Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat

Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat: Rehab update on Jonathan Broxton, more

June 24, 2011 @ 18:30:55

By Nicholas Minnix
Edited by Keith Hernandez

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)

Mound meetings

K-Rod: stepping up

In his second rehab appearance, on Thursday, Jonathan Broxton gave up a leadoff single and went to a 3-0 count on the next hitter before coming back to fan him and the next two batters. The Los Angeles Dodgers' official site reported that 14 of the right-hander's 22 pitches were strikes, but he fell behind the first three hitters he faced.
Still, this, combined with reports of some restored high velocity, has to be encouraging since he began his comeback from a bruise in his right elbow. It's uncertain where Broxton will go from here, and Don Mattingly plans to ease Broxton back into the closer's role, but those stashing the burly backend man should be more optimistic than they were before he hit the DL. The club's other options have yet to step up and don't appear to be competent enough to do the job for a stretch.
The Minnesota Twins activated Joe Nathan (soreness in surgically repaired elbow) from the disabled list on Friday. He made three rehab appearances, including two on consecutive days, and displayed velocity reminiscent of his pre-surgery form, according to reports. Ron Gardenhire's record with and potentially regained confidence in the right-hander give Nathan a solid shot at reclaiming the closer's role from Matt Capps ... eventually. The 36-year-old veteran will require patience but should be owned.
From The Newark Star-Ledger on Thursday: "Today I had command early in the count," declared Francisco Rodriguez, "got ahead of them, and put them away." The right-hander, who has had a rough June in the ERA department, tossed a perfect ninth inning to seal the New York Mets' 4-1 victory against the Oakland Athletics yesterday.
Terry Collins took some blame for K-Rod's most recent setback and said he should use K-Rod more consistently. The closer said that regular work would probably help but believes that the onus still falls on him to execute. That professional attitude will be welcome on his new team, where he might not be the main man. Rodriguez says he's fine with that, too, even willing to waive his no-trade clause for the right situation, which - again - affects his appeal at fantasy swap meets.
On Thursday, J.J. Putz saved the Arizona Diamondbacks' 5-3 victory versus the Kansas City Royals with a perfect frame and one K. It was his second straight save, after he'd blown three of his last five chances. All three of his 2011 blown save opps have come in June, but Putz appears to be back on track with the closing pieces on back-to-back nights.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss relayed that Eduardo Sanchez is probably out for another two to three weeks, according to John Mozeliak.

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

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KFFLians are saying....

Comment

Cuz, at 07:16 on 06/26/11, says:

Minnix. I have Salas as one of my RP in a 5X5 league with a salary cap. My others are Rivera and Putz. My question is should I pick up E Sanchez just in case Salas loses his job? I'm in the top 4 with is money (grant it the season is still a long time away. Thanks man!!

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Minnix, at 04:11 on 06/27/11, says:

Hey Cuz, with Sanchez out for a few weeks, at least, I'd grab someone else (M. Boggs), if you're looking for short-term security. If you're talking about the long-term security of the job in your keeper league, I'd go with Sanchez, because I think the pair gives you a good chance at owning the Cards' closer for a year or two. "Good" is relatively uninspiring, in St. Louis, though.

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Cuz, at 06:37 on 06/27/11, says:

I think I will pick up Sanchez. We are only allowed to pick up a player every two weeks and I'm 9th on the waiver wire. I recently traded Storen and his $1 contract, but received great players in return to make a push. I got McCann, Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick, Abreu, Josh Johnson, D Fowler for Storen, Freeman, Soto, King Felix, Figgins, and V Wells. The guy now has Storen's contract and Freeman's contract. But I had to do it. I then turned around and traded Heyward, Strasburg contract for Salas and Ichiro. I did good huh?

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