Not everyone thinks that general manager Frank Wren made the smartest move in signing Billy Wagner. After all, he was coming back from Tommy John surgery and was up in age. However, the 17 late-season relief appearances proved impressive enough for the Braves to bring him to Atlanta to serve as their new closer.
Wagner appeared to struggle with his command during his Grapefruit League debut last Friday.
The veteran closer seemed to be more relaxed on Tuesday night after working a scoreless inning during the Braves' 7-4 loss to the Phillies at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex.
When Wagner entered the game at the top of the fourth inning, he was greeted by a loud chorus of boos from Phillies fans, who used to cheer him when he served as Philadelphia's closer in 2004 and '05.
Wagner opened this appearance with a strikeout of Jayson Werth, who has gone 2-for-4 in his career against the veteran.
Then, after having the misfortune of seeing his tight slider strike the right-handed-hitting Ben Francisco in the right foot, Wagner ended his assignment against the Phillies with Brian Schneider's double-play groundout.
After hitting Francisco, Wagner threw to first base four times, and subsequently was greeted at the mound by an inquisitive Brian McCann, who wanted to know if his new closer was thinking he was seeing a sign to throw over to first base. Wagner told McCann that he was working on his pickoff throw to first.
At 38 years old and just 15 saves shy of becoming the fifth Major Leaguer to ever record 400, Wagner will continue working on things with the hope that by the time Opening Day arrives on April 5, he'll be even better than he was on March 9.
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Source: MLB.com