Closing arguments on bullpen role

Teams in a rebuild, and specifically the people behind it, wonder about the obsession over a defined closer for the bullpen

Fans ask about it. The media tracks it. The first reliever to rise after the eighth with his club holding a slim lead is crowned.

Five pitchers recorded saves for the Orioles this year and Hunter Harvey wasn't counted among them. He was supposed to handle the responsibility, according to everything written and reported over the winter and spring and during summer training camp.

No one banged that drum louder than me. I was the Keith Moon of sportswriters.

Harvey was placed on the injured list prior to opening day with a right forearm strain and had to be used carefully upon his return. He worked 8 2/3 innings and went back-to-back days only in the last two games.

Maybe next year if it really matters.

One of the five relievers with saves didn't finish the season with the club. The Orioles traded Miguel Castro to the Mets at the deadline.

Cole Sulser was the team leader with five, and the number of people predicting that he'd rank first would fit in his cap.

His last save came on Aug. 15 against the Nationals - followed by four losses and a blown save. He didn't enter a game after the seventh inning in his last four appearances, used consecutively in the fourth and fifth.

Control issues led to Sulser's removal from high-leverage situations, though the number of close games challenged manager Brandon Hyde to find softer landing spots for him.

Opponents had a .111 average against Sulser in nine August appearances, but he walked 12 batters in 11 1/3 innings. He walked four in 7 1/3 innings in September, but they slashed .333/.412/.533 and he registered a 7.36 ERA and 1.909 WHIP.

Sulser has three minor league options and will have to fight for a job in spring training.

César Valdez has no options and, it seems, nothing to worry about. One of the great oddities of the 2020 season.

Valdez notched his third save Sunday afternoon to rank second on the team. He allowed two earned runs and seven hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings. He entered games in the fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th and twice worked three innings and exceeded 40 pitches.

I'm not sure that any of his pitches exceeded 40 mph, but no one homered off the "dead fish."

Excluded from the list of spring training invites, Valdez earned a shot at summer camp and eventually made his return to the majors. I can't imagine why he'd leave.

Travis Lakins Sr. also registered a save, and his win Sunday in relief of Keegan Akin tied him with Thomas Eshelman for the team lead. And the number of people making that prediction also would fit in Sulser's cap.

I didn't expect Lakins to stay in the bullpen through the summer, appear in 22 games and register a 2.81 ERA. The 4.6 walks per nine innings need fixing, but he surrendered only two home runs. He allowed one run in his last nine innings.

He's got to be penciled into the 2021 bullpen on opening day.

Left-hander Tanner Scott registered the other save and finished with a 1.31 ERA in a team-leading 25 appearances. Only three earned runs and 23 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings. The 4.4 walks per nine innings, while nothing to brag about, constituted a career low.

One home run allowed? Brag away.

Scott could get more save opportunities next season. Harvey could stay healthy and be the guy. Hyde could go by committee rather than anoint one reliever.

There's plenty of time to unnecessarily obsess over it.