Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat - NL

October 1, 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.

Key

Job security (JS) score	1 (unstable) to 5 (untouchable)
Health (H) score	1 (injury-prone) to 5 (durable)

 

Florida Marlins

Closer: Clay Hensley

Understudy: Leo Nunez

Welcome back, Nunez. Well, maybe it was more like, "OK, we need to bring in Nunez. Fingers crossed."

Never a dull moment: K-Rod saga

The Florida Marlins' bullpen melted down Thursday, allowing three runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. Hensley came on in the eighth with three ducks on the pond and tried to stop the bleeding in what became a save situation, but he gave up a bases-loaded walk despite recording all three outs in the inning. After Veras came on in a non-save ninth and gave up a three-run jack, Nunez finally came in and struck out two to end it.

To his credit, Nunez has pitched better lately, and interim skipper Edwin Rodriguez said he wanted to give the righty a chance or two before the season ended. But don't mistakenly consider this an automatic endorsement for the final few days unless the club says so. Both Hensley and Nunez must be on rosters this weekend if you're desperate for saves.

Job security score: 2

Health score: 4

Mound meetings

• The Colorado Rockies officially shut down Huston Street (oblique) for the rest of the season. Still no word on who'll close, but Matt Belisle and Octavio Dotel are your best bets if you're scrambling.
• Brian Wilson recorded saves on Tuesday and Wednesday, so on Thursday Ramon Ramirez filled in and tossed a scoreless inning to register the San Francisco Giants' closure, which pushed them closer to a playoff berth. Ramirez has displayed intriguing skills in the past but isn't much of a fantasy commodity in almost any league.
• Chalk it up to business as usual for Carlos Marmol as the Chicago Cubs' closer recorded another two K's during a Thursday save. Yawn - with 136 whiffs in 76 2/3 innings (15.97 strikeouts per nine frames), he's on pace to break the single-season record of 14.98 K/9, set in 2003 by Eric Gagne (remember him?).
• Francisco Rodriguez's grievance hearing with the New York Mets will take place Oct. 18 and 19. His status as Mets closer and as a Mets player probably will be decided some time before Spring Training. Keep your ears perked for any potential change.

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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