The Closer Report: July 31, 2009

Saves: 8

Save Opportunities: 9

Leo Nunez and Huston Street continue to sizzle
By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

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Huston Street vowed not to have a bad month in July and he kept his promise (I'm assuming all of that of course). After a raging June where he had 11 saves, he only had three saves for the first half of July. The second half of the month he scored five saves and a win, including three saves in the final six days of the month. Tonight he got his 27th save of the season in a 5-3 win over Cincinnati. He pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Street's WHIP now stands and a career best 0.90 along with a 2.44 ERA. Right now he is pitching out of his cleats, and Sabermetric geeks (no emails please, I mean that in a nice courtesy way) would point out he has high BABIP or something like that. He does in fact have a higher than average BABIP, but he is still outstanding. They will probably tell you, "cut him loose now, he's going down". I'll tell you this, he's a hot pitcher and you should ride him out the entire season. He is having a career year and should easily get 40 saves for the first time in his career.

Leo Nunez remained hot as well with his ninth save of the season. He finishes July with a respectable six saves. Matt Lindstrom is on his way back pitching in the minors, but I don't suspect he will get his job back when he returns. Nunez is pitching outstanding and the Marlins want to make the playoffs. It will be interesting to see what they do.

Chad Qualls was all the talk of getting traded, but in the end just saved another game on the day allot of people figured he'd get moved. He pitched a perfect inning for his 19th save of the season. He looked sharp needing only 11 pitches to close it out.

C.J. Wilson nailed another big save for the Rangers. It was another 1.1 inning affair as the Rangers ran into some problems in the 8th inning and ol' C.J. had to bail them out. It was his 12th save of the season, and his fifth since taking over for Francisco. Word on the street is Francisco is still a few days from returning and even after that they will give him time to get his strength back, so expect another week with Wilson as the closer. He's been a great pickup.

Finally, Kerry Wood blew the save for the fading Cleveland Indians today by allowing Carlos Guillen to hit a 2-run homerun off him in the 9th. Wood's stat line wasn't pretty; two hits, 2 runs, and a walk. He did strike out two, but I figure the Indians are hoping he clears waivers. Pay close attention to this situation. I know I will.

Other Appearances:

Jonathan Papelbon (27)- Blew away the Orioles tonight. Granted he needed 18 pitches, the Orioles were no match as he notched two more strike outs. Do not expect Papelbon to pitch tomorrow.

Ryan Franklin (24) - After giving up a lead-off single, he got the next three batters in order for the save. No strikeouts as expected.

Matt Capps (21) Capps is looking alright, but he did give up two hits while striking out two. His WHIP and ERA are still in the range of a long-reliever.

Andrew Bailey (14) - Another great performance from Bailey. I thought he would get traded, but he didn't. He should have a solid finish with the A's. They may not be competing for a playoff spot, but they know how to win.
Francisco Rodriguez - Pitched a quite inning where he walked one and struck out one.

Heath Bell - Pitched and inning and walked a batter. Not a Bell type of performance.

Fernando Rodney - Pitched two innings in a a 13th inning game. Struck out two, walked two, and gave up a hit. To bad there was no save or win.