Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

September 23, 2010 @ 12:30:00

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.

Mound meetings

• Still holding Nunez?

  Sean Burnett deserves a look if you need closures. He stepped in and closed the door for the Washington Nationals yesterday. The lefty retired a switch hitter and a righty bat to wrap things up and is riding an 11-inning shutout streak. Burnett still might pluck one or two this season if Drew Storen needs a break or gets into more trouble.
  As for Storen, he threw a bullpen session with pitching coach Steve McCatty yesterday and wasn't used in that night's contest. "If there's a big situation tomorrow, [Storen will] be ready for that," manager Jim Riggleman said at the time.
• Leo Nunez once again set things up for Clay Hensley, who after working around a hit for a scoreless inning Wednesday is 5-for-5 in save opps since taking over the Florida Marlins' closer job. Nunez was clean in two-thirds of an inning, but he probably hasn't done enough to reclaim his job yet. If you can't wait for him to do so, you can cut ties if something better is out there.
• Sam Demel (Arizona Diamondbacks) came into the eighth inning last night with a one-run lead. He held that advantage, and the Snakes padded the lead with three more tallies in the top of the ninth, allowing Demel to stay on to claim a rogue save.
  No threat to Juan Gutierrez's job, but another promising step for the future of the Diamondbacks' bullpen. Demel might have a chance to compete for the stopper job next year, so keep him on your cheat sheets.
• Despite his success in his brief time as New York Mets closer, Hisanori Takahashi said he wouldn't mind returning to a starting rotation next year if the situation fits. Stay tuned, keeper leaguers - between this and the Francisco Rodriguez legal soap opera, the Mets' stopper job might be poison next year.

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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