| Closers by Committee |
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Welcome to the land of committees. The two most tenuous bullpen situations finally blew up over the weekend as the Cardinals and Brewers finally made a switch regarding who will pitch the ninth inning. Bid adieu to Jason Isringhausen and Eric Gagne. Say hello to Ryan Franklin, Russ Springer, and some combination of Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres, Brian Shouse, and David Riske. Both deposed closers conceded to the media that they should no longer be closing games, at least for now. Here’s what Isringhausen said on Friday: "I’m just getting sick of embarrassing myself and letting my team down ...But they can’t keep sending me out there when I’m pitching the way I’m pitching.” The guy fantasy owners probably want is Franklin who converted a save on Saturday (against the Brewers naturally). The manager of the Cardinals is of course Tony LaRussa however who loves to tinker with the bullpen so fantasy owners can expect some tinkering and mixing and matching going forward. Springer will likely get some chances, and Triple-A closer Chris Perez is putting up excellent numbers so far. I’d bet on Izzy returning to the closer role sometime this season after he works out whatever mechanical or mental issues he’s currently having, although it might not happen until after the All-Star break. As for Gagne, manager Ned Yost thought he needs a “little bit of a mental break” from closing. So it’s possible he could also return to the role later in the year, although I would be much less confident about him unless the committee is completely terrible. Mota, Riske, and Torres have 68 combined career saves so there is experience there. Torres go the first shot on Sunday, but he promptly got into trouble giving up a hit, a walk, and a run. Yost then went to Shouse who would have faced a lefty, but instead faced a right-handed pinch hitter (Yadier Molina). He allowed a hit but retired Adam Kennedy (who hits left-handed) to close out the game. Mota was in the pen getting ready as well. All of this means that this situation is completely unresolved. If I had to pick one guy to speculate for saves in Milwaukee it’d be Torres. Then I’d got with Mota and Riske. I believe Shouse will only be used depending on the match-up. Don’t be surprised however to see all three getting ready when the ninth inning starts with the Brewer in the lead. This will be a situation to watch all season, and may keep Milwaukee from mounting a serious playoff push. - Three games were postponed on Sunday involving the Blue Jays, Indians, Yankees, Tigers, Braves, and Pirates. If you were in a head-to-head league this certainly could have had an impact if you were close in any counting categories. Not much you can do about it except pay attention and make sure to keep your starters in for extra make-up games, and rescheduled starts. - Greg Reynolds made his major league debut for the Colorado Rockies giving up four earned in 5.2 innings. He is not somebody you need to worry about in any format even though he was the second overall pick in the 2006 draft. Among the names picked after Reynolds: Evan Longoria, Joba Chamberlain, Clayton Kershaw, Andrew Miller, Tim Lincecum, Max Scherzer, Ian Kennedy, and Justin Masterson. Think maybe Colorado and GM Dan O’Dowd want a do-over? - Line of the day: 0.1 IP, 0 W, 0 SV, 1 K, 162.00 ERA, 18.00 WHIP courtesy of the Dodgers' Jonathan Broxton. I hope most of you did not have him active, but there is nothing wrong with him. His velocity was fine, and he will still strike out a ton of people setting up Takashi Saito. It was just one of those days. Perhaps more importantly, he blew a possible win for Hiroki Kuroda who was terrific in taking a no-no into the seventh. His value increases as he gets more comfortable pitching stateside. Also, if you’ve got time YouTube Kuroda’s delivery and compare it to Saito’s. They are nearly identical motions except for the beginning of the wind-up. As far as I know this is purely coincidental. - The Rays swept the Angels, and Akinori Iwamura continued to his hot streak with another three hits. He’s in the midst of a nine-game hit-streak that includes five multi-hit games. Iwamura is batting just .253 on the year, but that is up from just .202 to start the month. If you need a middle-infielder, go grab him. Plus he’s eligible at third as well. - Dan Uggla hit two more home runs on Sunday pushing his total to 11 for the season, and 7 in May alone. He helped the Marlins win their seventh in a row, and they amazingly have the best record in the NL now at 23-14, a half game ahead of Arizona. If you are in a league that uses holds, take a look at Renyel Pinto. The lefty has seven on the year, and his ERA dropped to 0.70 after another scoreless frame. He’s given up just one home run in over 26 innings, and shows some strikeout potential. Pinto is definitely a name to keep in mind if Kevin Gregg were to get traded later this summer. - After his near no-hitter, Gavin Floyd lasted just 3.2 innings against Seattle giving up 5 runs on 9 hits. He also struck out zero batters while walking two. I was never a fan of Floyd because of his low K-numbers, and this start shows exactly why. His K/9 is under 4 (19 K in 43.1 IP), by far the worst rate of his career and indicative of a very average starter. In the same game, J.J. Putz saved his third game of the season. It was also his third consecutive scoreless outing. He looks to be rounding back into the shape that made him the best fantasy closer in 2007, and that puts the Mariners’ relievers back in some defined roles. Sean Green pitched a perfect seventh, while Brandon Morrow threw in the eighth. Green to Morrow to Putz should be the structure of Seattle’s bullpen going forward. Trackback(0)
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Jonathan Lee AccuScore Analyst
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