Closer Report Week 5 - Wood Returns, Street Rehabs, and a Mess in Philly

  • Tuesday, May 11, 2010 6:24 PM
  • Written By: AccuScore

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This week in the Closer Report we take a look at some rehabbing pitchers, unsettled situations in Philadelphia and Colorado, and two big-name closers struggling in the American League.

AL

Closer

Back-up to own

BAL

Alfredo Simon**

Cla Meredith, Gonzalez (DL)

BOS

Jonathan Papelbon

Daniel Bard

CHW

Bobby Jenks

Matt Thornton

CLE

Kerry Wood

Chris Perez

DET

Jose Valverde

Ryan Perry, Joel Zumaya

KC

Joakim Soria

Kyle Farnsworth

LAA

Brian Fuentes

Fernando Rodney

MIN

Jon Rauch

Matt Guerrier

NYY

Mariano Rivera

Joba Chamberlain

OAK

Andrew Bailey

Brad Ziegler

SEA

David Aardsma

Brandon League

TB

Rafael Soriano

Grant Balfour

TEX

Neftali Feliz

Frank Francisco

TOR

Kevin Gregg

Jason Frasor

**temporary closer

 

• I’ve taken Neftali Feliz off temporary status.  He’s converted 9 of 10 saves opportunities, and has now twice gone back-to-back outings without incident. Even better, he hasn’t walked a batter since 4/14, a span of 12 innings. I think he’ll stay in the closer role all season.

• The Indians have been cautious with Kerry Wood, but he finally made his return last Friday. He came in during the 7th inning and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. He came in again in the 7th on Sunday and got an out. Eric Wedge has said though that he will be back in the closer’s role this week, and he is safe to own for now. Keep Chris Perez around though, just in case.

• Bobby Jenks finally might lose his job. In his last 7 appearances he has given up 8 earned runs. His last outing on Sunday was horrendous as he failed to get an out allowing a double, a single, then a three-run bomb. There is some hope though as Jenks’ xFIP (fielding independent pitching with normalized home run rates) is 3.07 compared to his 6.75 ERA.  But still, he won’t keep his job if can’t stop walking guys. Matt Thornton is probably the next in line as a power lefty with a K/9 at an electric 14.67. Thornton is pitching with control too with a career best 1.76 BB/9.  Scott Linebrink could potentially be in the mix, but Thornton is clearly the top candidate to replace Jenks.

• Do you know who’s not a good pitcher?  Brian Fuentes, and the Angels probably knew that when they signed Fernando Rodney. Fuentes has already given up 3 home runs and walked 4 batters in just 7.2 innings. He’s giving up a ton of fly balls with poor control so it’s no wonder that when batters make contact the ball is flying out of the park. Rodney has shown poor control as well this year, but it seems inevitable that Fuentes loses his job at some point this season.

NL

Closer

Back-up to own

ARI

Chad Qualls

Juan Gutierrez

ATL

Billy Wagner

Takashi Saito

CHC

Carlos Marmol

Carlos Zambrano

CIN

Francisco Cordero

Arthur Rhodes

COL

Manny Corpas?

 Street (DL)

FLA

Leo Nuñez

Renyel Pinto

HOU

Matt Lindstrom

Brandon Lyon

LAD

Jonathan Broxton

Troncoso, Sherrill

MIL

Trevor Hoffman

LaTroy Hawkins

NYM

Francisco Rodriguez

Pedro Feliciano

PHI

Brad Lidge

Jose Contreras

PIT

Octavio Dotel

Evan Meek

SD

Heath Bell

Mike Adams

SF

Brian Wilson

Jeremy Affeldt

STL

Ryan Franklin

Jason Motte

WAS

Matt Capps

Clippard, Batista

**temporary closer

• Huston Street will start his rehab assignment on Thursday.  He should be back on 5/25 if there are no setbacks, and he can’t come back soon enough for Colorado. Franklin Morales is now on the DL with shoulder issues. Manny Corpas pitched very well in April, but has been terrible in May allowing 6 earned runs in 5.2 innings with 1 blown save and a loss. I would guess Corpas gets another shot, but if he fails in that outing, the next chance would probably go to another reliever based on match-ups. Beimel, Belisle and Daley would be in the mix, but they have only 5 career saves combined. If Street was dropped in your league, this is obviously a grab-and-stash situation.

• Brad Lidge felt something in his elbow and was unavailable Monday. Any discomfort in the arm for a player with Lidge’s injury history is cause for alarm. With Madson on the DL, owning Jose Contreras is a must if you own Lidge. I’m expecting Lidge to miss some more time.

• Matt Capps already has 13 saves so he’s entrenched as the closer. Tyler Clippard has great numbers, but is curiously allowing plenty of inherited runners to score. These don’t affect his own ERA, but is still not a good sign for a guy that’s supposed to be a set-up man. Because of this stat quirk, Clippard actually blew three consecutive saves and gotten three wins while his ERA rose just 0.32.  He’s still striking guys out so I would assume he’s the primary back-up. Miguel Batista got a rogue save Monday because both Capps and Clippard had pitched the prior two days.





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