Red Sox Rankings: Top 5 Closers in the American League

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Oct 4, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Zach Britton (53) pitches during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Zach Britton

Drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft, Britton followed a similar path to Wade Davis’ career arc. Britton was a starter the first three years of his major league career, posting a 4.86 ERA in that role. Considering his left handedness, it is surprising he was not converted to the bullpen faster.

Since he has been a reliever, Britton’s ERA is 1.72 with a 0.95 WHIP. Though his ERA was under two each of the last two seasons, his FIP (fielding independent pitching), a more accurate measure of effectiveness was 3.13 in 2014. Perhaps it was the increase in strikeouts from 2014 to 2015, but Britton’s FIP fell to 2.01 in 2015. That strikeout rate went from 7.3 to 10.8, which, while not in the league of the more elite closers is a significant jump for one season.

Britton uses a heavy or “bowling ball” sinker coming to the plate at 96 mph to induce an 82% groundball rate as well as a 15 percent swing an miss rate according to analytic website FanGraphs.com. His 1.77 ERA over the last two seasons ranks fifth (of 250) for pitchers with at least 120 innings pitched over that span of time.

While we don’t know where Chapman and Davis might be after next season, Baltimore has control over its closer for another three seasons. Over the last two seasons, Britton has allowed just three earned runs in 20.2 innings vs. Boston (1.31 ERA). Hopefully the Red Sox get some good leads over the Orioles in that time, because if they get to Britton, it is going to be pretty much a guaranteed Orioles victory.

Next: David Robertson

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