Perhaps knowing what a comparison to the game’s greatest closer would mean, Orioles manager Buck Showalter held back after invoking the name of closer Zach Britton when describing what has worked so well during left-hander Chris Lee’s second major league spring training.
Lee, who tossed three scoreless innings in Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox, has now gone eight innings over three outings this spring, and of the 24 outs he has recorded, 13 have been groundouts. Eight others have been strikeouts. Showalter owes that to something few pitchers have, but Britton has made a living with over his three seasons as closer and Lee is showing signs of as well.