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

"Why isn't he the closer again?"

For exactly the reason I just explained to you.

No one is refuting the fact that Tolleson has been dominant in the minor leagues. Yes, his numbers are impressive but he's pitching against minor league hitters. I would love to see Tolleson come up to the major leagues but rushing a player's development is not only short-sighted but also irresponsible.

I don't understand your reference to Matt Moore. He is more of an exception than a rule and we've seen time and time again that rushing development has led to poor long-term results. Tolleson will make his way up when it's time. There's no point in taking the myopic approach just because Guerra has been struggling.

Yup, he's pretty awesome alright. I would love to see him dominate for us in the bigs too. But I still don't see how my argument isn't more sensible than yours though. :)

It wouldnt be that big of a "rush", he´s already 24 years old, couple of months older than Kershaw. Lost a year to Tomy John but came back strong, he´s matured and has dominated at every level. I have this terrible feeling that this guy is one of those exceptions to the rule that you mention.

"I don't understand your reference to Matt Moore."

Yeah, I didn't even wanna go there. When I read that I was like W+F?

"Tolleson will make his way up when it's time. There's no point in taking the myopic approach just because Guerra has been struggling."

BINGO!!! Winner post! Chicken Little's are good at being little.

"I have this terrible feeling that this guy is one of those exceptions to the rule that you mention."

I'd hardly call that "terrible". :D More like AWESOME.

Yeah, awesome sounds right.