Not that it matters much in most fantasy circles, but Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, Huston Street, and Ryan Franklin got rocked in elimination games and cost their teams any chance to move forward in the playoffs.

All three closers had great seasons and both blew saves at home by giving up three runs. Papelbon gave up three runs on Sunday as the Red Sox got eliminated by the Angels in a 7-6 win. Overall for the playoffs, Paps pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits/walks. He blew his only save chance. He finished with a 13.5 ERA and 3.00 WHIP.

Joe Nathan was awful against the Yankees and frankly looked scared. He pitched in two games and two innings. he stat line finished like this: 4 hits, a walk, 2 runs, 9.00 ERA and 3.00 WHIP. He also blew a big save.

Ryan Franklin blew the second game of the series. A game the Cardinals needed to win, but they paid the ultimate price not having a real closer or a bullpen for that matter. In both appearances Franklin finished with 1.1 innings, 5 hits/walks, and two unearned runs. While his ERA was 0.00, his WHIP was an abdominal 3.75.

Huston Street had a miserable playoff series. He finished 0-2 with one save and a blown save. He pitched 2.2 giving up 4 earned runs on 8 hits/walks. He had an horrendous 13.50 ERA and 3.38 WHIP.

I don't think any of these closers were tired or hurt. They all just got beat by good teams that had momentum going into the playoffs. Also, pressure was on these guys big time as they all faced tough experienced playoff teams with little or no room for error. Except for Ryan Franklin, the other three are excellent closers and like Mariano Rivera they just had a bad series. Look forward to using them in 2010.