Milwaukee Brewers closer Corey Knebel: The wild ticking time bomb
By Tim Boyle
Can the Milwaukee Brewers trust closer Corey Knebel in the ninth inning or will his wildness catch up to him?
A big reason why the Milwaukee Brewers‘ 2017 season wasn’t a complete waste of time is the performance of their closer, Corey Knebel. In one year, the 25-year-old relief pitcher went from irrelevant to All-Star. For as well as he has pitched, Knebel is still a ticking time bomb the Brewers must remain cautious with.
A key to Knebel’s success this season has been the abundance of strikeouts. His rate of 15 strikeouts per nine is absolutely stellar. Equally as notable are the 4.9 walks per nine he is allowing. Mixed with all of the strikeouts, the Brewers have accepted far too many free passes.
Wild strikeout-focused pitchers are nothing new in baseball. The more effective a pitcher is at earning the strike-three call, the more they tend to also issue walks. Over time, many correct this. Others never do and see their roles diminish or jobs completely disappear.
A high strikeout rate and frequent walks are nothing new for Knebel. Since receiving regular MLB action in 2015, Knebel has always insisted on retiring batters on strikes or surrendering a free pass. Those totals have reached new heights this year as he establishes himself as the Brewers’ closer.
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Aside from the walks, there’s not much to criticize Knebel about. His WHIP is still only 1.13 thanks to a low hits per nine rate. His 1.36 ERA and 33 saves on the year are also pretty remarkable. He’s unlikely to lose the closer role this year over the next few weeks. Next year, it could be a different story.
Teams rarely build a closer in advance in the minor leagues. Closer duties are regularly shared. It’s a role, while specialized, that many will stumble into out of need. This is what happened to Knebel this year.
That’s not to say Knebel lucked into the role. He certainly deserves it. On May 14 when he earned his first save, Knebel had a 1.00 ERA. By successfully throwing a shutout inning and helping Milwaukee defeat the New York Mets, the ERA dropped 0.05 points and Knebel slipped into the closer role full-time.
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The lives of closers aren’t always very long. Not everyone is Mariano Rivera. Like Eric Gagne, John Rocker and many others who burst onto the scene only to fizzle out very fast, Knebel’s job security will always remain in question. He’s just three blown saves away from losing ninth-inning duties. Until he can tame his wild arm a little bit more, it will always be a potential issue.