Should Venters Replace Kimbrel as the Braves Closer?

Craig Kimbrel blew another save last night against the Marlins. He came into the game with a 2-0 lead and gave up 2 runs before striking out the side. The question everyone wants to know after another poor performance by Kimbrel is: Should Jonny Venters replace Craig Kimbrel as the closer? In my opinion yes, but it's not an easy decision. 

Kimbrel has set the record for the most saves before the All-Star break by a rookie with 18. He has looked good at times this season, but has rarely finished off the game with a clean inning. Kimbrel has an ERA of 3.19, which ranks 42nd among National League relievers with a minimum of 20 innings pitched.  His WHIP is at 1.29 is ranked 44th among National League relievers, which is even higher than Scott Linebrink (ranked 41st) who has pitched poorly for the Braves this season. And as Braves beat writer David O'Brien pointed out, Kimbrel has a 4.70 ERA with 3 blown saves in his last 16 appearances, pushing his blown save total up to 5 on the year. Simply put, he hasn't been as effective as the Braves need him to be. Especially since the Braves have not been scoring many runs as of late.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez simply chalks it up to a "learning curve" as Kimbrel is learning how to effectively become a closer in his first full season in the bigs. However, if you take a look at Venters numbers, you can't deny that he deserves a shot to be the guy that gets the call in the 9th inning. He has been the nastiest reliever in the entire MLB with that power slider, and of course, the fastball that rushes up to the plate in the mid 90s. He has the best ERA in the MLB with a miniscule 0.48, and his whip ranks third among all MLB relievers at 0.74. Oh, and don't forget, he has yet to give up a home run while opposing batters have a slugging percentage of just .165 against him. Needless to say, Venters has been virtually unhittable in just about all of his majors leading 34 appearances, and he has been the best reliever in all of baseball. Buster Olney even mentioned on Baseball Tonight that Venters should be a Cy Young candidate to this point in the season, and I completely agree.

So I say, why not give Venters a shot? Maybe if Fredi shifts Kimbrel to the setup spot it gives him a little bit more confidence by taking away the pressure that closing brings with it. And I don't think there is any doubt that Venters can handle the 9th, as he has come in during pressure situations and dominated time and time again. Some say that Kimbrel is the closer of the future with his high 90s fastball, and you don't want to mess that up by removing him from the position in just his rookie season. But he did not seem to care when there was talk in spring training about the two pitchers sharing saves duties, and I think he can handle it while realizing that Venters has been purely dominant all season. To me, it does not make sense why you would not put the best reliever in baseball in the most important relief spot, and I think that Fredi should make the change.