The Closer Report: June 23, 2009

Saves: 6

Save Opportunities: 8

Soria finally gets a save, while Bell and Fuentes get their league leading 20th save.
By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

There weren't many saves today, but plenty of chances. Joakim Soria finally rejoined the world of closers with his first save since coming off of the DL in ealry June and in fact his first since May 7. He did blow a save back on June 11th, but looked like a closer today striking out two and stranding a pair of runners. He did open the ninth innings by giving up two hits, one was a lucky shot by Miguel Tejada and the other a solid single to Puma Lance Berkman. He then struck out the next two batters and got a ground out for his eighth save. He only needed ten pitches to get the three straight outs and 16 overall.

Heath Bell got his NL leading 20th save of the season with a rocky inning against Seattle. He looked bad opening the innings with a walk, followed by a single to Ichiro Suzuki. Thank God he had a three-run lead on a day when he was all over the place. He was lucky to strikeout an over anxious Russell Branyan before giving up an RBI single to Mike Sweeney. Heath Bell needed 29 pitches to get the save and since he last pitched on the 21st of June, there is a chance he will not pitch tomorrow. Assuming the Padres rest Bell, look for Mike Adams to get the save chance.

Brian Fuentes got his AL leading 20th save in a tight 4-3 win over Colorado. All the momentum was with the Angels after retaking the lead in the eighth and Fuentes fed off it for the save. He threw a perfect inning and struck out two to top it off.

In certain appearances Fuentes looks like one of the most dominating closers in the league, but on others he looks like a deer caught in headlights. When he is on, he's painting the corners and whipping his slider out of the zone. He's like a version of a young Greg Maddux. The key for Fuentes is his fastball, which has lost some velocity this year. Last year he threw 92 MPH, while in 2009 he has topped out at 90 MPH. What worries me about Fuentes is he is dependant on his fastball. He throws it more than any other pitch (70.9%) and it must hit his spots. His curveball and slider are not consistent enough to be used more and most of the time his changeup is flat.

When Fuentes misses bad things happen as noted by the 24 hits and 11 runs in 24.1 innings. He doesn't walk batters, so his easily hittable fastball and changeup are easy pickings for hungry hitters trying to win the game. So far in 2009 he has been in lucky Brian Fuentes mode. For a guy who has saved 20/23, you'd think he would have better numbers. His strikeouts per nine innings is down from 1.31 to 1.16 and his ERA is over a half point higher then his career ERA. Again, the bottom-line is he is getting results and he is not Joe Borowski. Continue to have confidence in your closer.

Kevin Gregg had looked good nearly all month. He hadn't blown a save or given up a run since June second. I was finally gaining trust in him and thought that he had turned the corner, until tonight. Against Detroit, Gregg blew his one run lead by walking the lead off batter and one batter later, pitch hitter Ryan Raburn crushed a flat Kevin Gregg pitch for a 2-run walk-off home run.

Lets see how this impacts Gregg's mental state and what Pinella thinks about his closer. Marmol did strikeout the side in a perfect eighth inning. Let the drama begin.

Jonathan Broxton scored his 18th save of the season against the cross county rivals, the Los Angeles Angels. I was hoping that Broxton wasn't going to pitch today, since he has thrown 46 pitches in three days. He's been an outstanding closer this season and as a owner of him in three leagues I'd like to see him get 3-4 days off to rest his arm and big toe. Torre felt the need to call on Broxton to get one out in a 5-2 game. It was a great show to watch as Broxton came into the game like Wild Thing from Major League and struck out Jim Thome on three pitches.

Other Appearances:
Kerry Wood (9) - Wood got hammered again in a 5-4 win. He gave up two hits and a run. His ERA now stands at 5.68 and he is one of the three worst closers in the majors.
Jason Frasor (2) - Got his second save of the season with a easy inning. Its looks like Gaston is going with Frasor, but Accardo was not available with a sore hamstring.
Matt Lindstrom - Lindstrom got lit up for three runs on four hits. It wasn't even a save opportunity.
Mike Gonzalez - Pitched a perfect inning against the cold Yankees.
Rafael Soriano - Pitched a near perfect inning against the very cold Yankees.