Conversations with the Herd: Rays Closer Bryan Baker

By: Brian Frank

Bryan Baker has established himself as one of baseball's most dominant closers this season. The Tampa Bay Rays closer has a 1.49 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings pitched, and he’s tied for the major league lead in saves with 30. Baker recently spoke with The Herd Chronicles about his remarkable season, his first All-Star selection, and a moment he’ll never forget—closing out the Midsummer Classic.

Baker credits much of his success this season to consistency and more frequent use of his changeup.

"Just being consistent and kind of just going with everything the organization has given me here," Baker said of what's led to his success. "Trying to use all my resources around me and really trusting everybody around me. I think it's helped out a lot. I think I've relied on the changeup a little bit more this year. It's always been my best off-speed pitch, but just the tweak I made with it going into last year took it to another level, and then I've just been kind of continuing to go with that. I think the percentage has gone up a pretty good amount on it in terms of how much I use it now, so I've been leaning on that as well."

Baker is tied for the most saves in MLB with 30.

Baker isn’t alone in reaching his full potential after joining Tampa Bay. The Rays organization has built a reputation across baseball for getting the most out of its players.

"I just think it's a lot of really smart people working together and bouncing ideas off each other and finding what really works for each individual person that kind of might make you different," Baker said. "They're really good at finding outliers. Maybe you have a really weird pitch that not many other people have that you can use more. Even sequencing, getting to use that and making sure you're ahead and just putting yourself in a good spot to give yourself the best chance to have success against these really good hitters because it's not easy to go out there and get outs efficiently. I think that they just do a really good job of finding what you're really good at and giving you the confidence to go do that, and then also on the other side of it, finding little areas that you can improve that will, in turn, help what you do well. It's been a really fun year. It's about almost exactly a year now since I've been over here. So, just the way they run things and the confidence they give you is pretty special."

This is Baker’s first time in a full-time closer’s role since he collected 11 saves for the 2021 Bisons. It’s a job he approaches as he would any other bullpen role—although adrenaline often kicks in during big situations.

"I think for me, sometimes it just feels the exact same," Baker said. "It's still baseball, and you’ve got to go out there and get three outs. Then other times it feels a little bit different. Sometimes you have a little more adrenaline, and it's a really big spot, and you know it's just down to you to get those last three outs. I think that alone just gives you a little bit extra juice and motivation to go out there and seal the win for your team. So there's a little something extra there at times, and then, like I said, other times it kind of feels the exact same. So, kind of depends on the day."

On the mound for the 2021 Bisons. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Baker's standout year earned him a spot on the American League All-Star team, an honor he learned of during a team meeting in Houston on the Fourth of July. The news, he said, caught him off guard.

"It was a surprise to me, just something I wasn't really looking for," Baker said. "You know, even right up next to it, I was really focused on just continuing to pitch well. It's something I wasn't really looking for at all, so it was a pleasant surprise. Getting to experience that was pretty special, especially with four other of my teammates as well. I think we had the most people there. So that was pretty special."

All-Star week festivities leading up to the game were a thrill for the 6'6" right-hander.

"They do such a good job of scheduling the whole weekend for us," Baker said. "Getting to experience it with your family, you get to have them out there. It's obviously special."

"Just getting to sit back and relax and watch the home run derby in person," he continued. "Then kind of getting to meet everybody that was involved with the weekend as well. It probably took the cake for me. It's something you might not ever get to do again, so it's super special to me. Anytime you're watching the home run derby from 10 feet away, and you're meeting people like Ken Griffey Jr. and just stuff you would never you envision. It was pretty special to me, and it'll be something I never forget."

As a first-time All-Star on a loaded American League pitching staff, the 31-year-old was unsure whether he’d actually pitch in the game. To his surprise, he ended up being the final pitcher on the mound in the A.L.'s 4-0 victory. He said he found out he’d be coming in to record the final out of the game "Right as it happened."

After Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth inning, Blue Jays manager John Schneider made the signal for Baker to come in to finish the ballgame.

"I think everybody had an assigned inning besides me and one or two other guys," Baker explained. "Credit to [John] Schneider and Pete [Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker] over there. They did a good job getting everybody in."

"It just happened to work out that way," he continued. "At one point, I was going to be warming up in the first and second inning if somebody hit a pitch limit or something. It was a very, just kind of wait for your opportunity type of game. I was staying loose the whole game and just waiting to see. But it kind of worked out perfectly because Chapman got to start the ninth and got two outs and just gave me a clean one out to get just to finish the game and preserve the shutout. Probably couldn't have been written up better for me, honestly."

Baker allowed a single to former Bisons teammate Otto Lopez before getting Reds infielder Sal Stewart to ground back to the mound for the game’s final out.

Recording the last out of an All-Star Game was the thrill of a lifetime.

"Like I said, we didn't have any scheduling at all, so I had no idea," Baker said. "But you know, being a first timer and, I would consider myself at the bottom of the totem pole compared to everybody else that was there, especially the arms we had in the bullpen. I wasn't even expecting to throw, so just even to get in at all was great. But getting in there for the last out and to close it out made it even more special. Then also getting to throw with my former teammate catching me, Adley Rutschman from Baltimore. You honestly couldn't have scripted it any better for me."

As memorable as the All-Star break was, Baker's focus has shifted back to the task at hand. The Rays currently own the best record in the American League at 64-44 and have their sights set on October. Baker points to the team's lack of ego and its even-keeled approach as the driving force behind its success.

"I think it's the consistency and everybody really buying into their role here," Baker said of what makes this Rays team special. "I think it's pretty special when you get a group together that doesn't have a lot of ego. This is one of the most even-keeled teams I've ever been a part of in terms of how pro of an approach everybody has. We don't get too caught up in what's already happened, and we don't look too far ahead. We're pretty good at staying present and really just trying to win the day and then go one day at a time. It's cliche to say, but it's very effective, and I think this group does a really good job of it."

"And, obviously we have standout top of the lineup guys," he continued. "Yandy [Diaz] has been killing it. Junior [Caminero] is a generational player in my opinion. Then our starting pitching has really set the tone for us, and the bullpen's come in and done a good job behind them as well. So, you can point to a lot of different areas. I think that's what makes us good is the versatility and kind of that old school type of baseball sometimes too, where we don't really rely on a lot of home runs sometimes, and we've got a lot of fast athletic guys. It's a different brand of baseball, I think, and it's been really fun to watch up close."

As remarkable as this season has been for Baker, with October on the horizon, the best may be yet to come.