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 Saves: 7Save Opportunities: 9 Joe Nathan had a terrible start, but turned it around with an insane month in June. Tonight he capped off an incredible month with a 11-pitch, two strikeout performance for his 20th save of the season. In the month of June he  got 11 saves, 18 strikeouts, and he gave up zero runs on only four hits. He is clearly the best closer in the game right now. George Sherrill got his 17th save capping a historic comeback over the Red Sox as the Orioles won 11-10. He needed 25 pitches to get the save and struck out two. Jonathan Papelbon gave up a 2-run double to end the game, blowing his second save of the season. Mike Gonzalez blew his fourth save of the season giving up two runs in the eiegth inning. It was a bad performance by Gonzalez after several strong performances. He currently shares the job with Soriano. Matt Capps continues to get results in his roller coaster of a season. He finished off the 3-0 shutout of the Cubs and believe it or not, he got a strikeout. Heath Bell was needed for 1.1 innings and got his 22nd save of the season. He did have some control problems walking two batters, but overall he was sharp as usual. He ended the month with seven saves and a win. He has only one blown save this year and has developed into an top tier closer.
Other Appearances:
J.P. Howell (6) - Got his sixth save of the season after resting yesterday. Mariano Rivera (19) - Rivera is pitching like the old Rivera and his 0.98 WHIP proves it. Chad Qualls - Pitched a quiet inning. Fernando Rodney - When will the Tigers stop bringing Rodney into a non-save situation. He gave up two runs on a two-run blast off the bat of Mark Ellis.
Saves: 7Save Opportunities: 7 There was allot of interesting saves today starting with Randy Choate getting back into the mix of saves for the Tampa Bay Rays. H  e has been lights out all year, but Joe Madden has insisted on going with J.P. Howell. Tonight was only different because Howell has pitched quite a bit over the last few days and was getting a well deserved rest. I like how Choate has been pitching all season and assuming the Rays don't try to trade for another closer, Choate should get a chance. He has a 1.54 ERA and a tiny 0.86 WHIP. He also has 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings with four saves in the book. I'm not going to tell you to pick him up because Madden seems content to go with Howell, but if Howell messes up at all, Choate will get the next chance. Leo Nunez got his first save since Matt Lindstrom went on the DL. He bailed out Dan Meyers and got the save by getting just one out and it was a one pitch save. Hopefully this is the sign that Nunez is now ready to close. The Marlins had been waiting for his ankle to heal before handing him the closer duties. Hopefully, today showed them that Nunez is ready to close. Of course it was one pitch. Another bailout occurred, but this time the man was Jonathan Papelbon. He bailed out Ramon Ramirez, who gave up a hit and then walked a batter with two outs. This setup Matt Weiters to hit a gaming changing 3-run home run and the Orioles would still be losing. Francona wanted none of that excitement for Oriole fans, so he crushed Ramirez's ego and brought in Papelbon who quickly got the fly ball. His save was a three pitch save. It doesn't stop there, here is another interesting save. Trevor Hoffman got a one pitch save, but managed to get two outs. How is that for absolute efficiency? It all started with Carlos Villanueva imploding in the ninth inning and gave up three runs on five hits. Included in that was a 2-run bomb to Gary Sheffield and he left with two runners on. In came Hoffman, and on one pitch got Brian Schneider to ground into a tailor-made double play. Brain Fuentes nailed his league leading 22nd save pitching a perfect inning over their division rival Texas Rangers. He only needed ten pitches to dispatch the aggressive swinging Rangers and get the 5-2 save. Another outstanding performance from Joakim Soria. He got his tenth save of the season by striking out the side against the Twins. Soria is definitely back and is looking sharper than he has all season.
Other Appearances:
Kevin Gregg (13) - Pitched a perfect inning for the save. Marmol also pitched very well today.
Jonathan Broxton - Pitched an awesome inning in a tie game. He struck out the side and threw 13 strikeouts. He threw 19 pitches all together. Chris Perez - Got bombed by the White Sox with four runs. Welcome to the American League!
 At first, the trade made today between the Indians and Cardinals seemed of little importance to the closer report. In contrary, it could actually have an impact with Chris Perez now the setup man and closer-in-waiting for Kerry Wood. Right now Wood is in the first of a two year deal with the Indians. He has had a sub par season to say the least with only nine saves, a 5.46 ERA, and worst of all four blown saves. He has been erratic at times, inconsistent always. He hasn't had more then four saves in a row without blowing one. Now enter Chris Perez, the young spitfire with tremendous skills and a closer mentality. He is without a doubt a future closer and it looks as though it will be for the Indians. In Cleveland they won't tinker with him as much as Duncan did and he should be able to bloom on his own. There certainly will not be pressure on him this season. Now add to the mix that the Indians aren't winning and they are in fact giving up. Could they trade Wood by the deadline? Probably, if he is healthy and pitching well. Maybe they will trade him to Tampa Bay or another team that could use a late inning pitcher. Or the Indians could just end up allowing Perez to close and move Wood to another role. Either way, this is a great move for Perez and you should keep a close eye on how he does in Cleveland and how this situation unfolds. Kerry Wood has been anything but stellar. His ERA is well above five, and his WHIP is at a disappointing 1.56. His major downfall and the reason he could lose the job is his walks. So far Wood has given up 16 free passes and he has a less than two K/BB ratio. Perez has only been slightly better this season, but he has youth and the hope of improving, while Wood has age and a decline to look forward too. If you have room on your roster add Perez between now and the next two weeks. It is a gamble, but one worth taking if you need a closer. Perez could flip a switch and be lights out come August.
Saves: 5Save Opportunities: 5 Lidge makes first appearance since DL, Nathan adds to an amazing month
Another terribly slow day for closers. Only five saves were recorded by the end of the day, and there were a few ugly non-save appearances to add. Jonathan Papelbon ca  me into a non-save situation and gave up a bomb to stud powerhouse David Ross. Brain McCann followed with a deep double and eventually Papelbon ended the game. Two hits, one run, and no save. Brad Lidge made his first appearance since coming off the DL and looked no different then before he went on the DL. He was all over the place tonight and after 24 painful pitches he gave up two runs, while walking two. Clearly he is not ready to close, so hold on to Ryan Madson if you have him. Joe Nathan pulled out his 18th save of the season in a 3-1 win over the Cardinals. Nathan has had one of the best months I've ever seen for a closer not named KROD. He has nine saves so far and has yet to give up a run in 10.1 innings. He has also struck out 15, while only walking one. Right now I don't think there is another closer pitching better then Nathan. Ryan Franklin got some work in and pitched a perfect inning. Matt Capps amazes me. He got his 17th save tonight and gave up a bomb to Mark Teahan. He is pitching like the type of closer I'd avoid. He has given up runs in 28% of his appearances and has a bloated 4.91 ERA. Capps has only 19 strikeouts in 25.2 innings and his control has been terible with ten walks. Not the numbers you want to see. Yet, he has 17 saves and you can't complain about that. Capps clearly isn't the closer I thought he would be and I'd recommend trading him ASAP. Speaking of closers to avoid, Kevin Gregg got his 12th save of the season tonight. He needed 22 pitches to put down the White Sox and gave it the normal Gregg drama that we expect. He did save a game that Carlos Marmol nearly blew. Marmol gave up two runs on a staggering three walks and two hits. One walk was intentional, and he needed a double play to avoid more damage.
Other Appearances:
Huston Street (18) - Once left for dead, Street has 11 saves in the month of June. Nobody has more.
Andrew Bailey - Pitched in a losing game. Got two strikeouts in a perfect inning. LaTroy Hawkins (10) - Hawkins clearly has closer stuff this season, but sits behind the now healthy Jose Valverde. He got the save tonight for th resting Valverde. George Sherrill - Got one inning of work in a blowout. Mike Gonzalez - Looked very impressive against the Red Sox. Struck out the side getting some non-save work.
Saves: 6Save Opportunities: 6 Valverde gets his fourth save since coming back from the DL Earlier today, Franky Rodriguez dispatched the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 to getting the saves started in a rather slow day for closers. KROD got the first save of the day striking out two, but also walked two. Granted the walks were given to Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick, which was proably smart.  Fernando Rodney continued his hot run with his sixth save in June and 17th overall. Detroit won 6-4 with Rodney giving up a run on two hits in the ninth inning. It was the first time since April 26 that Rodney had given up a run in a save situation. Though Rodney has an inflated 3.90 ERA, he has yet to blow a save this season and batters are only batting .229 against him. His biggest problem this season has been the walks, 15 in total. After blowing a save yesterday because of bad defense , Valverde came right back tonight and pitched a perfect inning striking out one. Valverde has had a brutal fantasy season after spending most of it on the DL. However, since coming off the DL he has four saves and he's thrown 7.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Mariano Rivera got one of the cheapest saves you can ever get. He came into tonight's game with two outs and a four run lead. There were runners on the corners, but Rivera got one flyball out and ended the game for his 17th save. Of course, the cheap saves count too and Rivera owners will take it. Rivera has been behind the leagues leaders all season, but he has been catching up in the month of June. So far this month he is 1-1 with seven saves. Francisco Cordero recorded his 18th save of the season finishing off the Blue Jays 7-5. Cordero is clearly having a breakout season after last years disappointing numbers. I don't think the current run he is on will be season long. So far in June his ERA risen from 1.71 to 2.03. I expect that trend to continue as he is out pitching all of his career stats. He is going to have a great season, but he is reaching his maximum value, so now would be the time to trade him if you were looking to make a move. Other Appearances:
Joe Nathan (17) - Nathan got his eigth save of the season and his WHIP has dropped below 0.80. Ryan Madson - He probably won't be closing for long, but threw an inning tonight in a blowout loss. He gave up a hit and a walk. Chad Qualls - Pitched a quiet inning in a tie game. CJ Wilson - Pitched 1.1 innings striking out two and walking one in a tie game. Matt Capps - Capps got his first win of the season pitching a perfect inning for the 3-2 win. Bobby Jenks - Struck out two and held the score tied in an extra inning 6-5 win for the White Sox.
 Another closer goes down for the count. Matt Lindstrom was placed on the 15-day DL with a sprained right elbow. He will be out for up to six weeks reports are telling me. Expect Leo Nunez to get the saves while Lindstrom is out. Nunez has the stuff necessary to close out the games, but he hasn't been effective lately. Also, Nunez is battling a sore ankle and with Kiko Calero on the DL look for Dan Meyers to pick up a few saves while Nunez rests. If Myers is effective he could hold the job and allow Nunez to keep his role as a setup man.
Saves: 6Save 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 11 th, 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 striaght 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 botto m-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.
Brad Ziegler got his sixth save of the season beating the Dan Francisco Giants 5-1. He came in the eighth inning to hold a 4-1 lead and pitched a perfect inning, while striking out two batters. Oakland scored a run in the bottom of the eighth, so the A's rested Andrew Bailey and gave the ninth to Zielger. No alarm for Bailey owners. Frankly, Bailey needed some rest after pitching four out of the past six days. In all Ziegler looked sharp and is a great pickup because the A's put him in allot of positions to get wins and possibly saves. I advise taking him over most other setup men.
 According to reports Jonathan Broxton's velocity has been inconsistent due to inflammation is his left big toe. That is his push-off foot and it has been causing him problems. Broxton himself admits that it is the reason for his velocity going down in recent appearances as it has his fastball has fluctuated between 96 and 100 MPH.
He has taken a cortisone shot in the toe to help with the pain, but if it doesn't get better the Dodgers could put him on the DL to rest their stud closer.
Just to be on the safe side I recommend grabbing Ramon Troncoso. He is likely the next in line for saves if Broxton goes on the DL or is rested periodically. Ronald Belisario is another option to get saves, but he looks to be the seventh or eighth inning guy he already is.
Saves: 7Save Opportunities: 7 Fuentes gets league leading 19th save, while KROD bounces back for his 18th.
Francisco Rodriguez bounced back from a horrible inning last night. He quickly wrapped up Friday nights game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He didn't strike out any batters, but only needed ten pitches to record the save.  Brian Fuentes is the little engine that could! With a few bad innings and a high 1.41 WHIP, Fuentes hasn't exactly been lights out. Tonight wasn't much different. He gave up a hit, got an easy out on a sacrifice, and then struck out Casey Blake. You'd think he would end the game on the next batter, but walks Either before striking out Kemp. that is almost a microcosm of his season where he's been good, then bad, then good. Right now he is alright and leads the league in saves. You can't doubt his production. Brian Wilson threw a quiet ninth inning for his National League leading 18th save (with Rodriguez). Wilson has saved eighth straight, and during the streak has 12 strikeouts and he has lowered his ERA from 4.63 to 3.34. Besides one bad week this season, Wilson has been outstanding and has proven he's a stud closer. David Aardsma just continues to amaze me. He got his 13th save of the season and for giggles struck out the side. The reason he is amazing so far is in the numbers. Aardsma has struck out 2+ batters 11 times this season and is currently ranked second amongst closers with 39 strikeouts. His ERA is at 1.72, but he's maintained that with 20 walks. What does this all mean? Aardsma is on borrowed time. He is pitching out of his you know what, and he is bound to start giving up some home runs or paying for some of those walks. Only six of his 20 walks have resulted in scoring this season, so eventually more will burn him. I'd trade him in the next two weeks. In Toronto the closer saga continues with both Accardo and Frasor pitching today. Accardo came in and pitched impressive eighth and ninth innings. He struck out four and looked like the Accardo who was saving for Toronto last season. Then Frasor came in and gave up a run on two hits and two walks. So far Accardo looks to be the front runner for closing, but we know he won't pitch tomorrow. Look for Ryan to get a chance to close if the Blue Jays have a lead going into the ninth.
Other Appearances:
Francisco Cordero (17) - Gave up a run on two hits, but scored the save. Joe Nathan (16) - Nathan has surged back among the league leaders in saves. He was needed for 1.1 innings tonight, but still only used 13 pitches. Great save for Nathan. Andrew Bailey (7) - Bailey also was called on for 1.1 innings and gave up a hit and walk. Other than that is was a easy save. Kevin Gregg - Got his second win in as many days. Matt Capps - Got some work tonight. He gave up a run on one hit.
Saves: 6Save Opportunities: 9 KROD blows second save, while MacDougal saves second in a row. Valverde returns. It was a bad day for Francisco Rodriguez. He gave up a 4-3 lead, losing 5-4. He was all over the place and with 20 pitches thrown, only nine fell for strikes. The inning started off with a bad curveball that was hit for a double and eventually he walked Adam Jones for the blown save. To be fair, Felix Pie was out on a bang-bang play at third base on a bunt by Brian Roberts, but the umpire got the call wrong.  Mike MacDougal recorded his second save of season and second in row against the Yankees. He came into the ninth with a secure 3-run lead. It was an uneventful save with only a single given up to Robinson Cano. He got another important double play off of the bat of Nick Swisher. The Blue Jays pulled out every possible closer they had to save tonight's game. The assumed closer Frasor (not by me) came in the eighth inning and gave up the game tying single to Shane Victorino. The inning ended with Victorino getting thrown out stealing. B.J. Ryan relieved him in the ninth inning and recorded one out and walked one. He was brought in to face the lefties Utley and Howard and was relieved by Accardo who got the final two outs, but not without some drama. Accardo got his first save of the season. I cannot read what Cito Gaston is doing, but as I figured he likes Frasor for the eight inning. I'm not sure it will stay that way, but you could see a righty/lefty approach to closing with Ryan and Accardo. At least until one of them out pitches the other. Ryan Madson blew his second save of the season by giving up the go ahead solo home run to Rod Barajas. He looked sharp and only needed 13 pitches for the inning, but threw one bad pitch. For some reason blown saves come in bunches across the majors. We've had several this week after weeks of great closer performances and save streaks. Jose Valverde made his long awaited return to closing and looked as though he didn't miss a beat. He only needed 10 pitchers to dispatch the Rangers, striking out big Chris Davis. However, don't get excited about that everyone strikes out Chris Davis. It was his third save of the season.
Other Appearances:
Huston Street (15) - He gave up two runs on three hits and nearly blew the save. Not his best performance.
Fernando Rodney (13) - Low end reliever Rodney scored another save for his owners. He struck out the side in dominating fashion. Heath Bell - Bell scored his third win of the season pitching two innings and getting two strikeouts. Kevin Gregg - Came into a tied game and got the win 6-5. He looked sharp on a day where Marmol wasn't. Mike Gonzalez - pitched a mop up inning, striking out one. He wasn't sharp and lucky it was the Reds. Rafael Soriano - Pitched perfect inning and struck out the side. Randy Choate - Choate continues to show he has closer stuff. He threw 11 pitches, and struck out two in an inning of work against the Rockies.
 Scott Downs has an injury not heard of much, a strained big left toe. He hurt it while swinging at a a pitch, which is even more strange being he's a closer and in the American League. Just another reason not to like interleague play. The Blue Jays are in terrible shape with a load of pitchers on the DL and several are from their bullpen. Rumor from RotoWire.com and other sources is Jason Frasor will take over as closer or the Blue Jays. However, I haven't heard anything official so far. The Blue Jays need a setup man and a closer. If they feel lucky they will go to their old closer Ryan for the saves, where he has experience, and put Frasor in the setup role where he belongs. This all depends on how much trust Cito Gaston has in his old closer. This might all be mute. The Blue Jays only have one save in the month of June, and Downs has eight on the season so far. We will keep a close eye on this situation. Get Frasor, but if you can't get Ryan as well.
Saves: 10Save Opportunities: 11 Hoffman get roughed up again, Fuentes leads the pack with 18 saves. Today was full of action with over a dozaen 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 saves and during it, his ERA 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 10 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 4th 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 1 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 youch him and some owners still own Chris Ray. Sherrill had me at hello or maybe it was 32 saves in 2008. I wasn't a fan of Sherrill till 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. Since his last blown save 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.
Saves: 2Save Opportunities: 4 Madson and Bailey blow saves, while only 2 get recorded. Monday was a slow day with two saves, so I skipped the report. Good thing I did because there was only two saves as well, but plenty of closers pitched. On Monday, both games on the docket were saved. Trevor Hoffman came back after his first blown save to get his 16th save of the season. He worried his owners with a lea  d-off single to Travis Hafner, but closed out the rest of the inning. Brian Fuentes came in and got a quick 1/3 of an inning save after a wild game where the Angels won 9-7. Tuesday had its own share of action. Mariano Rivera closed out a 5-3 win for the Yankees. He looked sharp gunning down the Nats batters 1-2-3. Ryan Madson made his fourth appearance as a closer and blew his first save as a closer. He gave up the game tying run walking Lyle Overbay with the bases loaded. The stat line for Madison, not good. 2 hits, 2 walks, and a run. He did strikeout two batters for something positive, but his overall command was terrible tonight. Andrew Bailey pitched well, but suffered a tough blown save to the Dodgers. After giving up a lead-off single to Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera's fielding miscues put the tying run to second base. He then got a double play, but gave up the big hit to Matt Kemp. It wasn' t a bad performance with no earned runs, but it was a blown save. Broxton pitched a quiet inning with not much action in the game. He only needed 10 pitches, so he should be aright for tomorrow. However, I think Joe Torre will do everything he can to give Broxton some rest. The A's lost 5-4 with former closer Zielger taking the lose. Other Appearances:Francisco Rodriguez (17) - Another save for KROD, but he did walk two before striking out two and getting the save. Mike MacDougal - made an appearance against the Yankees. Gave up 2 walks, a hit, and a run in another poor performance by a Washington closer. Where is a witch doctor for this curse!
 Broxton is so much fun to watch pitch and on June 13th he not only recorded his 15th save, but he also struck out Hank Blalock for his 50th strikeout of the season. That leads all closers by a ton and he is now on pace to strikeout 125-130. He also has 6 wins for the hot Dodgers. Who says closers are only one category players? Hopefully you listened to me and drafted him instead of waiting for David Aarsdma or LaTroy Hawkins.
Saves: 3Save Opportunities: 4 Only three saves and few appearances make for a slow day.
Today was a bad day for close  rs, but a good day for starters who threw four complete games. There were only three saves and one wasn't even by a closer. Daniel Bard came in and shut the door on the Phillies in the 13th inning by striking out the side. The Red Sox were resting Papelbon today and they were trying to Saito as well. The only blown save of the day was Ramon Ramirez of the Red Sox, who gave up a blast to Ryan Howard in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Madson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning and struck out the side for his third appearance in three days. It was mentioned that scouts around the league feel that Madson has the stuff closers need, which includes 3 great pitches. His changeup was nasty tonight. Fernando Rodney got a big and overdo in a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. Rodney had a quiet 12 pitch innings and struck out one. Joe Nathan is on a roll racking up saves nearly everyday. He recorded his 14th save of the season dispatching of the Cubs in 10 pitches.
Other Appearances:
Joel Hanrahan - He blew a save today, by allowing an inherited runner to score on a ball that Nick Johnson misplayed, but didn't get an error for.
Saves: 9Save Opportunities: 10 Papelbon capped off a great Red Sox comeback by shutting the door on the Yankees for his 16th save. Paps faced only three batters and avoided AROD as the winning run. Papelbon has been worked allot and he looks tired. He needs to get some rest and some easy 3-run save chances.  Matt Capps was on his A-game as he ripped through the Braves for his 15th save and got his sixth save in a row. It was also his fifth save of the month, but tonight was his first strikeout as well. Huston Street continued his hot streak with his fourth consecutive save, but got roughed up a bit in the process. Street is far from perfect right now, but he's pitching as well as he can. In June he's 4/5 in saves with seven strikeouts and believe it or not (Chata) he has lowered his ERA .26 points. Ryan Franklin finally got another save. After getting 7 in April, 5 in May, he secured only his second save in June. He's getting cold or the Cardinals are. He gave up three hits while securing a very nervous save. Is a breakdown coming for Franklin? I'd sell. Ryan Madson is 2/2 in two days as a closer. He saved his second consecutive game beating the Mets 6-3. He struck out one and gave up a hit earning his fourth save of the season. Joakim Soria blew his first save of the season. He should never have pitched, but thanks to a Pena Jr. throwing error Soria had to come in and gave up a double that plated the tying run. He did retire the next four batters he faced. Other Appearances:David Aardsma (11) - 1.78 ERA and 32 strikeouts. What a pleasant surprise. Maybe Morrow should go back to being a starter? CJ Wilson (6) - Wilson has the stuff to close and we have no idea how long Francisco will be out. Joe Beimel (1) - Mike MacDougal pitched 3 innings over the past two days, so its a rest save for Beimal. Chad Qualls(13) - the beleaguered closer got his 13th save, but gave up an unearned run. he dd strikeout two.
Saves: 9Save Opportunities: 10 Andrew Bailey had a nightmare appearance against the Twins. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He entered a tie game, so the only goods news, he didn't blow the save. I''ll keep an eye on how this develops with Ziegler waiting in the shadows.  After Bailey's implosion, Nathan came in for his 13th save of the season and has continued his hot streak that started seven saves ago. Heath Bell continued his torrid pace with his 18th save of the season over the Dodgers 3-1. His WHIP fell back below 1.00 and he is pitching his best baseball right now. Brian Wilson also continued to show he can hang with the stud closers with a 6-4 save over Arizona. He struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning. What a season Wilson is having. He has definitely become one of the best draft values of the season. On his first day as Philadelphia's closer, Ryan Madson got his third save of the season. He looked as sharp as he has all season. He pitched a perfect inning and struck out none. Francisco Cordero blew his first save of the season giving up 2 runs. To be fair Cordero had to wait over two hours because of a rain delay and he couldn't have been loose after that long of a delay. I think we can ignore this appearance and assume that Cordero is still one of the top closers in the league.
Other Appearances:
Huston Street (11) - Awesome performance for Street. He struck out the side for a perfect inning.
David Aardsma (10) - Another perfect inning and another strikeout. David Weathers (1) - A nice appearance in a 12-inning game. Jonathan Papelbon(16) - Paps created some late innings drama with the Yankees, but got the easy save and stranded Gardner on second base. Matt Capps (14) - Came very close to blowing the save. Gave up a home run to Garret Anderson.
 For awhile now Chad Qualls has been complaining of forearm stiffness and recently he has stated he thinks it will linger. This can never be good. Closers with lingering injuries have short life spans. He probably will make a trip to the DL and that bodes will for Jon Rauch.
Qualls has blown 2 of the last three saves after starting off extremely hot. Clearly the injury is effecting him and a DL stint has to be a consideration at this point.
I recommend picking up Rauch right now and hold him for 1-2 weeks. He is pitching very well and will take over the closer role if Qualls is out of commission.
You should also trade Qualls now. That forearm will likely be a long-term problem.
 The Phillies placed Brad Lidge on the Dl with a sprained EGO, I mean knee. After 6 blown saves this season, Lidge will finally get a 2-3 week vacation to get his head cleared.
He shouldn't miss more than three weeks. If you haven't already secured Ryan Madson, get him. He was gone in all six leagues I was in and I had cut him in two of them. Sad, I know.
Madson have a 2.22 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 28.1 innings. He should get all the save opportunities while Lidge is licking his wounds.
Saves: 8Save Opportunities: 9 It was a bad day for Fernando Rodney. Even know the stat books won't show a blown save and to avoid a FP911 correction email, I'll make it clear he didn't. However, he blew the fantasy save by pitching poorly.and with 18 pitches only six landed for strikes. He walked three straight batters before giving way to Brandon Lyon who let them all score.  Joe Nathan is sizzling in the summer (OK, late spring). He nailed his 12th save of the season and his sixth consecutive save in as many appearances. He struck out two in the process.
George Sherill recorded his 12th save of the season, while giving up a run in the process. Just today I told Derek Carty that I think George Sherill is more valuable than Chad Qualls. Today he didn't quite show quite that, but did show he can record saves at will. With a solid 2.66 ERA and a higher than average WHIP of 1.23, Sherill has proven to me that he can stand with the best closers in the league. Qualls has blown two of his last three saves opportunities and is complaining of forearm stiffness that he says will linger. His ERA of 3.27 and a lofty 1.28 WHIP show his recent struggles, so that ends that discussion. Get Rauch if you can to insure Qualls. The roles reversed for Atlanta today with Rafael Soriano getting the save and Mike Gonzalez pitching the 8th for the 4-3 win. Both pitchers looked strong, but keep an eye on Soriano. If Gonzalez has any problems or Soriano just out pitches him, Soriano could be the Braves closer. It was Soriano's fifth save of the season. Other Appearances:
Brian Fuentes (16) -Another fine save for Fuentes. Huston Street (10) - Street is back to pitching well again. His inconsistent nature will frustrate his owners, but he is producing. Jonathan Broxton (15) - Gave up a run, but struck out two batters and improved to 49 strikeouts on the season. Matt Lindstrom - Lindstrom got the win pitching the ninth, giving up only two hits. Francisco Rodriguez (16) - He looked strong as usual and is one of the hottest closers in the league. Now, who told me he wouldn't be among the league leaders in saves for 2009?
Saves: 6Save Opportunities: 6 Bell saves number 17, Andrew Bailey gets 5th save.
Andrew Bailey has secured the closer role for the Athletics with another strong save. Monday night he pitched a perfect inning to secure a 4-3 win for the A's. It was his fifth save and third since his last blown save. At this point you might want to cut Ziegler. He will backup Bailey, but right now he isn't pitching well enough to be on a roster.  Heath Bell got his league leading 17th save in a 6-3 for the Padres. He saved the win for Jake Peavy, but created some drama in the ninth inning by giving up a hit and walking the next batter. Overall another solid save for Peavy who's ERA has settled at 1.42. Scott Downs finally got another save, getting his eighth save of the season and first in the month of June. It was a tough inning for Downs who didn't have his best stuff as he gave up one hit and a walk. Fernando Rodney started the week strong after being shutout last week. He pitched a strong inning giving up one hit in the 5-4 victory. Rodney has been a big surprise for his owners. He was named closer late in spring training, and now has 11 saves. He does need to work on his WHIP and ERA. Other Appearances:
Mariano Rivera (14) - Got another easy save against the Rays. He struck out Upton to end the game. Mike Gonzalez - Pitched an inning in a non-save situation. Has one save this month. Randy Choate - Came into a 4-3 game and struck out Johnny Damon before walking Teixeira. Huston Street (9) - After blowing a couple of saves in a row, Street got off the snide with a big save.
The Nationals manager Manny Acta has announced their 5th closer of the season. The Nationals started with Hanrahan, then went to Julian Taveraz. When that blew up they went to Kip Wells and then we he failed we  n't back to Joel Hanrahan. Now the job will go to former Kansas City closer Mike MacDougal. MacDougal had 48 saves for the Royals over two seasons as their closer, but never was consistent, however he did strikeout one batter per inning. He is a free agent closer to pick up, but don't expect much from him. If my numbers are correct the Washington Nationals have only had two save chances over the past two weeks. The Nats just don't win and are in fact the worse team in the majors. Just don't expect much from MacDougal in the area of saves. So far in four appearances for the Nationals he's thrown 2.2 shutout innings with three strikeouts.
By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.comNeither of these pitchers are confirmed closers, but both of them are starting to more opportunities. Today, Leo Nunez and Randy Choate got big saves for their teams after both bullpens had minor meltdowns. Matt Lindstrom walked two and gave up a hit, but was relieved by manager Fredi González and replaced by Leo Nunez. Nunez gave up the hit that plated the two runs that were charged to Lindstrom, but got the final out for the save. Clearly Lindstrom didn't have his command today and this is becoming a big issue for him and his ability to maintain consistency worries me and allot of other people. Last week I backed him up with Nunez and I'd recommend picking him up if you have a roster spot. Since we last reported on Randy Choate, the Rays have only had two saves. Choate got the second one today. Dan Wheeler was brought in for the ninth inning of a 9-5 game, but quickly gave up two runs on three hits, and with two outs was relieved by Choate who recorded the final out and got the save. It was Choate's third save of the season and all three were less then an inning. Joe Madden has confidence in Choate and has to continue to give him chances. I recommend at this point taking a chance on Choate. If he becomes the closer for the Rays, he will produce allot of saves.
Saves: 5Save Opportunities: 6 Not many saves tonight, but plenty of closer action. There might have only been five saves today, but there was plenty of closer action. Jonathan Broxton battled Brad Lidge in the 9th inning for the game. Broxton was amazing for his half inning, striking out 3 and allowing a single to Jayson Werth. Lidge got the first two outs of the ninth inning, but then he fell apart. Giving up a single and then walking Loney. To be fair, Pedro Feliz made an error on a Russel Martin ground ball. He then gave up the big hit to Either for the Dodger win 4-3. Lidge threw  mostly fastballs and when he threw sliders they were often balls. Brain Fuentes got an easy one out save, but the pressure was on with the tying run at third base. This was Fuente's 15th save of the season, and he is getting better each appearance. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth inning and struck out Nick Johnson to end the game. KROD looked sharp and pitched perfect tonight. Hopefully with Putz out 10-12 weeks, Rodriguez will still get plenty of opportunities.
Joe Nathan continued on his torrid pace finishing off another perfect save. He struck out two batters, one of them was Ichiro Suzuki to end the game. If you held on to Nathan during his darker days, welcome to the light! If you traded for him, classically good move.
Other Appearances:
Joel Hanrahan - Got hammered again. Granted he pitched more than an inning, it was a terrible performance, he is terrible. At this point you have to consider cutting him. Fernando Rodney - Gave up two runs in the ninth inning against the Angels and took the lose. He wasn't sharp in his last appearance against the Red Sox, and he wasn't sharp tonight against the Angels. Kevin Gregg (10) - He looked very good tonight, but loss command after the first two batters, but had enough for the save. Brain Wilson (14)- Underrated, ignored, and a 14 save pitcher. He isn't lucky, he's good.
If you were like me and you were keeping hope alive that Joel Hanrahan would pitch to his true talent in 2009, just give up. I watched him pitch against the Mets and after pitching an OK ninth inning he then fell apart in the tenth inning. I just don't think you should keep this guy on your roster. He is destroying your WHIP and ERA each time he goes out there and he's not recording saves. You are better off with a Saito, Soriano, or a Troncoso in your lineup then Hanrahan. If you have a bench spot to waste maybe keep him there in case of a miracle, but I have less confidence then he does in himself.
Saves: 6 Save Opportunities: 6
Papelbon and Fuentes reach 14, while JP Howell gets the call for the Rays. It was another day of few saves, but several of the stud closers got the job done. Mariano Rivera got out of trouble against the Rangers to win 8-6. With one out and runners on the corners he struck out Nelson Cruz and got David Murphy to pop up. It wasn't a pretty save, but it was a save.  Papelbon had control issues today and these issues have plagued him his last few appearances. The key to Papelbon's success is his high strike. Today he had problems getting anything up and walked the lead off batter in the 9th and took the next two batters to 3-2 counts before getting the next three outs. Again, it wasn't pretty and with the amount of pitches he through I don't think we will see Papelbon tomorrow and possibly even Saturday. He is looking tire and is in need of a few days off. JP Howell got the call for the Rays today and pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. I could say he brought him in to face lefties, but he faced two nighties and one lefty in Mike Jacobs, so Madden probably just felt good about Howell today. We cannot say that he is the closer and we don't think he is at this point. I would recommend adding him if you have the roster spot. Brain Wilson continues to demand respect with another great outing. He came in to pitch with two outs in the eighth inning and ended up striking out all four batters he faced. He did walk one and gave up a hit in the process, but overall was an outstanding performance securing a 5-1 win for the Giants. It was Wilson's thirteenth save.
Other Appearances:
Joel Hanrahan - Got absolutely hammered for 4 hits and 3 runs in a non-save situation. The Nationals officially have no bullpen.
Brian Fuentes (14)- Struck out the side, but gave up a hit and a walk. Matt Lindstrom (11) - If there was any worry about Lindstrom losing his job, he didn't. He looked great today striking out one and giving up a lone hit.
Saves: 6 Save Opportunities: 6
Soria makes first post-DL appearance, Hoffman saves 14th. Today there was some good news for closers. Joakim Soria made his first appearance since coming off the DL. He faced two batters in the eighth inning, striking out one. He looked great, but most of all sharp. He only needed 13 pitches for the two outs. That includes a based runner from a Tug Hulett error.  More good news as there were no blown saves and a few exciting ones. Trevor Hoffman saved his 14th straight game of the season, and has yet to allow a run. His WHIP is a microscopic 0.44 in 15 innings this season. I think we all agree that Hoffman cannot sustain these numbers much longer. I would shop Hoffman in the next days. Get the maximum value for him, maybe even a package deals with lesser closer. Jonathan Broxton continued his torrid start with his 13th save of the season. He closed out an exciting 1-0 win for the Dodgers, and pitched a perfect ninth inning. Broxton now has 42 strikeouts on the season, which is #67 in strikeouts in the league. He has more strikeouts then Jair Jurrjens, John Maine, Brandon McCarthy, Andy Petitte, and Paul Maholm. The point, Broxton is a special closer. His ability to easily strikeout over 100 batters in the season gives him a huge advantage in any league. If you can get him in a deal, do it. He is the best closer in the league.
Other Appearances:
Chris Sampson (3) - Got a two inning save since the Astros were resting Hawkins.
Frank Francisco (12)- Continues his hot streak and he's proving he is one of the best in the AL.
Andrew Bailey (3) Pitched 1.2 innings for the save. Tomorrow should be Zeigler's turn after Bailey's long outing. However, Bailey only threw 15 pitches, so he should be able to go again. David Aardsma - Pitched a scoreless ninth and got the win for Seattle.
Saves: 5 Save Opportunities: 7
Papelbon faces 6 batters with no runs, Broxton saves 12th A five save day is bad and two blown saves makes it even worse. We can all say that today was a bad day for closers. There were plenty of appearances for closers starting with Jonathan Papelbon. While he didn't get the save, he uncharacteristically lacked his command and gave up three straight singles to open up the ninth inning. Papelbon then went into what he calls, "punchout mode" and struck out the next three batters. It was a non-save situation with the Red Sox leading 5-1, but Papelbon created a save situation for himself. The new technique hitters are now trying on Papelbon is swinging at the first pitch and almost every other one. It's not working, he is still pitching great.  Jonathan Broxton(12) got another save tonight winning 6-5 over the Diamondbacks. He struck out two in the process and has increased is closer lead strikeout total to 41. His WHIP lowered to 0.69. One of two blown saves for the day was from a closer in my Closer Dog House. Kevin Gregg. He gave up 2 runs on surprisingly only one hit. To his defense he struck out Garrett Anderson, but he got to first base on a wild pitch. Jeff Francoeur then blasted a 2-run bomb off of Gregg to tie the score. It was another bad performance for Gregg even with 2 strikeouts. Pinella won't make any moves yet, but believe that Gregg is on a short lease. Huston Street just had a bad night. Lucky for him he only gave up 1 unearned run. The run was unearned because Street made a bad throw to first base on Michael Bourn's bunt. After that he gave up a hit to blow the save and after getting a double play he walked two more batters. This is Street's second blow save in a row. This is his biggest demon, getting back up after a bad outing. this could last for 3 or 4 straight games. Hopefully he will recover by the next save chance.
Other Appearances:
Matt Capps (12) - Capps is on a roll and looking sharp lately.
Mike Gonzalez - Had a tough inning walking one and giving up a hit.
Joe Nathan (10) - Nathan is on fire and pitched 1.1 innings for the save. Brad Zeigler - Two hits and a walk. Another WHIP blowing performance. Ryan Franklin (13)- He is a machine. I don't know when the wheels will fall off, but enjoy it.
Saves: 8 Save Opportunities: 8
Small slate of games turns out to be gold mine for closers
There was only nine games in the majors today, not biggest prospect for saves. However, the short day ended big for closers as 8 0f 9 games were ended in save fashion.  Among the more important saves, Matt Lindstrom came back after his last performance and pitched very well. He struck out two, while giving up a hit. The important thing was no walks and he had solid command. Great news for Lindstrom owners. Matt Capps owners can breathe a sign of relief. Capps pitched a near perfect inning against the Mets winning 8-5. He commanded all of his pitches and looked very sharp. It has been a tough season for Capps, and this appearance can only help him in the long run. Tony Pena Jr. got the save for Arizona in a 1-0 game. Pena came in for Chad Qualls, who complained of stiffness in his forearm. It wasn't Pena's finest performance of the season. He gave up 2 unearned runs after a Felipe Lopez throwing error. At that point there was 1 out and 2 runners on. He could have gotten out of it, but gave up the 2 runs. I'd be a little worried about Qualls if you own him. I recommend picking up Rauch or Pena in reserve. Our guess is Jon Rauch will get the call if Qualls is down any length of time. Right now he is day-to-day. Finally, George Sherrill nailed his 11th save of the season preserving a 1-0 run lead. these are the kinds of saves we like to see. A closer coming into a 1-0 game and sealing the deal. Sherrill has looked great after a rough start, and with the Orioles winning more he looks to be a 40 save candidate.
Other Appearances:
Brad Lidge (13) - This is the 4th consecutive save for Lidge and another strong innings. I'm still not sure if I'm sold, but he is looking calm again.
LaTroy Hawkins (1) - Valverde is out and Hawkins is chalking up the saves.
Francisco Cordero (14) - Another strong inning and another save for Cordero.
Mariano Rivera (11) - He is racking up the saves with a hot Yankee team. He's right where he should be.
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got 11 saves, 18 strikeouts, and he gave up zero runs on only four hits. He is clearly the best closer in the game right now.
