Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

August 3, 2010 @ 13:15:00

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)

 

Washington Nationals

Closer: Committee

Understudy: Drew Storen

Lurkers: Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard

Still your best bet: Storen

Burnett pitched 1 2/3 innings Monday to record the first Nationals save since the departure of Matt Capps. Burnett entered with one out in the eighth before recording a K and a fielder's choice groundout.

Storen was waiting in the 'pen in case Burnett let a runner reach. The southpaw, protecting a two-run lead, retired the first two batters of the inning - both lefties. Burnett was then left in to face the righty-hitting Mark Reynolds (Arizona Diamondbacks), and Burnett induced a grounder.

Burnett has been far better against righties (.174 opponents' clip) than against lefties (.302). For the long term, you should still bet on Storen, especially since he was preserved for a true save situation Monday and Burnett was used earlier. Either way, look at acquiring Burnett before Clippard if you need to speculate.

Job security score: 1

Health score: 5

Mound meetings

• Matt Lindstrom (back) gave up a single but tossed a scoreless non-save inning last night after being unavailable Sunday due to lower back stiffness. The Houston Astros' closer said the injury has been lingering for the last month, and he's "kind of tired of it."
  His return is a positive sign of him keeping Brandon Lyon out of emergency saves duty, but Lyon still could be a desperation pickup in deep leagues.

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.

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