Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

April 13, 2010 @ 13:30:00

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

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

Lidge showing some improvement

• Ryan Madson is holding down the fort for the Philadelphia Phillies, having saved two games without walking a batter in three appearances. Meanwhile, Brad Lidge (elbow, knee) improved slightly in his Monday minor league effort for Single-A Clearwater, going one inning and allowing two hits and a run. Nine of his 11 pitches were strikes, though, and he threw a slider in about half of his offerings; he says the pitch was going downward more often. Lidge will perform another Clearwater revival Wednesday.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates activated Joel Hanrahan (elbow) from the DL Monday. The righty earned fantasy ire for his botched closing performance with the Washington Nationals last year; he turned his season around after being traded to the Buccos, though, posting a 1.72 ERA and 10.63 K/9 in 33 Pittsburgh outings. He's probably the next in line for saves in this bullpen; NL-only players should scoop him up, and deep mixed watch lists should add his name.

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

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Tim Heaney

Since the Boston University alum joined KFFL in 2006, his work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly and Yahoo! Sports, among numerous publications.

Tim competes in Tout Wars and LABR and appears every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore, as well as frequently on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

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