Who is the Closer for the Tampa Bay Rays?
Andrew Kittredge is the Tampa Bay Rays Closer.
After having the best year of his career, Kittredge has developed a feel for making saves with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With a 1.55 ERA and 2.96 SIERA in 69 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen, Kittredge has made a couple of starts as an opener.
Kittredge has the highest chase rate in baseball, according to Statcast, which has resulted in a 27.5 percent strikeout rate and a 5.6 percent walk rate. In addition, the right-hander has maintained a groundball rate of 54 percent, which is a new career high.
His record in the majors over five seasons was 13-6 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, and 182 strikeouts in 183 innings pitched.
Kittredge has started more openers (15) than he has made saves (9) in his career. Over the past three years, his strongest area of improvement has been his first-pitch strike rate (69 percent), which has resulted in a decrease in his walk rate (1.9).
He threw his fastest fastball (95.6 mph), which was the best of his career. It was the abandonment of his four-seam fastball and the emergence of his sinker (.219 BAA) and slider (.202 BAA) that led to the improvement in his pitching statistics. Last season, Kittredge added a low-volume cutter (.179 BAA) to his arsenal.
