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MLB closers this year


isestrex

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A quick glance at the teams and their closer situations coming into spring training.

Braves: Kimbrel (doing well)

Marlins: Bell (demoted)

Mets: F. Fransico (horrible but still in place due to even worse options behind him)

Nationals: Storen (injured for 1st half)

Phillies: Papelbon (doing well)

Astros: Myers (doing well)

Brewers: Axford (doing well, better after a rough start)

Cardinals: Motte (doing well)

Cubs: Marmol (demoted)

Pirates: Hanrahan (doing well)

Reds: Madson (injured out for the year)

D-Backs: Putz (struggling but entrenched in the role)

Dodgers: Guerra (struggling and nearly demoted)

Giants: Wilson (injured out for the year)

Padres: Street (injured...naturally)

Rockies: Betancourt (doing well)

Blue Jays: Santos (injured)

Orioles: Johnson (kickin ass!!)

Rays: Rodney (doing shockingly well)

Red Sox: Bailey (injured for the first half)

Yankees: Rivera (injured out for the year)

Indians: Perez (doing well)

Royals: Soria (injured out for the year)

Tigers: Valverde (struggling but firmly entrenched)

Twins: Capps (struggling but still in place due to even worse options behind him)

White Sox: Santiago (demoted)

Angels: Walden (demoted)

A's: Balfour (horrible but still in place due to even worse options behind him)

Mariners: League (doing well)

Rangers: Nathan (doing well, better after a slow start)

Of the 30 pitchers:

4 have been demoted

6 more could lose their job if something opened up

8 are injured (4 of which are out for the year)

That's 18 of 30 teams upset with their closer situation. Only 12 teams in baseball have a respectable and reliable closer.

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A quick glance at the teams and their closer situations coming into spring training.

Blue Jays: Santos (injured)

Orioles: Johnson (kickin ass!!)

Rays: Rodney (doing shockingly well)

Red Sox: Bailey (injured for the first half)

Yankees: Rivera (injured out for the year)

If you are listing Bailey as the Red Sox closer then you should have Farnsworth as the Ray's closer. Farnsworth was put on the DL after Bailey was.

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If you are listing Bailey as the Red Sox closer then you should have Farnsworth as the Ray's closer. Farnsworth was put on the DL after Bailey was.

This is heading into Spring Training... it was my understanding that the closer situation in Tampa was still undecided and Rodney won the position (mostly due to Farnsworth absence). I can change, if this is incorrect.

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This is heading into Spring Training... it was my understanding that the closer situation in Tampa was still undecided and Rodney won the position (mostly due to Farnsworth absence). I can change, if this is incorrect.

He closed for them last season and did well. He was every bit as assured of his position as Johnson was.

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D-Backs: Putz (struggling but entrenched in the role)

Dodgers: Guerra (struggling and nearly demoted)

Giants: Wilson (injured out for the year)

Padres: Street (injured...naturally)

Rockies: Betancourt (doing well)

Guerra did indeed lose his closer's job today. Kenley Jansen replaced him.

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Yep. Picking up Robertson (Yanks) and Jansen (above) a couple of weeks ago should really pay off, fantasy-wise.

You suck BTW. You literally picked up Robertson an hour before I was going to and Jansen was my fault for thinking he would slip through waiver wire. I knew i should have put the claim in.

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Yep. Picking up Robertson (Yanks) and Jansen (above) a couple of weeks ago should really pay off, fantasy-wise.

This is my current bullpen, too.

Closers are always a weird commodity. You get 2-3 of them who are obviously entrenched but if I were a manager I'd like to think I'd have the stones to go with whoever was hottest at the moment versus having set roles.

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This is my current bullpen, too.

Closers are always a weird commodity. You get 2-3 of them who are obviously entrenched but if I were a manager I'd like to think I'd have the stones to go with whoever was hottest at the moment versus having set roles.

I've got Putz, too, who's been rocky but will probably be fine (regardless, I have D. Hernandez as a back-up.)

I think it's an under-utilized approach to snatch up High-K, low-ERA/WHIP guys in bunches - they generally become closers, and if not, they still supplement your starter numbers well. Robertson, Hernandez and Jansen, even if not closing, were giving me like 14K/9IP.

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I've got Putz, too, who's been rocky but will probably be fine (regardless, I have D. Hernandez as a back-up.)

I think it's an under-utilized approach to snatch up High-K, low-ERA/WHIP guys in bunches - they generally become closers, and if not, they still supplement your starter numbers well. Robertson, Hernandez and Jansen, even if not closing, were giving me like 14K/9IP.

I've never been good with the math side of things, but it's long been my opinion that closers contribute so little to the overall "pie" of innings (versus starters) that spending early picks on them is a bad idea. Sure, a closer with a sub-2 ERA and a K rate above 10 is nice but if my closers can just get me saves I don't really care what the rest of their peripherals are like.

It's seemed to work out for me so far, as I'm usually in contention in my leagues.

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I've never been good with the math side of things, but it's long been my opinion that closers contribute so little to the overall "pie" of innings (versus starters) that spending early picks on them is a bad idea. Sure, a closer with a sub-2 ERA and a K rate above 10 is nice but if my closers can just get me saves I don't really care what the rest of their peripherals are like.

It's seemed to work out for me so far, as I'm usually in contention in my leagues.

I don't spend on closers (well, I picked Putz up, but that was it) in the draft. But, if you have non-closer versions of Robertson, Hernandez and Jansen, and they give you last year's production, you're getting 283 Ks in 191 IP, with a sub-2.50 ERA.

That's essentially like adding Sandy Koufax to your rotation, with no starts-per-week issues.

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Remember all the hand-wringing over Johnson's lack of velocity this spring? He's down a small tick this year (93.6 average fastball) but the movement is better than ever and he's 8/8 in save chances, 0.00 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and only four hits allowed that have left the infield.

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