The Closer Report: April 26, 2010

CLOSER FACTS:
Jonathan Broxton still has only one save in one attempt for the LA Dodgers.
Jonathan Papelbon has pitched 5 out of the last 7 days.  He accrued a win and three saves in that span.
Jose Valverde fists pumps with his right hand.
As of April 26, five closers still have a 0.00 ERA.  Mariano Rivera, Andrew Bailey, Jonathan Broxton, Brian Wilson, and Leo Nunez.
Mike Gonzalez is expected back closing for the Orioles around mid-May.

SAVES:

Jose Valverde (6) - The always eccentric Valverde disposed of the of Rangers on ten pitches and gave his required fist pump when the game was over.  It was a perfect save with no strikeouts, but two groundballs and a lineout.

Ryan Franklin (7) - Wow.  Another save with hits, no strikeouts, and even better NO RUNS.  Mr. Lucky continues his run of pitching to contact, but keeping the ERA down. 

Brain Fuentes (3) - Just dominated the Cleveland Indian batters, but then again who hasn't?  He was lucky enough to go through a bunch of lefties.  He opened the inning with a called strike three, but Hafner reached on an error.  He came back and struck out another lefty Branyan and then walk Kearns.  He finished the game by striking out the side, but needed 27 pitches to close the game.  Expect to see someone else close tomorrow, possibly Rodney.

Bruce Chen (1) - Chen came in and got the 3-1 save for the Royals over the Mariners.  He was giving the overworked Soria a day off, so no worries if you own Soria.  It was also a lefty/lefty matchup and he faced one batter.

Jonathan Papelbon - (6) - Paps looked much sharper tonight with Jason Varitek behind the plate.  He struck out Travis Snider with a perfectly placed high fastball.  He then he got Lewis on a groundball and Hill on a popup.  He looked outstanding and in command.  Could his problem be Victor Martinez?

Chad Qualls (5) - Got his fifth save of the season, but not without giving up a couple of hits and a RBI to Carlos Ian Stewart. He did end up striking out the side, but you can't ignore his 9.00 ERA and 2.11 WHIP.  A funny fact, his ERA coming into the game was 9.00 and he gave up a run in an inning, which is a 9.00 ERA, so no movement.

APPEARANCES:

Carlos Marmol (1-0) Marmol still can't get saves, but he got his first win of the season.  He pitched the tenth inning against the Nationals and gave up a lone hit with no strikeouts.

Octavio Dotel - Don't tell me he's getting hammered again.  Just part of another Brewer/Pirate massacre.  He gave up four runs on three hits and a walk.  The big blast was a Alcides Escobar 2-run home run.  Not a good night for any Pirate pitcher. 

Neftali Feliz - Second game in a row that the young Texas closer has got rocked.  He gave up two runs on three hits.  Basically he threw two poorly placed fastballs that were hammered from home runs.  His ERA has ballooned to 4.66 and his WHIP has jumped to 1.24. He also took the loss and his record stands at 1-1.

Heath Bell - Got some work in a 10-1 loss and looked great.  He struck out the side on 15 pitches.

Kevin Gregg - Came into the ninth inning of a wild 13-12 game and looked outstanding against the three Red Sox hitters he faces.  He got two soft groundballs and a strikeout.  Though I admit the called strike three on JD Drew was a ball.

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