Never said he was. Kenley has had his troubles too. But up to this point Guerra has been good enough to deserve to my respect.

When Jansen is on, I'm really happy to see him come in. Guerra scares me a little bit, but gets the job done. I have Guerra on my fantasy team, which is doubly hard on me. It's bad enough when your closer blows a save, but it's super bad when it negatively affects your fantasy team AND the team you love. Like when I had Bills get absolutely hammered against the 'stros!

I don't get it. According to the speed gun, Javy throws harder than Kenley. But Kenley often makes hitters look silly...like they have no chance. Javy throws harder, but he ain't fooling anyone at all. Can't finish anybody off. Doesn't have an out-pitch and can't overpower anyone. Kenley just blows people away, but the gun is in the lower 90's. What's going on?

I'll admit, I am not a Javy fan in the closing role. Never been. If Tolleson blows people away like Kenley, the blue ought to try him out in the closers role.

<< What's going on?>>

Movement. I'll take a 92 MPH cutter over a 94 MPH straight fastball anyday. Ask Mariano.

pffffff, we need this guy!

I heard one of the announcer say players were interviewed about Jansen and they all said they have a hard time seeing the ball come out of Jansen's hand. In addition, Jansen throws mostly cutters so you're going to expect movement more than your typical 4-seamers.

Javy doesn't have the stuff to be a closer.

tolleson should be promoted and directly become our closer. His sick stats justify the risk

Can't hurt!!!

Lol, thank goodness you aren't our gm. Tolleson looks like the real deal. But to call up a youngster and immediately hand him the closer's job is about as kneejerk as it gets.

Don't forget about handing the offense some of the blame as well. Must be tough to come in and constantly have to protect a one run lead.

Also, and call me crazy if you like, but the Braves are actually a pretty good team. That might have something to do with too.

"Can't hurt!!!"

Actually, it can. Rushing young guys or handing them too much responsibility before they're ready could make a negative impact on their development. Tolleson might be ready for the bigs, but I would'nt put too much on the kid's plate so soon.

"Must be tough to come in and constantly have to protect a one run lead."
- Not when he´s used to it and has done for 4 years. Matt More was called up last year, had 2-3 starts and immediately became a starter for the Rays in the PLAY OFFS. If he´s as a star as we all think he is, he should be able to handle the position. Again i say it, his stats are as sick as it gets (not only this year but all of the his minor league career ) and they justify the risk.

Its not the braves, even last year (with a very good year for him) we were all discussing handing Jansen the closer´s role. I dont think he has what it takes to be our closer.

I don't disagree. Still, Javy is not a closer. Hope his face feels better.

As a Brave fan... Gotta say, Jansen is freaking nasty. Even our announcers were commenting on his stuff. That cutter is electric and definitely one of the best cutters if not THE best cutter in the MLB. It moves almost like a slider... Except its at 91-93 mph. Plus i saw him throw a few 4 seamers at 95-96 mph. Guerra throws hard but is fastball is as straight as an arrow. I wonder why Jansen isn't the closer.

"Again i say it, his stats are as sick as it gets (not only this year but all of the his minor league career ) and they justify the risk.

Not to me. I think you have to earn the closers role. And pitching to minor leaguers is a lot different than pitching to Chipper Jones.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm really looking forward to watching Tolleson pitch. I hope he does as well as we all believe he can.

Tolleson´s lifetime stats:

8-3 record 0.94 ERA 105.2 IP 159K 23bb 73H 0.909 WHIP 46 SV

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=tolles001sha

"I wonder why Jansen isn't the closer."

That was a hot topic this spring. Basically, Guerra had a lot of success as the closer last season and to start this season. As Mattingly said, it's hard to take the ball away from a guy when he's done what you've asked him to do.

But we all kinda knew that it would come up as the season progressed. Kenley might be the guy. Or it could be this stud in the minors named Tolleson, his numbers are off the charts. We'll see.

Jansen's cutter had do much movement it makes the ball heavy. Every cutter pops loudly when it hits the catchers mitt. That makes it really hard to make good contact with and induces a lot of weak grounders. Jansen is like a mix of Kimbrel and Venters. The dude had a k/9 over 16... Thats insane. Why isn't he the closer again?

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20094407&topic_id=&c_id=la&tcid=vpp_copy_20094407&v=3