Fernando Rodney simply making the All-Star team at age 35 and after five consecutive seasons with an ERA higher than 4.00 is amazing enough, but apparently he’ll also be asked to close out the game if the American League has a ninth-inning lead.
Rodney told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that AL manager Ron Washington has already said he’s in line for the save opportunity, getting the nod over fellow closers Joe Nathan, Ryan Cook, Jim Johnson, and Chris Perez. That’s somewhat surprising considering Nathan is Washington’s closer for the Rangers and is having an incredible season himself with a 1.73 ERA, 18 saves, and a 45/4 K/BB ratio in 36 innings.
Of course, Rodney has a 0.93 ERA, 25 saves, and a 38/5 K/BB ratio in 39 innings, so it’s tough to go wrong either way. And maybe Washington just really wants to see Rodney do his post-save “shooting an arrow” celebration on a national stage.
Mariano Rivera closed out the American League’s last All-Star victory in 2009.
