Royals shuffle the bullpen: Soria out as closer, Crow in

It's one thing to blow a save because of a few cheap hits, a defensive error or a bad umpiring call. But when you're handing away ballgames through a constant stream of gopher balls, you don't give your manager much choice.

The Joakim Soria batting-practice tour continued Monday afternoon, as the struggling KC reliever blew his third save of the last week. Torii Hunter's two-run homer cost the Royals the ballgame, and Soria went on to allow a third run. All of Soria's recent collapses have come courtesy of the homer; Nelson Cruz got him in Texas on Sunday and Adam Jones connected in Baltimore last week. The struggles don't come as any great surprise; Soria's velocity has been down all year, and his walk/strikeout numbers are a mess. He's been a closer on the brink for all of May.

Ned Yost decided to make a change after the game, naming Aaron Crow his new closer. Yost, of course, gave Soria a vote of confidence about 15 hours ago, but we live in a society driven by recent results. Crow seems worthy of the assignment; he's carrying a 1.33 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, with 26 strikeouts over 27 innings. The key for him will be handling the platoon split; lefties are batting .271 against Crow, while righties are a paltry .122.

Update, 9:30 pm: Yost's post-game quotes suggest the Soria demotion is intended to be temporary. Maybe that's wishful thinking, maybe it isn't. Let's go to MLB.com for some post-game reaction:

"We've gotten to a point where we'll back Jack off now," Yost said. "We'll give him a break. He's pitched back-to-back days, 40-something pitches in two days. We'll give him a break [Tuesday] and get him back -- with the sense of getting him back into the closer's role -- but getting him in situations where maybe he can throw multiple innings in less pressure situations."

Soria, to his credit, was a stand-up guy about the situation.

"After the game, I went to his office and told him it's the right time to do it when I close games," Soria said. "I don't want to be a part of this losing streak. The team is playing really good. They need a man that can go after them and right now, obviously, it's not that I want to lose the games."

The advice remains the same. Get Crow where you can. Bench Soria. Chase those saves.
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Image courtesy Associated Press

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