Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Jason Motte closing in 2012? Plus, Mets and injury updates

September 19, 2011 @ 11:08:42

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.

Mound meetings

• Motte the man in 2012?

  Brian Wilson (elbow inflammation) was activated from the DL Sunday and will resume his San Francisco Giants closing duties Tuesday. Saves-desperate people should make sure Wilson is healthy before dropping Santiago Casilla, who was leading the replacement committee, but Casilla doesn't have much shelf life left.
• The Tampa Bay Rays turned to Joel Peralta on Friday and Saturday; he obliged with two closing conversions. Kyle Farnsworth (elbow) had two positive throwing sessions over the weekend and aims to return to action near the end of this week. Though Joe Maddon said Peralta could be used in the eighth frame if the situation dictates, he's the arm to own in the meantime.
• Joakim Soria (hamstring) probably won't participate in game action for at least a few more days. The Kansas City Royals went with Greg Holland for a Wednesday save opp, which he converted. They left Nathan Adcock in for three innings Saturday for the same purpose, and he was also successful.
  Adcock is one of KC's swingmen, so he wouldn't be a priority for long-term saves contingency. Holland, the Royals' main setup man of late, should be your target if you need at least a few days' worth of save chances.
• Bobby Parnell's stock as New York Mets closer is tumbling. He entered in the eighth frame Sunday to register two outs, but he walked two and was pulled after a warning-track fly-ball. Manny Acosta recorded the final four outs while stranding two runners in the ninth to register his second closure of the season.
  Acosta has hardly been tidy, coming through on just two of four save chances this month, but he has fanned 13 in 10 1/3 frames to complement a passable 3.48 September ERA. Though Parnell could still be in the picture, Acosta looks like the Metropolitan to own here.
• Jason Motte's brilliant run (seven saves, one earned run yielded in 28 2/3 second-half stanzas) has earned him an emphatic ... "maybe" on being the St. Louis Cardinals' 2012 stopper. GM John Mozeliak said he has "reason to be optimistic [Motte] can handle that role." The slider-cutter Motte developed in mid-June has helped propel his blossoming. Now if only Tony La Russa and Co. would cement his role.

 

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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