Phillies reliever Jeanmar Gomez has gone from pitching in the 6th inning and other set up work to becoming the Phillies closer. On June 7, Philadelphia’s setup man Hector Neris got into some trouble in the 8th inning. Neris loaded the bases against the Chicago Cubs and failed to record an out. With Philly still up 3-1, manager Pete Machanin chose to bring in surprise closer Gomez (who was signed in 2015 for middle relief ) for a two-inning save.
Jeanmar Gomez calmly induced a sacrifice fly to maintain the lead and then, with the help of Andres Blanco and Freddy Galvis, coaxed a big double play to end the inning. With runners on first and third and two outs in the 9th, Gomez drew another ground ball to record his league-leading 19th save. This has been an improbable run for Gomez and the Phillies. Coming into the season, no one had him listed as a closer.
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Without hard-throwing, strikeout stuff, Gomez calmly gets outs using his defense. He’s an unconventional closer, to be sure, but Gomez sees no difference between pitching in the 6th or the 9th inning. He just tries to keep it simple. Thankfully for Jeanmar Gomez, his style plays to the team’s strength. (The Phillies surprised most of the league this season with their above average defense.) Advanced metrics will tell you that Gomez is not an elite closer at all, and according to relief pitcher Wins Above Replacement statistics, he is only the third best reliever on his team, behind veteran David Hernandez and Neris.
In 28 appearances this year, Gomez has 19 saves, an earned run average of 2.61, 23 strikeouts, and only 7 walks. He has proven to be the Phillies’ most valuable player this season. Likely flamethrowers like Neris and Vince Velasquez are probably more suited to be the team’s closer, but Gomez has helped the franchise and his own career. No one knows if Gomez will be the team’s long-term closer, but as the saying goes, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” So far, Gomez is working just fine.
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