Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Dodgers bullpen, Joakim Soria

June 1, 2011 @ 00:17:42

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), Vicente Padilla (DL)

Understudy: Hong-Chih Kuo (DL), Kenley Jansen (DL)

Lurkers: Javy Guerra, Rubby De La Rosa, Scott Elbert, Matt Guerrier, Mike MacDougal

Padilla could rise above clutter

With his top four 'pen arms on the DL, Mattingly recently said he'd prefer to use Guerra, RDLR or Elbert to close; their stuff has impressed the skipper, and Donnie wants to keep Guerrier and MacDougal available to come in with runners on base. Hardly set in stone, but definitely not promising for Guerrier's interim value, especially with one reliever close to a return.

Though Jansen (shoulder) recently hit the disabled list, the Dodgers could be getting Padilla (forearm) back in their 'pen back Friday. He tossed an uneventful pair of rehab innings Tuesday at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Though the Blue will likely continue to use a mix of arms, Padilla was the main man when healthy. If he can bounce back quickly, he has the best chance to run away with the gig even when Broxton and Kuo come back, however long that'll take.

You'll have to live with Padilla not pitching on back-to-back days, but he's worth a grab for desperate save seekers in all formats. As much as Mattingly likes the interim kids, he'll be glad to welcome back to this mess a vet who was adequately doing the job.

Job security score: 1

Health score: 3

Mound meetings

• The Kansas City Royals will stretch out deposed closer Joakim Soria in two-frame, middle-inning stints so he can work on his stuff. Ned Yost refuted a long-rumored transition, though, saying KC won't convert the troubled arm into a starter. One of the biggest decisions Soria must make is whether to keep his cutter, which has impaired his other offerings. His fantasy owners can only wait this out.

 

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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