For three consecutive games on three consecutive days, the Pirates turned to closer Salomon Torres to do his job. He succeeded once. The question one needs to ask is will he pitch a fourth consecutive game today if the 2007 feel-good team of the NL Central enters the 9th inning of today's game in a save situation.
I'd answer, "No." The next question is whether the roto-commentariat will interpret a Capps save in said situation as the arrival of a new closer. I'd answered,"Yes!" How could it not? The save by Capps affirms what the roto-pundrity has wanted to see since the trade of Mike Gonzalez to the Braves this past off-season.
While I am tending towards the conclusion that Torres is the type of pitcher manager Jim Tracy wants in the bullpen (veteran) and will remain the closer in the mold of the Tigers' Todd Jones circa 2006, I cannot help seeing Capps' peripherals and thinking he should close. After all, I drafted Joel Zumaya last season and wanted all year to see him take his 100+ MPH fastball into save opportunities only to see manager Jim Leyland stick with his veteran closer.
If Tracy likes how the bullpen lines-up in front of Torres and the Pirates continue to win, then I have a hard time seeing him changing that idyllic. The key being not whether Torres looks bad relative to Capps but the team continues to win.
It worked for the Tigers last season, didn't it?