Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Dodgers bullpen, more

May 4, 2011 @ 12:46:16

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

 

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat | AL depth charts | NL depth charts

What are the odds that you still own the relief pitchers you rostered in your fantasy baseball draft? KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat series gives you no-nonsense ratings of performances, injuries and managerial decisions in MLB bullpens. Get your arm loose: Let's find fantasy baseball players in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball league who'll get saves.

Mound meetings

• Padilla's flotilla sailing to ninth?

  Looks like Jonathan Broxton's Tuesday performance, complete with two walks and shaky velocity, had more to do with health than his overall sluggishness. On Wednesday the Los Angeles Dodgers shut him down due to elbow soreness. This may be for just a few days, but given his ongoing trials, this could just as easily be the first tipped domino toward a long-term absence - at least from closing, if not pitching altogether.
  It'll be a committee situation for now, but even though he won't be used on back-to-back days, grab Vicente Padilla first; if you miss out, go with Hong-Chih Kuo, the better long-term play, but keep in mind he's not right yet and requires your patience. Maybe Matt Guerrier or someone else gets a shot, but they're last resorts and ill-advised fantasy investments.
• Welcome back to the St. Louis Cardinals' TLR carousel. Fernando Salas pitched the sixth and seventh innings Tuesday after throwing in the seventh Monday. This time, Tony La Russa called upon Eduardo Sanchez to close out Tuesday's game; the rook worked around a walk for a shutout frame and his second save of the year.
  Sanchez has the best skills of anyone in this crowded group, and it wouldn't be surprising if he got the call again soon. Sure, pick him up if you have a spot and it's costing you little or nothing, but with Mitchell Boggs and others still involved, this is more likely to continue being a wild Cardinal chase.
• The Toronto Blue Jays' tipping point? Might be rash, but Jon Rauch's save-blowing homer allowed Tuesday might've opened the door for Frank Francisco to grab at least a piece of closing. Both relievers should be owned, but Francisco is the better long-term bet and might start paying off soon.

 

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat | AL depth charts | NL depth charts

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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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