6 years agoIt is becoming clear that the Toronto Blue Jays are more than set on reliever Tyler Clippard as their new closer in the wake of Roberto Osuna’s indefinite absence. Clippard saw the ninth inning once again on Tuesday in a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels, picking up his second save by pitching a perfect inning with one strikeout. The man that most people were clamoring to get the job, Ryan Tepera, got the hold by pitching the eighth inning and allowing an earned run. For Clippard, it was a nice bounce-back effort after allowing an eighth-inning grand slam (with inherited runners on base) that blew the game for Toronto on Saturday. He owns a sparkling 1.82 ERA and 1.05 WHIP across 24 2/3 innings pitched this season, but we wouldn’t get our hopes up too high. Clippard still issues a lot of walks (4.38 BB/9) and serves up quite a few home runs (1.46 HR/9) while currently carrying a BABIP that’s bound to rise (.185) with an unsustainably high 98 percent left-on-base rate. He’s a fair option if you need saves, but there is bound to be some statistical regression here.--John Smith
Source: ESPN