up using an assortment of relievers to close games, including Jeff Lahti, who led the team with 19 saves; Ken Dayley (11), Todd Worrell (5) and Bill Campbell (4).
Manuel uses a variety of relievers but before the game gets to Ayala, or for that matter to Brian Stokes, who has become the setup man, Manuel is using his relief corps in a – here’s another term that has become popular – mix-and-match pattern.
He’ll call on the left-handed Pedro Feliciano or Scott Shoeneweis to face a left-handed hitter and the right-handed Joe Smith or Duaner Sanchez to pitch to a right-handed hitter, deciding which one depending on the circumstances. Manuel normally likes to have the right-handed Aaron Heilman face more than a batter or two – he pitched three innings of a recent game against Philadelphia – but if the Mets need an out to end an inning Manuel could ask Heilman to get it.
The point is Ayala is not part of that mix. He has a special spot, and it’s the ninth inning. It has served the 30-year-old right-hander well, and he has served the Mets well. Considering how poorly he had pitched for the Nationals before the Aug. 17 trade, Ayala’s efforts for the Mets have been downright exemplary.
In 62 relief appearances for Washington, Ayala had a 1-8 record and a 5.77 earned run average. He appeared in four games in save situations and blew them all, giving him 15 squandered saves in 24 chances in his four years with the Nationals/Expos. A closer those statistics do not make.
But Omar Minaya, the Mets general manager, knew Ayala from the two years they both worked for the Expos, and he looked beyond the numbers.
“When you get to this time of year,” Minaya said late last month, “you want to have guys who if they fail are not afraid to go back out there. You don’t want guys who are afraid to pitch in a pennant race.”
Ayala had never pitched in a pennant race, but Minaya knew the man he was acquiring. For one thing, he knew Ayala throws strikes, which is not something that can be said for all relievers, especially the Mets’ contingent.
In 12 games and 12 innings with the Mets, Ayala has struck out eight and walked one. He has gained seven saves in eight opportunities and has added a victory. He has allowed not even one baserunner an inning, and he has a 2.25 earned run average and a .222 opposing batting average.
Wagner was not having an exceptionally good year when his left elbow made it a terrible year. He had failed to achieve saves in 7 of his 34 chances, his most blown saves in a season since 2000.
His 79 percent success rate was weak compared with 100 percent for the Phillies’ Brad Lidge (36 for 36) and 90 percent or better for the Angels’ Francisco Rodriguez (57-63), Mariano Rivera of the Yankees (33-34) and Joakim Soria of the Royals (36-39).
Between Wagner’s last save and Ayala’s first, the Mets had five pitchers record a total of six saves, but none gained Manuel’s trust as a closer. Less than a week after he joined the Mets, Ayala got his chance and didn’t squander it. His seven saves entering the weekend series with Atlanta came in an 18-game and 12-win stretch.
His lone blown save came in his second save opportunity Aug. 26. The Mets led the Phillies, 7-6, going into the ninth inning, and Ayala retired the first two batters, Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino. But a single and a double followed, tying the game.
Manuel, however, was not discouraged. The next night the Mets needed three outs in the ninth to preserve a 6-3 victory over the Phillies, and Ayala secured them for his second save. The job was his, and Manuel did not need a committee of relievers.