Cincinnati Reds Grooming Raisel Iglesias For Closer Role
By Ron Juckett
With an eye on next year, the Cincinnati Reds may give reliever Raisel Iglesias a long look at closer for the rest of this season.
The Cincinnati Reds may have found their long-term replacement for Aroldis Chapman with Raisel Iglesias. The hard-throwing 26-year-old notched his first save Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
In his second Major League season, the Reds converted him from a starter into the bullpen. As a multi-inning reliever through July, Iglesias earned five holds. Given the chance to close against the Cards, he pitched a perfect ninth, fanning one tossing a thrifty 13 pitches.
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Current closer, the lefty Tony Cingrani, has 13 saves on the year as the Reds try to fight their way out of the National League Central cellar. He also has blown five save chances and has a record of 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 50 games. Highlighted by a meltdown Monday night in St. Louis, where he was charged with five runs in two-thirds of an inning, may push manager Bryan Price to decide sooner than later.
Cingrani has done a decent job overall. His hits-per-9 rate is 7.1 and his ERA before Monday was slightly above 3.00. What he struggles is with control. In 48.1 innings, Cingrani has 26 walks. A 4.8 walks-per-9 is unacceptable for a closer. With the Reds within five games of the fourth-place Milwaukee Brewers, the help wanted sign is hanging on the door.
Enter Iglesias.
Since arriving from Cuba in 2014, he fast-tracked his way onto the big club at 25 and transitioned from a starter to reliever with ease. Pitching in Cuba with the Toronjeros de Isla de la Juventud, he was a reliever in his three seasons on the island and closed games his last year. Pitching late in games is a natural fit.
Featuring a low-90s fastball, he mixes in a heavy dose of sliders, according to Fangraphs, and throws a change when needed.
Although workload is not an issue, Iglesias has a BABIP of .281. He can strike hitters out at a 9.6 K/9 rate, but he is a flyball and line drive pitcher. For the record, Cingrani’s BABIP is .254 overall, but .385 in the second half. You can see why Iglesias will get an extended audition.
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With 56 innings on his arm in 20 games, Price could use him to get a four or five out save and go with Cingrani the next day. In this era of specialty relievers, having Iglesias used as a fireman or a stopper would be a throwback to the late 70s and early 80s. If they like the results, turning him into a traditional closer can happen next Spring as they try to build more bite on his fastball.