By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Throughout the offseason and into Spring Training, Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said that he believed that Jeanmar Gomez had earned a chance to be the team's closer to open 2017, despite a disastrous end to an otherwise very successful 2016. Mackanin gave him that chance, but it appears that he did so with a very short leash.
After Gomez allowed a two-run home run prior to recording his first save in the season-opener, the 29-year-old blew his second save attempt of the year in the Phillies' eventual 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals Sunday. Gomez entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead, only to see the lead disappear after he allowed Ryan Zimmerman to launch a game-tying three-run home run.
Following the game, Mackanin seemed to hint to the collective media, which included Corey Seidman of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, that he will make a change at the closer's role:
Pete Mackanin says he'll talk with Jeanmar Gomez tonight re: closer's role and have decision tomorrow. Sure sounds like change coming.
— Corey Seidman (@CoreySeidmanCSN) April 9, 2017
Mackanin did say go on to say that he felt it was important to speak to Gomez before making any decisions, but him publicly making this comment leads you to believe that Gomez won't be the team's closer moving forward.
If Mackanin does indeed make a change, he's got plenty of options. Joaquin Benoit has 51 career saves, while both Hector Neris and Edubray Ramos' pitching repertoires seem more suited to pitch in the ninth inning than Gomez. Neris, who pitched an 1.1 today, seems like he would be the most likely person to get a chance to replace Gomez.
Gomez, who is in a contract year, seized the closer's job under similar circumstances early in 2016 and nearly made the National League All-Star team. He ended up losing the closer's job in September last year, a month in which he posted a 19.13 ERA.
Perhaps Mackanin should have had a more serious competition for the closer's role in Spring Training, but if you went based off of spring, Gomez posted an 0.84 ERA and very well may have won the job. The correct course of action for the organization to take may have been to decide to open the year with Neris as the closer regardless of spring, simply because he seems best suited to pitch in the ninth inning. Instead, it appears that the Phillies are in a position where they have to awkwardly make a change at the closer's spot just one week into the season.
