Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

by Bryce McRae on May 19, 2010 @ 12:30:00 PDT

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)

Milwaukee Brewers

Closer: Trevor Hoffman

Understudy: Carlos Villanueva

Lurkers: Todd Coffey

Disabled list: LaTroy Hawkins (shoulder)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha hasn't made a decision on Hoffman's role after a miserable outing yesterday. He wants to discuss it with pitching coach Rick Peterson first. With Hawkins on the DL, there aren't any exceptional options to replace Hoffman.

Coffey and Villanueva have both been blown up in the last week. The former gave up five runs in just one inning Monday. Dominance isn't everything, but the vet has just nine K's in 18 innings.

The end of the end?

Villanueva might be the best bet, if you're looking to speculate, desperately, in deep mixed leagues. He has the dominance you'd want in a closer (11.76 K/9 this year). His only real blemishes came in consecutive appearances last week; he gave up six runs over 1 2/3 innings. Homers are a worry, but his command, for the most part, has been solid.

Still, until Hawk comes back, the lack of legitimate options could keep the Hoff in his current role. He's only four saves short of 600, too.

Job security score: 2

Health score: 4

Mound meetings

Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street (groin, shoulder) made 65 throws from up to 90 feet yesterday. He still had some tightness in his groin, though. No timetable yet for when he might return to a mound - all owners can do is wait.
The Chicago Cubs are moving Carlos Zambrano to long relief with an eye to stretching him out for the rotation. Or so they've said. They still used him in the ninth last night. Zambrano's possible replacement as setup guy, Esmailin Caridad, walked the only batter he faced yesterday. That's not encouraging in the Cubbies' search for bridges to Carlos Marmol.

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: AL | NL

Fantasy baseball closer depth charts: AL | NL

About 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.