Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

April 8, 2010 @ 18:00:00

By Bryce McRae
Edited by Nicholas Minnix and Tim Heaney

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

In fantasy baseball, the closer position remains volatile. Rarely does every closer hang on to the job for an entire season - injuries, poor performance and managerial decisions can cloud a team's bullpen picture.

Should you be concerned about a struggling stopper? Which relievers are climbing the depth chart? Are any injuries popping up? KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat keeps you informed when you're looking for saves.

Key

Job security (JS) score	1 (unstable) to 5 (untouchable)
Health (H) score	1 (injury-prone) to 5 (durable)

 

Mound meetings

• Living, breathing Corpas

  Yesterday the Florida Marlins' Leo Nunez came into a tough eighth-inning situation - based jammed, two out - and blew the save after he walked in a run and balked to allow another. However, he worked around a one-out walk in the ninth with the aid of a two-out intentional free pass and ended up earning the win. That was also Nunez's first career attempt to record a four-out save, in his first game of the season. It was bold to award the tying run on a balk Florida felt was questionable at best. Nunez isn't a safe bet to close all year, but the Fish have no one else to step in, and he won't be in that position often. End-of-the-roster pitcher Tim Wood cleaned up with the save last night.
• The St. Louis Cardinals' Ryan Franklin buckled down and earned a save yesterday. He still struggled with the control of his curve, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold, and needed help from his outfield to lock it down, though. Setup man Kyle McClellan also allowed a run.
• Manuel Corpas threw 1 1/3 perfect innings yesterday. He struck out two. NL-only leaguers should already be on his bandwagon as a speculative option. If he strings together a few more of these innings, he could be in line for a save opp or two. Colorado wanted consistency from him. He's off to a good start.
• Get well soon, Samuel Gervacio. A favorite sleeper for saves at KFFL, the Houston Astros' youngster hit the DL yesterday with rotator cuff soreness. It's uncertain how long he'll be out, so unless you're in an NL league, you can drop him if you need the space.

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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