If there is a cardinal sin that a reliever can commit, it’s issuing walks. Sure, runs in general are bad, but there’s nothing that will frustrate a manager more than when he calls to the bullpen and his guy starts handing out free passes.
appearance of the season. He’d been solid up to that point, walking just 6.3 percent of the batters he’d faced while striking out 21.9. But manager Joe Maddon hadn’t been thrilled with the way Rondon wasn’t attacking hitters.
When he called upon his closer in a 4-2 game against the Washington Nationals that day, Maddon was looking for something specific from his closer: aggressiveness.