The Closer Report: June 17, 2009

Saves: 10

Save Opportunities: 11

Hoffman get roughed up again, Fuentes leads the pack with 18 saves.

By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

Today was full of action with over a dozen closers hitting the field. Bobby Jenks got it all started with his 15th save of the season in a 4-3 win over the lowly Cubs. He needed only 12 pitches to dispatch of the Cub batters, who looked bad the whole day.

Brian Fuentes scored his league leading 18th save over the Giants today. He rolled through the first two batters, but then gave up a drive to center field that fell a few feet short of a game tying home run. Fuentes has quietly put together four saves in a row and has lowered his ERA to 4.64. His last streak was eight straight saves, and his ERA during that streak dropped to 4.08. With all that said, I think Fuentes should be fine and getting better throughout the year. He has been more consistent with his command than he was earlier in the year.

Andrew Bailey recovered quickly from his blown save last night. He threw a quiet ninth inning for a 5-4 save.

Huston Street continued his hot streak recording his 14th save of the season over the Rays. He made quick work of the Rays needing only ten pitches to end the ninth inning.

Today Jupiter was aligned with Mars. Yes, the Washington Nationals recorded a save. It was the Nats first save of the month. In fact it was the first since May 24th, and only the fourth in the months of May and June. Mike MacDougal scored his first save in his first chance, but didn't do it without the fireworks the Washington bullpen is known for. He had runners on the corners with one out, but got Robinson Cano to hit into a double play.

Finally, there was a bit more magic in Baltimore where George Sherrill made an actual SAVE appearance for the Orioles and as usual made it look easy. Sherrill is one of the most oddly peculiar closers in fantasy baseball. No one wants to believe he is good with his goofy hat and "deer caught in headlights" look. A fantasy baseball analyst I talked to the other day said that Sherrill was a "troubled closer" and felt he was somewhat comparable to Mike MacDougal. Others refuse to touch him and some owners still have Chris Ray.

Sherrill had me at hello or maybe it was 32 saves in 2008. I wasn't a fan of Sherrill until late last year, but I never doubted him this season. He is for real and gets the job done. It might not be pretty, but he has saved eight games in a row and hasn't blown a save since May 2nd. In that time he has lowered his ERA from 5.04 to 2.55 and his WHIP to 1.18.


Other Appearances:
David Aardsma (12) - Another trouble free night for Aarsdma. With Morrow starting, the job is without any doubt his.
Ryan Franklin (16) - An easy save for Franklin.
Francisco Cordero (16) - He recovered quickly from his blown save and his ERA is still below two.
CJ Wilson - Got the win for Texas. He pitched two innings giving up three hits and striking out two.
Jose Valverde - Pitched one inning striking out two. Needed only 13 pitches for the inning and looked very good. Very promising appearance for Valverde owners.
Kerry Wood - pitched a harmless inning.