By Matt Snyder After blowing his first save of the season -- in allowing two unearned runs after a Jamey Carroll error, mind you -- Jonathan Broxton has been removed as the primary closer for the Dodgers, according to general manager Ned Colletti. He said as much on KABC Los Angeles Tuesday. He noted that the Dodgers will use a trio of guys in closing situations: Hong-Chih Kuo. Vicente Padilla and Broxton.
Of course, manager Don Mattingly told Broxton he was still the Dodgers' closer, reports the LA Times . So either Colletti met with Mattingly and the two decided to leave Broxton in the role or the manager and general manager are not on the same page.
Though Broxton, 26, has only blown one save in six chances and it wasn't totally his fault, he hasn't been lights out by any measure. He has a 4.35 ERA and 1.84 WHIP through 11 outings. In 10 1/3 innings, the troubling items are 12 hits, two home runs and seven walks. Colletti implied the move to be less a demotion for Broxton than a way to help him regain his confidence.
Kuo, 29, is a lefty and had 12 saves last season with a sparkling 1.20 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. He struck out 73 in 60 innings. This season he's thrown just 2 2/3 innings, so it's such a small sample we can't really draw any conclusions.
Padilla, 33, has been primarily a starter throughout his career, with 237 of his career 323 appearances coming as starts. He does have two career saves, but those came back in 2000. He's only had two outings so far this season, after beginning the season on the disabled list.
For more baseball news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsmlb on Twitter or subscribe to the RSS feed.
