We’ve been waiting for Mariano Rivera to realize he’s a 41-year-old with one pitch.
But to start the season, the righty and his bat-breaking cutter raced to an American League-leading seven saves.
Could the wait for the demise of the best closer in baseball history finally be in sight, though? He’s blown two straight saves and his ERA “ballooned” to 2.53 after allowing three earned runs in his last two outings.
Rivera has gone through rough stretches before, but they never last an extended period of time. Just last year, New York’s closer blew three saves in September, and he responded by not allowing a run in 61Ú3 innings during the postseason.
Rivera is defying logic: pitching at an elite level longer than anyone we’ve ever seen. So it’s natural for doubt to creep in whenever he blows a save.
But if his 16 years of experience have told us anything, it’s not to doubt a one-run lead in the ninth when “Enter Sandman” rings loud in Yankee Stadium.
