Don't Bury Joe Nathan yet

Sports fans have embraced the what have you done for me lately attitude, giving no one a chance to have a rough patch or a bad outing. As soon as anything goes wrong they are calling for a player to be added to the starting line up, pitching rotation, to be the new closer, etc. This is also referred to as backup quarterback syndrome, and no saying is more true than the grass is always greener on the other side.

People are already calling for Rangers closer Joe Nathans head. Ready to replace him with set up men, Mike Adams or Alexi Ogando. Adams, and Ogando have both converted saves on off days for Nathan and that has furthered the cries for him to be replaced. The Rangers already feature a strong bullpen with Nathan at closer, Adams and Ogando as setup men, Uehara and Lowe as middle men, rookie Robbie Ross as the lone left hander, and Scott Feldman at long man.

Nathan has a proven track record as a closer which gives Nathan the edge over guys who have had success but never as a closer in Adams and Ogando. He has saved 263 games in his career and has done it for playoff teams in Minnesota in the past. He's comfortable in that role and the Ranger bullpen is strongest right now with him in that role. Ron Washington might have to continue to give Nathan days off until he is ready to close three days in a row on occasion. With the strength of the Rangers bullpen there isn't a problem giving Nathan the occasional day off. Ogando and Adams will be able to close on occasion when Nathan is not available with Uehara and Lowe setting up.

Two bad games don't define a season for a pitcher, and one "bad game" was a lone homerun. A common expression used in baseball is that this is the only sport where you can fail 7 times out of 10 and be considered great. This applies here to Joe Nathan, no he can fail 7 out of ten times when it comes to saving games, but he is going to have an occasional rough outing. No one is perfect, Joe Nathan is human and is going to have an occasional struggle, but now is not the time to give up on your closer when the season is only 8 games old. 

Baseball is a long season, and it is tough to not overreact. Over the course of a 162 game season the Rangers seem more comfortable than not with handing the ball to Nathan in the 9th inning with a 3 run lead or less to protect.