Cincinnati Reds closer Raisel Iglesias upset with use in non-save situations
Bobby Nightengale, Cincinnati EnquirerPublished 4:32 p.m. ET May 6, 2019 | Updated 6:45 a.m. ET May 7, 2019
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Reds closer Raisel Iglesias doesn't want to make excuses for his early-season struggles, but he disagrees with the way he's been used in some games.
Iglesias, yielding a career-worst 4.86 ERA, already has lost five games, the most by any reliever in baseball. His five losses equal his entire total from last year when he saved 30 games with a 2.38 ERA in 66 appearances.
He says he's trying to adapt to the lack of control on his slider, his go-to-pitch. During the Reds' 6-5 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, he entered in the ninth inning with the game tied, 4-4. He gave up a double and then a two-run homer to Brandon Crawford on a changeup.
"You can see the other closers, they don’t pitch in tie games," Iglesias told
The Enquirer. "I’m the only one who comes in tie games and I’ve given up homers and I’m losing some games. I feel really bad.
"I already have five losses, something that hasn’t happened (to anyone else) in the big leagues. Five losses in the first month of ball. That shouldn’t be like that."
Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (26) reacts after giving up the game-tying home run in the ninth inning during an MLB baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Friday, May 3, 2019, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar)
Iglesias has entered with the Reds ahead in nine games this season, and with the score tied in six others. He owns a 6.14 ERA in non-save situations, giving up 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings and a .633 slugging percentage to opposing hitters. In save situations, he's posted a 3.86 ERA, with seven hits in 9 1/3 innings and a .486 slugging percentage.
"The way they are using me is horribly wrong," he said.
Iglesias signed a 3-year, $24.125 million contract with the Reds in November to avoid arbitration for the next three seasons. The Reds told Iglesias this spring that they planned to use him in a non-traditional closer’s role, wanting to use him in the game’s biggest moments. At the time, Iglesias said he was proud that the coaching staff wanted him pitching in key situations, which may not necessarily be the ninth inning.
It hasn’t worked out the way he envisioned.
"The closer comes in to finish the ballgames," he said. "I've been coming into tie games on the road. I get it. There are situations that the team needs me."
Reds manager David Bell said Sunday that he still believed in Iglesias and will continue using Iglesias as a closer.
"It’s really frustrating for me," Iglesias said, "to come in a tie game and lose the game."
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