The Closer Report: May 21, 2009

Saves: 7

Save Opportunities: 8

Franklin, Hoffman and Fuentes join the leaders at 11 saves

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

The saves slowed down a bit today, but there was still plenty of action. Ryan Franklin continues to relish his new role as St. Louis's closer. He got his 11th save of the season tonight and has the numbers to back it up. Overall Franklin has a tiny 1.53 ERA and an even smaller WHIP of 0.81. He has clearly surprised everyone and has so far been one of the the top waiver pickup of 2009.

Fernando Rodney started slow this year, but of late has been on fire. He has scored saves in 3 straight games and now has 8 saves on the season. He had a bit of a rocky inning tonight, but held the Rangers scoreless and secured the 4-3 win.

Mariano Rivera recorded his second save of the week, but has had a slow month of May with only 4 saves. He easily dispatched Orioles to get his 9th save of the season.

Joel Hanrahan came back as the closer for Washington and pitched a great inning for his 4th save. He struck out two and gave up a hit in one of his best performances of the year. While Manny Acta hasn't formally announced that Hanrahan is the closer, he made a statement today by not having any faith in Kip Wells to close out the 9th. Wells was rested and hadn't pitched since May 18th. If you held on to Hanrahan as I did, you got your closer back. Hopefully, crazy Manny could change that.

The lone blown save for the day goes to Brian Wilson of the Giants. Heath Bell came into a 1-1 tie in the 9th and gave up his first run of the season and looked to take the loss. Wilson however doubled up Bell and took the loss along with the blown save. In all 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs. Bell was hammered in his first bad outing of the season and was lucky to get away with only giving up one run thanks to a slow Bengie Molina. He gave up 4 hits in the innings. He officially has a ERA, although its a microscopic 0.50.

Other appearances:
Brian Fuentes (11) - Fuentes is hot with 7 saves in May.

Chad Qualls (10) Getting chances with good starting pitching of lately.

Trevor Hoffman (11) - He is on a tear and he started the season on the DL.

Jonathan Papelbon. Francona wanted to sweep Toronto bad and he used Paps to guarantee it.

Brad Ziegler - Took the loss by giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk. He did not record an out.

The Closer Report: May 20, 2009

Saves: 14

Save Opportunities: 14

13 save day for fantasy baseball, Bell and Broxton continue hot streaks

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

I thought yesterday was a great day for closers, but today was amazing. 14 of the 17 games were saved and there wasn't one blown save.

To start, Kerry Wood rebounded from his disastrous blown save yesterday, but didn't make it easy on himself. He walked the bases loaded before striking out Teahen and DeJesus to end the game. Watching this game I felt he got lucky. Teahen and Dejesus were over anxious and swung at a OK cutter and some nasty curveballs pitches. This will go down as a bad outing as far as management is concerned.

Matt Lindstrom pitched in both games of a doubleheader and recorded 1 save. He preserved the 8-6 win in game one with a perfect inning and a strikeout. He had the exact same performance in game 2, but came in with a tie score. Lindstrom looked outstanding today. He commanded all his pitches and looked like the closer we expected him to be.

Back in the American League, Brad Ziegler made his first save appearance since his bout with the flu. He looked fine pitching a perfect inning and striking out one batter. Hopefully Ziegler gets his job back after this great performance. Don't go dropping Andrew Bailey so fast. Bailey pitched two innings yesterday, and another inning on May 17th. I figure he was getting rested and Ziegler got the call. Since the A's want Ziegler at closer he should get his job back, but he will be on a short list.

Broxton and Bell continued there race of dominance bothing getting their 11th save. Bell was perfect again with 2 strikeouts, while Broxton gave up an hit and oddly didn't strikeout anyone. Easily one of these guys will be my #1 closer on Sunday.

Matt Capps and Mariano Rivera notched their 8th save of the season. Capps had a clean inning, but Rivera had to go 1.1 innings and gave up a home run to rookie Nolan Reimold.

Another significant save was David Aarsdma. He notched his fifth save of the season with a easy inning. The thing to worry about is Brandon Morrow has yet to pitch since he lost the closer job. The manager said he was going to get Morrow in quickly so he doesn't rust and he even warmed up during the Red Sox series. Hopefully this has to do with tight games and nothing to do with injury.

Chris Sampson recorded his 2nd save of the season securing a 6-4 win. He's been closing games for LaTroy Hawkins who is day-to-day with a sore hip. I wouldn't go cutting Hawkins or even picking up Sampson. He's been solid this year, but Hawkins could be back sooner then later. If you have a free roster spot, pick him up for a few possible saves.

Other Saves -

Fernando Rodney (7) - Two straight days with a save.

Ryan Franklin (10) - get hammered for an ER and a WHIP of 3.00. Still, his ERA is 1.56.

Bobbie Jenks (9) - Great performance, lowered his ERA to 2.57 on the season.

Jon Rausch (1) - Came in to save the 11-8 game in the 13thinng. He gave up a solo home run against Dan Uggla and besides that pitched well. Qualls wasn't avaible after pitching the 11th and 12th innings for the win.

Andrew Bailey Saves First Game; Zielger Still Out

Andrew Bailey threw two perfect innings in relief to record his first save of the season. Bailey stayed in for the ninth as Brad Ziegler is still recovering from his bout with the flu.

Reports said that Brad Ziegler lost up to 8 pounds and should be ready to pitch by Monday. That being said, we expect the A's to give Ziegler another 5-7 days before sliding him into the closer role. It could be longer depending on Zieglers performances.

Andrew Bailey is available in over 60% of the leagues, but he's getting picked up quickly. He should get a few save chances and you never know, he could get the job. I doubt that he will take the job from Zielger, but he's worth a roster spot if you need saves.

Closer Watch: Andrew Bailey

Andrew Bailey's time could be coming soon. From the sports xchange: Manager Bob Geren said twice over the weekend that with a few more outings under his belt, Bailey could close.

Ziegler has been good but Bailey has been unhittable. As of right now the Oakland A's rookie has been better.

Bailey has posted a 1.53 ERA while sporting a 0.74 WHIP and striking out a nice 20 batters in 17 innings.

Being that Geren felt the need to mention this more then once and that Ziegler is a over achiever, I see Baily becoming the full time closer in Oakland real soon.

Pick him up if you have the bench space toy on him until he is officially getting saves.

The Bay State Scout.

Oakland A's Closer Report

In spring training the A's were set to have two closers and use them both often. However, things changed when Joey Devine sprained his pitching elbow and in my opinion that was a good thing for the A's. He is on the 60-Day DL and won't likely pitch again this year and if he does, it won't be as closer.

Brad Ziegler is a solid closer for the A's. His Dan Quisenberry submarine-style of pitching really works for a closer. Its an odd and rarely seen pitching style and hitters don't look forward to the change in the final inning of a game. That is a hard adjustment to make and is a big reason for Ziegler's success.

If you have Devine on your roster, cut him. He's not worth holding. So far this season Ziegler has been great. He has recorded 3 saves, a 2.57 ERA, and 6 K's in seven innings. Continue to expect production out of the A's closer and expect a 30+ save year for a healthy Brad Ziegler.

Closers In Line

With many closers starting off quite poorly, there are a few setup men out there that can evolve into serviceable closers. Manny Corpas(COL)- Huston Street is leaving off right where he left off last year. 5.40 ERA and 2.40 WHIP. When Billy Beane gets rid of you he knows your best days are behind you. Corpas has been lights out so far. Not allowing any runs and has a WHIP under .50. Corpas will be the closer by mid-May. Michael Wuertz(OAK)- Everyone is starting to catch on to Brad Ziegler and Joey Devine has visited Dr. James Andrews which is never good. There are a ton of young arms out there in Oakland but as of right now Wuertz has been the front runner to replace Ziegler assuming he doesn't turn it around. Wuertz only owned in 3% of Yahoo leagues. Jensen Lewis(CLE)- This is a long shot but Kerry Wood is one blister on his finger from being out for the season. Jensen has not been great to start the year but last year he closed 13 of 14 games for the Tribe. Keep Jensen on your watch list he's only owned in 2% of Yahoo leagues. Scout Berardi