The Closer Report: April 16, 2010 5 Saves, 1 Blown Save

SAVES:
Matt Capps (5) - Capps is on fire.  Needed only two outs and seven pitches to record his fifth save of the season.  He even added in a strikeout.

Andrew Bailey (1) - Bailey finally recorded a save and looked great doing it.  He needed only 13 pitches and gave up a harmless hit disposing fo the Orioles.

Ryan Franklin (4) - Franklin pitched to contact tonight and was hammered, but held on for the save.  He gave up two runs on three hits and ballooned his season ERA to 7.20.

Ryan Madson (3) - Looke sharp recording the last two outs of tonight's game sealing a 8-6 win.  He needed only 6 pitches and gave up a hit.

Fernando Rodney (2) - Pitched another quick perfect inning and notched his second save in as many days.

BLOWN SAVES:
Octavio Dotel (1-0, BS 1) - Dotel had a rough night, but ended up with the win.  He gave up a triple to Chris Dickerson and later let him score on a flyball that was sandwiched between two strikeouts.  His season ERA now sits at 5.40 with the lone blown save.

APPEARANCES:

Jonathan Papelbon - Entered a 1-1 game and pitched a near perfect inning in pouring rain.  He did walk one, but also struck out BJ Upton.  The game was called shortly after that, so Papelbon can still win the game when it's continued tomorrow.

Heath Bell (1-0) - Bell notched a win in a game where he was just getting some work.  He entered the game in the ninth inning down 3-2 and the Padres pulled a come back to win 6-3.  Bell pitched a perfect inning, but no strikeouts.

Bobby Jenks - Pitched a inning and gave up a hit and a strikeout.

Carlos Marmol - Pitched a inning in a non-save situation. Looked sharp, striking out two and giving up a hit.  His season ERA is still a flat 0.00 and his WHIP 0.56.

Listen to Todd "The True Guru" Farino breakdown all the closer activity three times a week on Blog Talk Radio. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11pm PST. www.blogtalkradio.com/the-closer-report or download the podcast on ITunes!

The Closer Report: April 13, 2010 7 Saves

SAVES:
Mariano Rivera (3) - Came in for a short .2 inning save and nailed it over the Angels, striking out one.  Rivera is already in mid-season form and not showing his age at all.  For all of you that are expecting Rivera to falter and regress in 2010, it won't happen.  I feel he's due to regress a bit next year, but even that is a solid closer.

Jose Valverde (2) - Valverde mowed down the Royals 1-2-3 in 12 pitches and was fired up as usual completing the comeback for the Tigers.  So far so good for Valverde.

Rafael Soriano (2) - Got another ugly save.  Something hasn't been right with Soriano so far, but he did get the save and a strikeout.  His one blip was a solo home run to Ty Wiggington.

Kevin Gregg (3) - The Blue Jays won their 6th straight game and their bullpen has been taxes.  Everything out of Toronot is that Frasor is just getting rest after making five appearances already in this early season.  Gregg looked fantastic, facing the minimum number of batters and recording two strike outs.

David Aardsma (3) - Had some control issues tonight, but overwhelmed the A's onward to his third save of the season.  The two walks were a small blip on an otherwise nice night.

Francisco Cordero (4) - Second save in 2 days.  He made quick work of the Marlins, disposing of them on 11 pitches, striking out two.  Cordero has looked nothing less then superb to start the 2010 season.

Octavio Dotel (2) - Dotel got ripped for a 2-run home run from none other then Eugenio Velez, but luckily had a three run lead.  His season WHIP is still low at 1.00, but his ERA balloned to 4.50 in the short season.

Listen to Todd "The True Guru" Farino breakdown all the closer activity three times a week on Blog Talk Radio. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11pm PST. www.blogtalkradio.com/the-closer-report  or download the podcast on ITunes!

The Closer Report: April 5, 2010 - 4 Saves, 1 Win, 12 Appearances

By Todd Farino, http://www.thecloserreport.com/

Baseball is here and the closers are coming out to play.  Here is the report from April 5, 2010. 

Note: since there are days off early in the season we are seeing lots of closers just getting work in, but not coming in for a save opprotunity.

SAVES:

Franklin Morales (1)- Pitching for the injured Huston Street, Morales looked good, but still got roughed up my the Brewers. He opened up the ninth a bit nervous and hit Rickie Weeks. He then gave up a double to Carlos Gomez, but settled done after that getting the next three batters out on hard line drives. Morales looked good, but he was hit hard. Let's hope he can improve on that and rack up the strikeouts.

Brian Wilson (1) - Wilson entered the game with one out in the ninth after Brandon Medders gave up a couple of runs.  Wilson looked very sharp getting out both batters he faced, striking out Manzella.  In all, he needed seven pitches to end the game.

David Aardsma (1) - Aardsma got a save thanks to the Kevin Kouzmanoff.  Aardsma shaked off a shakey spring to mow down three batters, striking out two.  His command owas a little off, but his fastball was shapr and looked much better than it did just a week ago.

Brian Fuentes (1) - Fuentes started off strong with a 1-2-3 perfect inning save.  He struck out one on 10 pitches.  He was setup nicely by Fernando Rodney and her looked in mid-season form already.

BLOWN SAVES:

Jason Frasor (1, 0-1) - Frasor blew his first save of the season and looked awful against a tough Texas lineup. Frasor was hit hard, giving up 2 doubles and a game winning long single to Saltalamacchia. The line isn't pretty, .1 IP, 2ER, 4H, 1 IBB, 1K. Frasor's pitches looked week. His velocity wasn't there and his breaking ball was flat. He should be fine and get better with time.

CLOSER WINS

Frank Francisco (1-0) - Francisco pitched a near perfect ninth and ended up with the win for Texas. On 17 pitches he struck out two and gave up one hit.

APPEARANCES

Ryan Franklin - Here is the Ryan Franklin I know.  Granted it's his first appearance of the season and the score was 11-4 when he came in, he still didn't pitch well.  His pitches were flat and very hittable.  He got lucky bad swings form Gnomes and Cabrera for outs, but gave up three hits to
Dickerson, Votto, and Phillips.  The end result was 2 runs and no strikeouts in a wasted appearance for the Cardinals closer.

Andrew Bailey - Bailey looked healthy, but he wasn't his sharpest.  He got screwed on an error by Kevin Kouzmanoff and them gave up a 2-1 base hit to Casey Kotchman that scored two unearned runs.  Regardless of the outcome, Bailey owners can let out a sigh of relief that their closer is alright.  Brad Ziegler took the loss.

Francisco Rodriguez - Pitched a perfect and quiet ninth inning for the Mets.  He showed excellent command, only needing 14 pitches to take out the Marlins.

Octavio Dotel - Faced three batters, striking out one.  He only needed 10 pitches to end the game and looked outstanding.

Billy Wagner - Wagner made his first appearance as a Brave and looked like the Wagner of old.  He struck out two on 11 pitches.  He faced the minimum three batters.

Jose Valverde - Valverde came into the ninth inning with a 4-run lead and he was pumped up as only Valverde can be.  He wasn't his sharpest as he needed 24 pitches to close out the game.  He did have to work around a walk and a error, but in the end a strong inning.  He recorded one strikeout.

SIDE NOTES:

Matt Thornton - Thornton looked great for the White Sox pitching a perfect ninth.  He struck out two and needed 10 pitches, throwing all strikes.  He's my odds on favorite to get the job if Jenks fails to hold onto it.

Listen to Todd "The True Guru" Farino breakdown all the closer activity three times a week on Blog Talk Radio. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11pm PST. www.blogtalkradio.com/the-closer-report  or download the podcast on ITunes!