Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Jonathan Broxton to DL, more

May 6, 2011 @ 02:03:38

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.

Key

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

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

Closer: Jonathan Broxton (DL)

Understudy: Vicente Padilla, Hong-Chih Kuo

Lurkers: Matt Guerrier, Kenley Jansen, Mike MacDougal, Blake Hawksworth

Just warming up? Sanchez

Broxton (elbow) was placed on the DL on Friday. An MRI revealed no structural damage to his right elbow, but a bone spur and some bruising were found, and his recovery could be delayed because of them. He'll probably settle in for a long absence.

Padilla and Kuo must be your first two pickup targets. Kuo is the best long-term bet but has been erratic since returning from the DL. Padilla has the best shot at immediate returns, especially since Kuo is the only lefty in the 'pen.

Both will accrue save chances, but the Dodgers want to prevent them from pitching on back-to-back days, which should lead to the occasional cameo from Guerrier, Jansen, MacDougal or Hawksworth. These four are merely lotto tickets and can't be counted on as difference makers.

Job security score: 2

Health score: 3

Mound meetings

• After appearing in the ninth inning of a knotted game Wednesday, Eduardo Sanchez notched his third save (second this week) Thursday for the St. Louis Cardinals. He worked around two walks for a scoreless inning.
  In this committee, it looks like Sanchez is highly trusted in tight situations, which bodes well in separating yourself from the pack. Of course, we thought the same thing when Mitchell Boggs (who was warming when Sanchez was looking shaky last night) ran off three saves last week. The highly skilled Sanchez is the closest thing to a St. Louis closer right now, but that could easily change.

 

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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