Closer History Asks is 'Machete' Getting Dull?
Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger
May 7, 2040: Aurora, Colorado – The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance is in their 34th season – a history of which has been mostly good for the Aurora Borealis, with five Rodriguez Cups (including the first three-peat in PEBA history) and another three Sovereign League crowns – though this current stretch of 9-seasons is the longest the PEC has not had an Aurora team in the mix. Throughtout this history Aurora has had their share of big, household names – ‘Ice Cold’, ‘Chupacabra’, ‘Big Whiskey’ – but the one consistent thread to the club’s success has been their pitching – and as much as they have also had their share of big names: ‘Train Arollin’’, ‘Tugboat’, ‘Roach’, ‘Sawmill’, a strong consistent bullpen – especially the back-end, has been the most common thread.
Many a great name has manned the bullpen on The Front Range – none greater, arguably, than the ‘Stork’, Ryan Holbrook. A 1st-round pick in the 2011 draft – the first post-Rodriguez draft – and current GM Will Topham’s 2nd pick ever (after also 1st-round pick ‘Gypsy’ John Foster), Holbrook would spend the entirety of his 13-full major league seasons with Aurora – 877-innings over 808-apearances, primarily as a set-up man for the longest tenured pitcher on the club, with 1041 games (which is 10th All-Time for Aurora – including hitters) – Bryant Burris. The ‘Stork’ – currently the club’s pitching coach, and Burris provided a 1-2 punch ending games – Holbrook’s 808-games is second-most for Aurora pitchers, and while Burris has a team record 383-saves (7th All-Time in the PEBA), Ryan Holbrook’s 264-holds is the PEBA record – with no current pitcher even in the same hemisphere as Holbrook’s mark. You’d be hard pressed to find a better combo.
It is always the closer, at the end of the day (no pun intended) who earn the accolades, and the hard working set-up and middle men who mostly get lost in the lime-light – Ryan Holbrook was a 1-time All-Star, despite a career 2.80 ERA. The ‘Hyena’, in his 9th season, has 1 ASG; ‘Chattahoochee’ Fujii, in his 9th season, currently in Kzoo, has none; Ryan Tate, 6-seasons with Aurora, with time at San Juan and Palm Springs - and currently at Fargo’s AAA, has three ASG appearances, but two were as a starter - and the lone one as a reliever with Aurora, marked the end of his closer-hood, as he bombed the second half of the 2033 season – leading to Twia taking over.
Without a doubt, by virtue of his tenure – much less his save total, Bryant Burris was the greatest closer in Aurora history – 15-seasons, nine of which he pitched in over 70-games – and one year he hit 81, and he wasn’t even the closer then. He was the primary closer for seven-seasons – there was a two year blip where it was a shared deal with Jonathan Dyke and ‘Stork’ – first for ineffectiveness, then injury in the first part of 2018. But what made Burris special is no other reliever has really approached Burris in appearaces, saves, or years.
Outside of Burris’ run, the history of Aurora closers is one littered with players who have had short tenures – and right from the start. The inaugural year saw Anastasio Guzman as the team’s closer and he earned 25 saves – prompting Aurora to reach out to Yuma and take Mel Kennedy away from the Bulldozers after his own 29-save inaugural season. Kennedy would last just two seasons before heading off to the Coal Sox, Charleston and Arlington. It wasn’t until 2010 that Aurora settled on a closer that would accrue some time – the ‘Vulture’, Juan Suarez, who had come over from the old League of the Rising Sun and the Hyakuju franchise. For five-seasons he would lead the Borealis’ ‘pen as a closer and four of those years he was named an All-Star as one of the Leagues preeminent relievers. But by 2014 he was 36, his ERA doubled, homers were up, strikeouts were down, and it was time for Aurora to move forward.
The 2015 season saw Burris take charge – and he remained there until Aurora moved to bring in Adrian Petersen. ‘Javelin’ was at the end of his career – though at 30, no one would have predicted that. He was an All-Star in 2024, but struggles in 2025 caused him to split the job with younger John Gray (who would have his own lengthy 13-year career with Aurora), and a spring training injury in 2026 would cost Adrian the entirety of the 2026 season, passing the batton to Gray – who held it for three-, 40-save seasons – earning four ASG appearances. And yet, despite 120-saves in three-years, Aurora was still not satisfied with their bullpen, and with the acquisition of Bob Burns from San Antonio, John Gray’s closer days were over. The 28-year old Burns was just in his second season as a reliever (after starting his first three years with the Calzones) when Aurora made the trade, and the following season, 2029, he began his tumultuous career as the Borealis closer. He would be an All-Star three-times while with Aurora, but his poor performance in September of 2030, as the Borealis fell out of the Division lead and into the last wild card – then blowing an extra inning game in the divisional series (on a HR), blew a save in the Alliance tournament, and blowing a save in game 2 of the PEC (on a homer), which cost Aurora a 2-0 lead over West Virginia, in a series Aurora would lose.
Famously, Aurora lost all faith in Burns.
By the trade deadline in 2031, Burns was gone – traded to New Orleans for a young catcher and a 1st round pick (18th overall in 2032, which became 2B Dave Hoffman, now with Yuma). Mark Powers, who was a Rule 5 pick from Palm Springs, took over – by default, basically, for a year and a half – and he would earn 32-saves in 2032 for a 3rd place team. But in 2033, he was back into middle relief – set-up work and Ryan Tate was crowned the next closer – and for the first half, as he had 20-saves at the All-Star break, made the All-Star team – and then managed 3-saves the rest of the year, as he fell apart, losing his job to Yellel Twia. The ‘Hyena’ would hold that job for a year – earning 51 saves (second all-time for Aurora, after Burris’ 54 in 2019) in 2034, but a poor start and injury disrupted his 2035 season – a season that ‘hacked’ his career – and arguably, never recovered from.
Then, the ’Machete’ took over.
Hector Gutierrez has been a solid, productive presence in the Aurora ‘pen since his first call up in 2034, and now is in his 6th season as closer at the age of 29. But there have been cracks – and it had been cracks that sent Bob Burns packing (yet he’s posted fantastic numbers over the course of his career since leaving Aurora) – and when those cracks become an unnerving trend of late-inning homers, Aurora get’s antsy. Last year Hector blew 6-saves, finished with a 3-8 record, with unfavorable ticks in BB and K, and an organization full of angst about their 3-time All-Star and 3-time Shutdown Reliever.
And this year there continues to be concerns.
He has already allowed 4 HR – one of the latest is Monday’s 9th inning lead-off homer to the Codgers Robbie Rollins (his 14th in this, his rookie year) that cost Aurora a 2-1 loss as the teams tries to crawl themselves from the depths of the division. He would allow a homer in his next outing – which would make it three outings in a row allowing a homer. Depite the fact that Aurora won both of the other two games – 4-3 over Kalamazoo and 3-1 over the Bears, surrendering a homerun in the late innings is never a good thing - and potentially a rally sparker. The fourth homer allowed came in an April 14 10-inning loss to the Badgers, as Dae-su Hwa hit a 2-out, 2-run walk-off home to beat Gutierrez.
That’s two losses on two last-inning homers – they weren’t blown saves, but they were losses that may have been wins nonetheless.
And Aurora can’t afford to have their top reliever turn sour – not at 29 not with a 4-year extension in his pocket, and not if they have any hopes of competing this year – and beyond. When Aurora selected ‘Machete’ with the 22nd pick in 2032, they were getting a reliever (despite starting his senior year at Tokyo) with 36 saves and eye-popping strikeout numbers. They had gone from Petersen, to Gray, to Burns, with no continuity – and Gutierrez was the future – to bring home stability – and he did, fast-tracking to The Front Range in just a year-and-a-half (44-starts and 251 IP), posting a 2.12 ERA and 103 K as a rookie.
It's not just the blown saves – it’s the tied games he comes in an loses. His last appearace, against Bakersfield was #400 and over those appearnces he’s picked up 37 losses. Juan Suarez pitched in 318 games and had just 14 losses (4.4%). In his 1,041 appearances, Bryant Burris lost just 67 – a 6.4% rate, and John Gray lost 5.9% of his 776 appearances. Gutierrez is at 9.25% - on pace for 96 losses over Burris’ record number of games. Aurora has played 30 games, and ‘Machete’ has appeared in 46% - which equates to 75 appearances. That puts him on pace to lose 6-games. Burris surpassed 6 losses just 4 times in his 15-seasons – and should Gutierrez reach 6 this year, it would already be four-times he’d reach/surpass that figure in half the number of years.
Six losses may not have been much for the 2021-2023 championship teams, but this iteration of the Aurora Borealis can not afford to lose any game they have a shot at late.
For now, they must trust Hector. The ‘pen has been great – despite the concerns, but with rookie Xisto Tamayo – who was slated for bullpen work, slipping into the rotation (for now), fear still exists that the margin for error is greater than it appears. Twia has been inconsistent since his 2035 oblique injury that cost him 6-weeks and his closer job, and there are two other youngsters – Martin Gutierrez and Rafael Ruiz, who still have plenty to prove. Barry Rodriguez, despite a solid start, also has a habit of allowing homers at inopportune times.
With an aging rotation, Aurora will need to depend heavily on their ‘pen. Armando Batista, in his 9th season, is 33, and has averaged over 190 IP over the past 6-years, and over his career has been Aurora’s most consistent starter. Henry Cluett, in his 10th season, is 32, and will be 33 in September. He had four outstanding seasons to start his career, with over 200 IP per season; the last four have been shakier – and this year doesn’t look much better, with teams making much more solid contact thus far. ‘Slug’, also in his 9th season, had a bounce back year in 2039, but 2040 has been so poor that he’s been benched.
A decline is inevitable, and only Clark has a contract that is guaranteed past this season – illustrating that the organization had already anticipated this day. With no sure-fire replacement on the horizon – 21-year old Dae-hyun Pak, at AAA, is the most likely option (3-3, 5.40 in 7 GS at Thornton), the pressure on the bullpen to take the leads they are given and hold them is paramount – starting now, if Aurora has any chance of contending.
So that puts the pressure on Hector Gutierrez. He needs to pull the stone out and sharpen the machete. A dull blade puts undue pressure on Rodriguez and ‘Werewolf’; on the starters, and on an offense whose power woes are all to well documented and yet they persist with an organization that appears to not be too concerned. They should. But that’s a whole other bag of concern.
