For three years, reliever Guillermo Mota of the Florida Marlins has built an impressive reputation as one of baseball's best setup men.

 

Now the 31-year-old with a 96-mph fastball gets his chance as the Marlins' closer, and all the team needs him to do is learn one of the most pressure-packed jobs in sports so Florida can make the postseason for the second time in three Octobers.

 

"You can't win without a dependable closer," says Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who last season relied on Armando Benitez (47 saves, 1.29 ERA), the new closer for the San Francisco Giants.

 

The good news is that closers usually need only three outs and come in with a fresh slate. The bad news is there is often no room for error.

 

There is more to closing than mixing fastballs and sliders.

 

Pitchers and coaches agree successful closers need pinpoint control, the ability to avoid pitching deep into counts and steady emotions.

 

But the most important trait might be a short-term memory.

 

"It's something you are born with, so it's not something you develop," Philadelphia Phillies closer Billy Wagner says. "When you slump, you start to doubt yourself. You read the papers and everyone is bashing you. Saving a game a day after you blow a save is the hardest thing about this job. Talent alone will not get you 84 (saves) in a row."

 

St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen knows about short-term memory. One of his first blown saves for the 1998 Oakland Athletics came on two pitches.

 

Back then, "a short-term memory lasted a week and a half," Isringhausen says. "When a pitcher blows a couple of saves, he thinks, 'Now what?' You don't want it to snowball. Now a short-term memory is easier to deal with. I'm ready to throw the same pitch tomorrow that I got beat with today."

 

Pitch efficiency is also important because a closer might need to work four games in a week. Houston Astros manager Phil Garner says a good closer finishes an inning in 10-12 pitches and doesn't worry about strikeouts.

 

"If the count is 1-1, a third-pitch strike is absolutely critical," Garner says.

 

Dan Kolb, who will close for the Atlanta Braves after saving 39 games for the lowly Milwaukee Brewers last season, says he helped his pitch efficiency by throwing his fastball at various speeds. It helped his control and saved his arm.

 

He says he throws 90% fastballs in four locations ? in, out, up, down. Last season, he was an All-Star and became the first closer to have more saves than strikeouts (21 in 57 1/3 innings). Kolb figures 20 of his first 25 saves took him 10 or fewer pitches.

 

"My arm felt great at the end of the year for the first time in a long time," Kolb says.

 

Closers have different strengths. Boston's Keith Foulke is known for his changeup, the Yankees' Mariano Rivera for his cutter, San Diego's Trevor Hoffman for his deception, Minnesota's Joe Nathan for his overall command and Los Angeles' Eric Gagne for his fastball, curve and changeup that are considered the best stuff in the game.

 

Paul Quantrill, who was a setup man for Gagne with the Dodgers and is doing the same for Rivera with the Yankees, says what makes the two closers perhaps the best around is that they throw strikes.

 

"It's one thing to have good stuff," he says. "It's another to be able to locate it. Gagne and Rivera can put their fastballs and cutters anywhere they want them. That sets them apart from the others."

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/20...bonus-9th_x.htm

Hopefully we see that 96 MPH fastball because I didn't see it in that last ST game

I still have my doubts about Mota (and the bullpen in general). I hope he proves me wrong like Benitez did last season.

Hopefully we see that 96 MPH fastball because I didn't see it in that last ST game

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Yeah, we didn't see it. That worries me.