Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

September 15, 2010 @ 11:55:00

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.

Mound meetings

• Brad Lidge made his first appearance in eight days Tuesday, pitching a clean ninth inning for the Philadelphia Phillies. The righty hadn't pitched since last Monday due to elbow soreness. Lidge maintained all along it was a minor injury, but there was reason to be skeptical given his elbow problems.
  Lidge has locked down 12 of his last 13 save opportunities. In Lidge's last 18 outings, he has a 0.52 ERA, and his opponents have hit a paltry .119 against him.
• Following a non-save appearance Tuesday, Clay Hensley has thrown 10 straight shutout appearances. In that time, the Florida Marlins' stopper has seven K's and a 0.73 WHIP.
  His position as closer was originally dubbed temporary, but a recent neck injury delayed Leo Nunez's opportunity to work back into saves. Hensley could be hanging on to the job longer than first thought.

• Lidge relieves owners, for now

  Juan Gutierrez has now shut the door on his last eight save chances. He put away an Arizona Diamondbacks victory Tuesday despite allowing two hits and a walk, along with a run-scoring HBP. He stuffed two K's inside that mess and eventually was bailed out by a line-out with the bases loaded.
• Following a one-day break with Matt Lindstrom manning the ship, Brandon Lyon (Houston Astros) picked up his 16th save of the season Tuesday. He gave up a leadoff jack but retired the next three batters to end it.

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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