I definitely agree that you have to consider in-clubhouse factors and the mental state of your closer. It's why I hardly ever give Wedge (or Thompson) flak about their lineups; they're the ones on the ground there, not me. If there's some reason why your closer needs the late-game atmosphere to be really effective, or whatever, then... sure. The manager'd know that better than me.
But there's not a whole lot of reason to believe that with Farquhar, is there? I mean, he's basically been a middle reliever for the last couple years... he's got, what, six saves? You're right. Very weird to treat him like a marquee closer. You'd think that the new guys on the job, like Farquhar and 2012 Wilhelmsen, would be the ones to get used in tie games, but I guess not under the Wedge regime.
I don't buy that ALL premier closers need to come in only in save situations, either. Part of why this ticked me off is because we'd literally just seen Ron Washington throw star closer Joe Nathan out there to hold the Mariners in a tie game (sure, Nathan imploded, but I also remember Wash having done this with him before and getting very good results out of it.) Texas doesn't seem to share the belief that closers should be exclusive to save situations.
It wouldn't be that hard, to allow yourself to get the closer warmed up in time for a tie. You don't even have to burn him before the ninth in close games. Just, if it's a tight score, warm him up to be ready for the ninth inning, just in case you take the lead, and then if you're tied - hey! Our best reliever's ready to go!
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