Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Craig Kimbrel, more

May 19, 2011 @ 12:33:53

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

• Brandon League worked around a walk to wrap up the Seattle Mariners' Wednesday win with a scoreless inning; this came after a shutout frame in non-save work Tuesday. He isn't fully out of the woods yet, but he's at least starting to re-establish his case as their stopper.

• League restoring faith?

  Craig Kimbrel blew the save last night for the Atlanta Braves, his fourth gaffe in 15 chances this year. He helped his demise in the field by getting in the way of a potential double-play ball on the way to allowing four hits and two runs.
  It's a continued love-hate relationship with Kimbrel's nasty but often wild stuff. He has had far more good outings than bad ones, and he's not likely to be removed in the near future barring an extended meltdown. Jonny Venters, however, is performing so well that Kimbrel's margin for error remains tight. The former should also be good for a few chances this year even if he doesn't grab the full-time duty and is worth a pickup for his outstanding relief numbers and the closing possibility.
• Matt Capps continued to carry the saves torch for the Minnesota Twins with a scoreless 10th Wednesday, but Minny showed faith in Joe Nathan when they threw him into a knotted ninth inning. The vet allowed a hit and a walk but preserved the tied score.
  Nathan, who has made progress with his stuff and approach, will share the eighth-inning job as he continues to regain his past form. He still has a ways to go before usurping Capps, but there's slightly more confidence in him eventually doing so. Is he available in your league for a stash?

 

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

KFFLians are saying....

Comment

 

---

What do you think? We want to hear from you!

Name: E-mail: Please, enter the number that you see

Comment Guidelines

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.

Follow him on Twitter.

Talk Sports 24/7!
KFFL Sports Forums: Over 24,000 strong and growing!

Fantasy baseball players in the news (05/23)
Fantasy Baseball Player Prospecting: Kole Calhoun, Jean Segura, Andrew Chafin, more (05/22)
Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market: Jeff Keppinger to DL (05/22)