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 Saves: 6Save Opportunities: 8 Aardsma joins the 30-something club, while Fuentes locks down #36 After a slow day for closers, today was a much more active with lots of big-time action. I'll start with Brian Fuentes, who tied Mariano Rivera for the league lead with 36 saves. He got the save defeating the hot Detroit Tigers 4-2. Fuentes threw a perfect inning for the save, but he did exhibit some wildness before closing out the game. He has had a roller coaster month so far with six saves and two blown saves.  David Aardsma finally joined the 30-something club tonight. He got his 30th save striking out two on two hits for the 5-3 win. Aardsma is also near the top with six saves this month, but like most closers he's hit some rough patches in August. He is currently on pace for 37 saves and over 80 strikeouts. Chad Qualls came in the eighth with runners on, and promptly gave up a 3-run blast to Bengie Molina. This is a terrible turn of events for a closer on the ropes and on waivers. It was his fifth blown save of the season against 23 saves. I haven't liked Qualls all season and I can say without a doubt that he will not be a closer next year. Brian Medders recorded the wrap around save for the Giants. J.P. Howell blew his seventh save of the season in horrible fashion walking three and giving up a home run. He ended up with the lost after giving up two runs. Howell has a fantastic K-rate, but his lack of consistency is killing his owners. Howell has only saved 68% of his chances, which is worse they the Master of blown saves Brad Lidge who currently has saved 73%. Leo Nunez is still the closer in Florida, so hopefully you listened to me and kept him. He looked very sharp tonight, striking out two and giving up a hit. Nunez will be the closer the rest of the season and has been outstanding since getting the job.
Other Appearances:
Kerry Wood (16)- Not sure why the Indians are still closing with Wood, but he did get his 16th.
Ryan Franklin (34) - Franklin pitched a Franklin Save. 1 hit and in .2 innings. Francisco Cordero (27) - recorded #27 with two strikeouts. He is on pace for 31 with four so far this month. Jonathan Broxton - Pitched a clean inning in a 6-1 Dodger win. Trevor Hoffman - Pitched one perfect inning in a non-save situation.
Saves: 3Save Opportunities: 4 Soria blows big save in night of light action for MLB closers
There wasn't allot of action for closers tonight, but still some appearances worth noting. Jaokim Soria gave up a three run bomb to youngster Luis Valbuena to blow his third save of the season. He entered the eighth inning of a 5-4 game and gave up three runs before recording his second out. Soria has be  en a major disappointment this season and that pain continues for his owners. So far he has only 20 saves and in the month of August he's only recorded two. To make matters worse, his last two appearances have resulted in losses. On the bright-side, David Aardsma recorded his 29th save of the season in another near perfect inning of work. He now sits with the top closers in the league with 29 saves, 66 Ks, a 2.38 ERA, and a somewhat reasonable 1.25 WHIP. If the WHIP was about .20 lower, Aardsma would be amongst the top four closers. He has been a rare find for free agent hunters and turned into the type of player that wins fantasy championships. Brandon Morrow's failure was David Aardsma greatest moment. Joe "The Save Man" Nathan got his 32nd save in a wacky night, 2-1 over the Orioles. Nathan was a bit wild walking two batters and needed 29 pitched to record the three outs. The part that makes this night wacky is he didn't give up a hit and struck out the side in the process. Nathan's you know what simply doesn't stink. Even when he blew a save on Friday, he still came through with a win, and that is magic to some. Tonight he walks two in a one run game and gets the save untouched. August has been a tough month for Nathan with only three saves, but he continues to be one of the best closers in the game. Brad Lidge has been pitching well lately. Tonight he didn't record a save, but he did pitch a perfect inning for the Phillies. He needed 15 pitches to end the game and threw 10 for strikes. Not bad for Lidge. Terry Francona wasn't taking any chances after another wild game tonight. He brought Papelbon into a 12-8 game to close it out and that he did. Paps struck out two and walked one in a quick ninth inning of work. Other Appearances: Fernando Rodney (27) - Rodney looked outstanding tonight. He pitched 1.1 perfect innings and struck out two for the save. Kerry Wood - Pitched an inning with a four run lead. Gave up a hit and a walk.
Huston Street - Pitched one inning with a strikeout in the 14 inning affair. Brian Wilson - Pitched 2.2 innings in the 14 inning game. He gave up four hits and a walk, while striking out 3.
Saves: 10Save Opportunities: 10 Big time closers come out of the bullpens for an ten save day There were plenty of saves to go around tonight in MLB. I haven't seen more than seven saves in one day in over an month, so tonight was special. Not only were there plenty of saves, but most of the big guns came out to play.
Joe Nathan starts off the list. Nathan recorded his 31st save of the season and pitched a perfect inning while doing it. He also st  ruck out two, which got him to over 60 for the season, but this has still been a tough month for him. Tonight was only his second save in August after an incredible nine save month in July. Nathan still has the best WHIP amongst closers at 0.79 and his ERA is at a microscopic 1.54. Bet on him that he will nail down many more saves. Huston Street hasn't been perfect lately, but he is still nailing down saves for the Rockies. He also recorded his 31st save of the season, but not as easy as Nathan did. Street gave up a solo home run to Josh Bard before settling down and saving the 5-4 win. It was Street's third save in four days, but his other numbers have suffered. Over those three saves he's given up four hits, two earned runs, and only two strikeouts. It isn't much better for the overall month. He was the one of the hottest closers coming out of July (with Nathan), but August has been a different story. He has only four saves, while giving up six runs and striking out five in 5.2 innings. His WHIP for the month is 1.76 on nine hits and a walk. In all of July he gave up only two hits. In August his ERA has raised from 2.44 to 3.24, but his WHIP remains low at 1.00. What does all this mean? Street is regressing a bit as I expected, however he is still one of the top closers out there and he's on target to finish with 41-42 saves. Jose Valverde continues his march towards 30 saves with his 17th tonight over the Marlins 6-3. He was extremely wild tonight, walking two on 38 pitches. In the end, he got out of it untouched and with two strikeouts. This is Jose Valverde. He bends, but does not break. His injury was terrible for his owners because he is a much better closer then his numbers show. If he wasn't hurt this year, I'd personally guarantee 40+ saves, but atlas I can only promise 30. So far so good for Valverde. Brian Wilson joined the 30-something club tonight. He closed out a big 1-0 win over Cincinnati tonight, a team that allot of closers are locking down easy saves against. It's been a rough month for Wilson, but he has settled down lately saving two in as many days. After a couple of rough outing and all-around tough month, David Aardsma got his 28th save of the season tonight. He got it on 22 hard fought pitches, striking out two. After two straight rough appearances Aardsma came back for a big save. You can tell that he has been clearly tired and has been over pitching lately. Hopefully he can get some rest. He only have three saves and his ERA has jumped up over a half-point this month. Still with a 2.13 ERA and 65 strikeouts you have to love Aardsma. Jonathan Broxton has had absolutely horrid month, but today his defense failed him. After a very smart Pujols walk, Russell Martin launched an errant snap throw to first base that allowed Pujols to get to third base. Broxton then got the next three batters out, but not before Matt Holiday's sacrifice fly. It was his fourth blown save of the month and eight overall. Ryan Franklin got the wrap around perfect inning save. Baseball genius will write books about this guy someday and the Indian Gods will speak his native name; Dances with effortless saves.
Other Appearances:
Mariano Rivera (36) - He is unstoppable and so are the Yankees. Got the perfect save again tonight.
J.P. Howell (14) - Quietly recorded his 14th save in a perfect inning of work. Matt Capps (22) - The 22 saves look nice, but Capps has yet save two games in a row without giving up runs since June 11 & 14. The Sabermetric formula for that stat Xz * (4X + (xy - yx)) = He's terrible x2. Bobbie Jenks (26) - His comeback tour continued today with a save over the helpless Royals. Since he nearly lost his closer job he has four saves in a row with a loss in between. He faced two batters today and struck out both. Mike MacDougal - Pitched an inning and gave up a hit in a non-save situation.
We all knew it would happen and it has. Kevin Gregg finally lost the job he never really had. Lou Pinella said that Carlos Marmol will take over has closer for the cubs and Gregg will be the setup man. This is bad news and more bad news. First off, Marmol has been terrible this season. He has a 3.51 ERA so far in 2009 and an even worse 1.47 WHIP. The reason he makes a bad choice for Pinella is his walk count. Marmol has walked 52 batters in 56 innings. You just can't walk that many guys and expect to close out games effectively and be considered a fantasy relevant closer. Keep an eye on Angel Guzman and John Grabow. Grabow is a lefty will closing experience back in his days with the Pirates. Guzman has had a solid season, but lacks experience. Get Marmol if you can, but you are playing with fire. Frankly, I'd let this one go if you have the chance to get Marmol. I carried him most of the first half and he was a ERA and WHIP killer. Let someone else rush to grab him and join the closer circus. This is where you show your strength as a manager. The new closer isn't always the best option.
Saves: 5Save Opportunities: 6 Frank Francisco heats up along with Fuentes on slow night
After having one of the worse outings of his career, Frank Francisco has rebounded for two straight saves. Tonight he recorded his 18th save of the season, defeating the Twins 8-5. He looked strong for the second night in a row, striking out two on only ten pitches. I'd still be concerned about Francisco, but at this point you have to ride him out.  Ryan Franklin closed out the Dodgers tonight and only needed two outs. Franklin was perfect again and only needed two pitches to end the game. Franklin joined the 30-something club with save number 30 and is still pitching out of his mind. I can't say the same for Kevin Gregg. Gregg blew his sixth save of the season and his third of the month by giving up four runs in the ninth inning. The big blast was Kyle Blanks three run home run which ended the game. Gregg has been terrible in the month of August. His ERA has ballooned from 3.83 to 4.47 and his WHIP has shot up to 1.30. In the game, Heath Bell pitched a near perfect ninth for the win. He struck out two in the 19-pitch effort. Brian Fuentes got a BS save today. I guess the rule applies that if the tying run is on deck it's a save, but this is ridiculous. Fuentes entered a 8-5 game with two outs and a runner on third. He got Brian Roberts to pop out on three pitches and recorded his 34th save of the season. Fuentes rebounded nicely after his blown save last night against the same team.
Other Appearances:
Andrew Bailey (18) - Continues to be one of the hottest pitchers in the league. Pitched a perfect inning against the Yankees on ten pitches. His season ERA is down to 2.01.
Bobbie Jenks (25) - Jenks pitched one of his best outings of the season tonight. In defeating the Royals 8-7, Jenks only needed eight pitches for the save and seven were strikes. Jonathan Broxton - Pitched a quite inning against the Cardinals, striking out two. Matt Capps - Pitched a perfect innings in a non-save situation.
Billy Wagner is set to return in the next few days and has looked outstanding in the minors, pitching seven shutout innings.  The rumors floating around are that not only will the Mets put him on waivers, but they will let his $10.5 million contract go if someone puts a claim on him. One of the teams that are rumored to want Wagner are the Philadelphia Phillies, believe it or not. With the huge failures of Brad Lidge and the inconsistent pitching of Ryan Madison, the Phillies are desperate to get a consistent closer and Wagner seems to be a perfect fit. Even if Wagner clears waivers, the Mets can trade him up to August 31. Another rumor for Wagner is he could temporarily replace Francisco Rodriguez as closer for the Mets. Rodriguez has been terrible lately and with another blown save yesterday it's clear that the Mets need help in the bullpen again. Sounds like a broken record doesn't it? The Mets are running out of time to make the playoffs, so what they do with Wagner will tell everyone how they feel about their chances to make it. Pick up Wagner if you have space on your roster. It is a big gamble, but one that could pay off for 10-12 saves assuming he goes to the Phillies or he could pick up a few saves with the Mets. I know the Mets and Phillies hate each other, but business is business.
Saves: 8Save Opportunities: 9 Frank Francisco had a terrible outing tonight. it came directly after his first save since July 10, and calling it terrible was an understatement. Francisco could hardly retire a batter as the Red Sox hammered him for six runs on seven hits over his 2/3 of an inning. It was easily his worse outing of the season and his third blown save. After Francisco went on the DL back in July, he fell off my radar with his arm injury. I was concerned at his ability to return to form this season, and when asked about Francisco on podcasts I advised trading him. Don't get me wrong, Francisco will be alright the rest of the year, but expecting the kind of numbers he put up in the first half isn't going to happen and that has come to fruition so far. Hopefully you traded him along time ago. If you haven't, you can't now so just hold on for the roller coaster ride designed and operated by Franky. Papelbon was called into the game to close it out in a non-save situation and looked great, striking out two and giving up a lone hit.  Leo Nunez rebounded from his blown save to nail his 13th save of the season, but it wasn't without some fireworks. He entered the game with two runners on and one out. Thankfully he had a four run lead because he after striking out Dexter Fowler he gave up a three run bomb to Chris Iannetta. Nunez threw 11 pitches and only one was a bad. Overall it was a good performance for Nunez. Mike MacDougal continues to defy all odds on his comeback tour with his 12th save of the season. Tonight he pitched another perfect and efficient inning over Cincinnati. MacDougal recorded his sixth save of the month and is among the leaders in saves for the month of August. His ERA is also at an impressive 2.37, so the question is how long will it last? Lidge recorded his 22nd save of the season by defeating the Braves 3-2. Over course it had its Lidge fireworks as he put a couple of runners on before closing out the game. The sad news in this game was Rafael Soriano, who took the loss giving up a solo home run to Ryan Howard in the ninth inning. The silver lining in the cloud for Soriano, he did strikeout the side. Soriano has had a terrible month so far. He has only two saves and he has given up runs in three appearances and they have lead to a blown save and tonight a loss. His ERA has also ballooned from 1.84 to 2.55. This has always been the problem with Soriano besides his inconsistent health. He goes through big droughts and this current drought could have been brought on by an undisclosed injury. Keep an eye on Soriano and consider picking up Gonzalez to protect your bullpen. Bobbie Jenks continues to prove to Ozzie Guillen that the closer job is his for keeps. After pitching poorly for so long, Jenks has opened up for two saves in the past four days. Tonight he gave up a couple of hits, but settled down and got Garciaparra to ground out, ending the game. It was his 24th save of the season. Other Appearances:Francisco Rodriguez (26) - Pitched a perfect inning for his second save in three days. Not a bad comeback for KROD. Let's hope it continues. Mariano Rivera (34) - Rivera is on an insane pace. His 34th save was actually his 30th in a row since his last blown save all the way back in April! Currently he has five saves in August and his WHIP is down to a poultry 0.92. Who says its not worth drafting a closer early? Jason Frasor (6) - Frasor closed out the Rays tonight. He gave up a hit and struck out one batter. His season WHIP is at an amazing 0.97, but the save opportunities will be few and far between. Chad Qualls (22) - Got the save tonight. Gave up a hit and a walk and needed a whopping 22 pitches to end the game. Not very efficient. Andrew Bailey - Pitched a perfect inning in a non-save situation, while striking out one. Bailey continues to sizzle in the month of August.
Saves: 4Save Opportunities: 4 Today was a happy day for Frank Francisco owners. He recorded his first save since July 10 and his 16th overall this season. He needed quite a few pitches (21) to get the job done, but the result was great for Francisco since he finally got his closer job back. The only action in the inning was a hit and a strikeout. Francisco w  as a bit wild, but you can chalk that up to rust and nerves. He should be fine the rest of the way, assuming he stays healthy. Fernando Rodney got his 24th save of the season with a perfect inning over the Red Sox 2-0. Rodney was roughed up in his last two appearances for three runs on four hits, but today he was perfect. I still believe that Rodney is one of the better late season closers to have on your roster. If there is any chance to get him, do it. His value isn't that high, so it is possible. Trevor Hoffman looked sharp for the second night in a row and recorded his 26th save of the season in a wild game. The Brewers won 12-9 and Hoffman pitched a perfect inning for the save. Hoffman has been outstanding as of late. He has only given up one run in the past month and his ERA is down to 1.80. Believe it or not, he's still a solid closer and to think the Padres could have kept him and had Bell. Joakim Soria finally got off the snide with his first save since August 2 and only his second save of the month. Soria recorded a big two inning save in a hard fought game against the Twins and needed a whopping 35 pitches to close it out. Overall, the stat line was a walk and two strikeouts for the struggling closer. This clearly is not Soria's year, and frankly if you have him you have to trade him. He should be alright going forward, but the rest of the year he could have limited save opportunities. Don't expect him to pitch tomorrow. Other Appearances:Matt Capps - Capps got hammered getting "work" today. He entered a blowout and made it even more of a blow out. He gave up 3 runs on four hits. Capps has been one of the biggest disappointments in 2009 amongst all closers. If you own him at this point, feel ashamed and just deal with him. His value is pretty much in the tank.
Saves: 4Save Opportunities: 4 There wasn't allot of action for closers tonight and maybe that was for the better. It has been a tough week so far for MLB closers. ERAs and WHIPs have been rising all over the league and it continued tonight, at least with KROD. Francisco Rodriguez recorded his first save in 10 days and only his third save in over a month by beating the Diamondbacks 6-4. He gave up a run on two hits and struck out two in a gutsy performance. Rodriguez looked far better then he has anytime over the past two weeks and in reality the run he gave up shouldn't have scored. Gerald Parra got an infield hit and then with two outs got to second base on "fielder's indifference". Why not just try and throw the runner out? Does it matter if you throw the ball into center field and he gets to third? It shouldn't, you already don't care he is getting to second base, so third base matters? Anyhow, that move cost KROD the run after he gave up a two out single. Overall, it was a good performance for Francisco Rodriguez. Andrew Bailey continues his torrid pave with his 17th save of the season. He threw a nine pitch perfect inning against the Orioles. Bailey didn't get any strikeouts tonight, but he has 72 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. That is 13 K/9 for you statistical guys. He has had a save slow down in August with only three saves, but he has 12 saves in a row and a strikingly low WHIP 0.97 and a comfortable 2.11 ERA. Heath Bell continues to make up for a sorrowful July. After only getting three saves in July, Bell scored his 4th save in August and his 29th overall save. He needed only eight pitches to dispose of the Brewers. Bell has looked much better lately, but even better the Padres are hot and hitting the ball extremely well. That translates into allot of saves for Bell. He very well could finish this month with 8-10 saves. You have to love Ryan Franklin. He pulled off another Ryan Franklin save giving up only a walk, but no strikeouts. He has been doing this all year and continues to get the job done and get it done quickly. It was his 28th save of the season and his fourth save in six days. Other Appearances:Trevor Hoffman - Pitched a perfect inning and struck out two. Brian Wilson - Got the win in extra innings and did it in a big way. Wilson pitched 1.1 inning and struck out four batters. (psst, he faced only four batters for the novices). His wildness was still there. He needed 30 pitches for the outing and only 20 pitches landed for strikes. Don't expect Wilson to pitch tomorrow. Bobbie Jenks - Pitched two innings in a 14th inning game. Gave up only a hit and a walk. Joe Nathan - Got some work in today and struck out the side on 16 pitches.
Saves: 5Save Opportunities: 8 Leo Nunez blows his first save as closer, Rivera retakes league lead with his 33rd saveBy Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com Tonight was another crazy night for closers. Some looked good, others got cranked, hammered, and any other words you can use to describe giving up runs in an inning. First we will start with the lovable Leo Nunez. Nunez has been great as the Marlins closer, but tonight was not his night. He blew his third save of the season, but his first as the Marlins closer. He gave up the game tying run on three hits. He actually pitched well throwing mostly strikes (8/11 pitches), but his pitches were flat and were hit hard for a double and two shallow singles. Shake this one off. Nunez actually looked good and he should keep the job. Lindstrom was never brought in the game and that says something. Jose Valverde pitched part of the tenth and the eleventh innings. He totals were 1.2 innings, two hits, a walk, and a strikeout. Not the best performance for his WHIP, but overall OK.  Mariano Rivera scored his league leading 33rd save of the season in a 7-5 win over the Blue Jays. He didn't get away unscathed like we are use too. Rivera gave up a bomb to Edwin Encarnacion and stranded Jason McDonald on second base to end the game. Rivera still looked strong striking out two on 18 total pitches. The long ball shot his ERA over 2.01 for the first time this month. Seems like I'm giving that information allot these days. Bobbie Jenks jumped out of the shadows and flashed all his owners with his 23rd save of the season. It was a clean inning with only one hit. Jenks has all but disappeared lately. This was his first save since July 20 and his first chance since July 25 th. Since his two consecutive blown saves, manager Ozzie Guillen hasn't had much confidence in his closer and leaned on his starters and middle relief. This appearance was very positive for Jenks and should calm his owners that he is still the closer in Chicago. In that game, David Aardsma got roughed up only as David Aardsma can. I'm talking multiple runs and long innings. David Aardsma has been awesome this year,giving up runs in only five of his 54 appearances. Add to that 63 strikeouts and 27 saves. Aardsma's worse enemy in 2009 is the big inning. Out of the five appearances where he's actually given up runs, four of those were two or more runs. When he blows a save he does it Aardsma style. I would shake this one off. Aardsma has been lights out brilliant this year and is a stud closer you should hold. Francisco Cordero joined the chorus line of closers who gave up runs tonight. He got his 25 th save of the season, but not without getting battered a bit. He gave up a run on two hits with one strikeout. Again, shake this off if you own Cordero in your league. Of course, I've been telling you to unload him for weeks, so shame on you if you do still own him. Other Appearances:Jim Johnson (4) - Johnson recorded his fourth save of the season over the A's with a easy one hit save. Chad Durbin (2) - Got a 12 th inning save. Brad Lidge - Brad Lidge put on The Brad Lidge Show tonight. He blew his seventh save of the season. He gave up a walk and after a sacrifice, couldn't save the game and gave up the big hit to Milton Bradley. Kevin Gregg - He suffered a tough loss. He gave up a blast to Ben Francisco in the 12 th inning. It was his fourth loss of the season. Jonathan Papelbon - Pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation. Just when we thought he was turning the corner back to his dominating self, he gets cranked, but it wasn't all bad. He gave up a double to Avila and after striking out the next two batters, gave up a home run to Curtis Granderson. He struck out the final batter for the side, and though he looked good, the two run home run hurt his over status. It looks as though his confidence is still intact, so should his owners.
Saves: 7Save Opportunities: 7 Jonathan Broxton recorded his first save since July 30 by closing out the Giants 4-2. It wasn't a pretty save as he gave up a bomb to Bengie Molina and a single to Randy Winn. After that he calmed down and got two more ground balls to end the game. Regardless of the appearance being a WHIP and ERA killer, Broxton got the save  and that is big for Broxton owners. The home run to Molina was a 2-0 soft fastball high in the zone and Molina was ready for it. I think Broxton was just trying to throw a strike and didn't think Molina would swing since they were down three runs. Let that go. Brian Fuentes got a big save over the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. He pitched a perfect inning on 11 pitches and a strikeout. However, Fuentes was blessed because Abreu saved a game tying Ben Zobrist home run with a great catch to end the game. This was Fuentes' second save in a row and he is looking good again. If Fuentes is starting up another one of his hot save streaks, he could have 40 saves by the end of the month.
Huston Street wished he never pitched tonight just to get some work in. Street looked horrible giving up four runs on four hits and a walk. He was finally pulled after 19 pitches and only recorded one out. This performance raised his ERA above 3.00 for the first time since June 26 when his ERA was the same as it is now, 3.09. Leo Nunez continues his hot streak in August with his 12th save of the season. It was his third save in four days. It was also his tenth straight save since taking the closer job for the Marlins and Nunez has yet to blow a save as closer. There are no signs of Matt Lindstrom getting the closer job back this season.
Other Appearances:
Frasor (5) - Recorded his fifth save and a big save at that against a tough Yankee team. He struck out one and gave up a hit.
Ryan Franklin (27) - Franklin got another seemingly easy save over the drifting Reds 4-1. He gave up a hit and no strikeouts. Jonathan Papelbon (28) - Papelbon was called on for a 4-out save and he came through big. David Aardsma (27) - Nailed his 27th save with a near perfect inning. He recorded no strikeouts for only the 12th time this season out of 53 appearances. Chad Qualls - Qualls got hammered tonight in a non-save situation. He gave up 2 runs on three hits. On the bright side, he did strike out the SIDE (no pun intended. Is that a pun?).
Saves: 5Save Opportunities: 8 There was only a handful of saves today, but plenty of action on the baseball diamond for closers. In the American League East showdown in New York the ace closers did their thing, which is stop the other team from scoring. Mariano Rivera pitched a sweet ninth inning with two strike outs and a hit. Papelbon matched him with 1.1 innings perfect innings and two strikeouts. Both closers should be available to pitch tomorrow and will likely be needed after depleting the bullpens.  Jose Valverde stayed hot gaining his 14th save of the season. He had a easy 14-pitch inning against the Brewers. Not much action for Valverde, but his control was spot on. He recorded one strikeout and a hit. Awhile back I wrote that Valverde could achieve 30 saves and at August 7th stands at 14. I still think that 30 is achievable, but either way he is a closer you should get your hands on. He is hot and his arm is relatively fresh. Ryan Frankin scored his 25th save defeating the hapless Pirates 6-4. Argh mate! Franklin pitched his specialty, which is a perfect inning. For extra kicks, he threw in a strikeout. Franklin is still a closer I think should be sold. The fact that the Cardinals were desperately trying to trade for other closers should tell you something. Still, you can't argue with his results and this catchy non-Sabermetric stat. He has pitched perfect (meaning no hits or walks) in 24/42 appearances this season. In comparison, Mariano Rivera has 18 and Jonathan Papelbon 14. The Washington Nationals won their sixth game in a row and Mike MacDougal is been on the saving end of most of them. Tonight, he saved his eleventh game of the season, but more remarkable his fifth save in August. He pitched 1.2 innings tonight and gave up two hits and walk, but no runs. MacDougal might have a solid ERA at 2.54, but his 1.52 WHIP is a major concern for his owners and his consistency. Right now he is pitching well enough and I think that is all we can ask out of Big Mac. Leo Nunez nailed down his tenth save of the season over the Phillies 3-2 . He needed only five pitches to finish off the Phillies with a perfect inning of work. It was an incredible performance for Nunez, who many have suspected may lose his job to Lindstrom. Not me, I think its his job to lose and after another great performance like this the job is that more secure. Brain Wilson had a terrible evening. First, he came in the eighth for a big save and gave up an RBI single to Lance Nix to blow the save. After escaping the eighth, he came back in for the ninth and all hell broke loose. After giving up a bunt single and a sacrifice, he then walked the next three batters. After Wilson was relieved, the Giants defense made two horrible errors allowing all three of his walks to score. His final numbers; one ER, two hits, and three walks. Terrible night for the stud closer. Francisco Rodriguez looked even worse. He didn't record a single out when he entered the 2-1 game for the save and gave up five runs on two hits and three uncontrollable walks. This is consecutive horrible outings for KROD. Something is mentally wrong with him and we've seen it before back in California. Cleary he is not the same man as earlier in the season. This could continue for awhile, but thankfully he can't lose his job. The Mets have no one else! Other Appearances:Jim Johnson (3) - The new Orioles closer got his third save of the season pitching a solid inning with no strikeouts. Expect a lack of strikeouts from Johnson and an excess of runs. Jonathan Broxton - His slump continues with his fourth blown save of the season. He gave up a run on a hit and a walk. J.P. Howell - Took the loss giving up a 2-run home run to Russ Langerhans in the 11th inning. Fernando Rodney - Why he keeps getting brought in for non-save situations I'll never know. He is terrible when a save isn't on the line Tonight he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He did strikeout two if that makes Rodney owners feel better. Francisco Cordero - Loaded the bases ina non-save situation, but got out of it unscathed. Rafael Soriano - pitched a perfect inning in the extra inning affair with the Dodgers. David Aardsma - Pitched great in a non-save situation. Struck out the side and walked one. Heath Bell - Got the win after KROD gave up five runs in the ninth inning.
Saves: 4Save Opportunities: 5 Today was another slow day for MLB closers with only four saves. The offenses were rolling and that kept allot of closers off the field with blowout wins or in Rafael Soriano's case a blown save. The Rangers won 6-4 over the Athletics today , but the real story behind the game was Frank Francisco setting up C.J. Wilson for the save. With Francisco's early return from the DL, many figured he'd have the closer job back by now, but nope. The True Guru put that day at this weekend and I will stick to it. Frankly, the Rangers would be smart to keep Wilson as the closer for awhile and make sure Francisco is healthy. Tonight Wilson got his 14th save of the season, but didn't do it without getting roughed up. He gave up a run on a pair of hits and a walk. Wilson's control was off with only ten strikes out of 18 pitches. I wouldn't look at this performance and anything mo  re than a bad night, but it is his second tough performance in a row, so Washington might be getting nervous with his closer. He did strikeout two tonight and has 49 strikeouts in 48.2 innings. That k-rate is slightly above his career average, so he's having a great season overall. Kerry Wood nailed his 15th save of the season with a perfect inning over the Twins 2-1. He struck out one and believe it or not lowered his ERA below 5.00. The last time he did that it took him one outing to get it back above 5.00. Beware Wood owners. Now we get to Rafael Soriano's nightmare night. He never recorded a single out in 16 pitches. He gave up two singles and then a walk-off 3-run home run to Mr. Clutch Andre Either. Soriano looked pedestrian today and hopefully this kind of outing doesn't get into a guy's head causing more bad outings. I have all the confidence that Bobby Cox will keep Soriano as the closer, but don't be shocked if he uses Gonzalez once or twice to give Soriano a mental break if he feels he needs it. Other Appearances:Brandon Lyon (1) - Mr. Lyon got his first save of the season. He came in the eight for the hold, and pitched the ninth for the save. Brad Lidge (21) - Lidge looked very good today, giving up a hit with two strikeouts. He threw 12 pitches and ten for strikes. Matt Capps - Two innings and four strikeouts in an extra inning affair. Great performance for Capps today.
Saves: 7Save Opportunities: 7 Mike MacDougal is on a roll in the month of August. He has four saves in four days. That is almost unheard of because most managers would never pitch their closer four days in a row. Apparently Manny Acta isn't a normal manager. Big Mac pitched a perfect inning, securing the 5-4 win over the Marlins. He struck out one and needed 21 pitches to end the game. Over the past four days, MacDougal has pitched 3.1 innings and thrown 55 pitches to get the four saves.  Trevor Hoffman got his 25th save of the month shutting down the Dodgers 4-1. He looked great tonight, striking out two and giving up a hit. It was his third save in August already, after a tough July where he had a total of five saves. Broxton also pitched the 9th inning for the Dodgers just to get some work in and work he got. He wasted 26 pitches and gave up a hit and a walk. Even worse, the leader in strikeouts amongst closers got zero. Andrew Bailey continues his hot streak with his 15th save of the season. He got his first save of in August and his ninth save in a row. He struck out two in the 6-4 win, which puts his strikeout total for the season at 71. Only three shy of the sinking Jonathan Broxton. Fernando Rodney broke in the month of August with his first save since July 24. He struck out two while putting a couple of runners on for his 22nd save. Rodney should continue to see allot of work with the Tigers playing well and even better, pitching well. Chad Qualls notched his 21st save of the season in a 4-3 win over the Pirates. However, it wasn't without Lidge style drama. He gave up a bomb to Garret Jones with one out before retiring the next two batters. He did strike out a pair of batters, but his ERA was battered again. Get it, battered?
Other Appearances:
J.P. Howell (12) - Closed out the Red Sox 6-4 and struck out one batter. He looked sharp after pitching 1.2 innings last night.
Bobby Parnell (1) - Pitched three innings in the blow out win for the Mets. Brian Wilson - Threw a few pitches and recorded one out in a non-save situation. Brian Fuentes - Got slapped around in a non-save situation. Gave up a run on a home run to Paul Konerko.
Saves: 3Save Opportunities: 4 Sorry about missing yesterday's report, but I wasn't feeling well after some bad Mexican food. For tonight's report we had light action on the field with only three saves, however plenty of closers pitched today.  Mariano Rivera got his league leading 31st save of the season with a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. It wasn't one of his best performances giving up three hits and recording no strikeouts for the 4-out save. He threw 26 pitches for the appearance, but that probably won't stop Girardi from using him tomorrow. Rivera has remained the best closer in all of baseball. David Aardsma continued pitching extremely well with a save over the Royals. He didn't do it without some drama by walking the bases loaded before he got John Buck to foul out. He did strikeout David DeJesus to open the inning for his only K of the evening. Aardsma has continued to pitch well through July and into August. His ERA is at an astonishingly low 1.61. He has to be due for regression since his previous low ERA was 4.08 in 2006. I'd tell you to trade him, but the numbers aren't always right and if this is a special season for Aardsma you'd want to keep him. If you are dominating in the saves category you can move him, otherwise keep Aardsma. Francisco Rodriguez was tough to watch tonight. He blew his fourth save of the season and did it in big-time fashion. He threw a 41-pitch ninth inning where he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He only recorded one out before blowing the save on a single to Skip Schumaker. He had terrible command tonight and had a flat curve ball. His command and bad curveball were responsible for two of the hits and the runs. KROD has been pitching terrible lately with one save in over two weeks and he hasn't been the same pitcher since the big fight with management. At this point I'd unload any Mets players you have, including Rodriguez. Mike MacDougal has been pitching very well lately, especially for a Nationals closer. He notched his ninth save of the season in a comeback win over the Marlins. He did give up a hit and walked a batter, but overall he has dropped his ERA to 2.81 on the season. His WHIP is still very high and unappealing at 1.56, but he should be good for 5-7 saves over the rest of the season. Not bad for a free agent pickup.
Other Appearances:
Jonathan Papelbon - Pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout in an extra inning game. He only threw 15 pitches and showed excellent command, which he hasn't had lately.
Ryan Franklin - Came in to close out the win over the Mets in the tenth inning. It wasn't a save opportunity because the Cardinals scored five runs in the tenth inning. J.P. Howell - Pitched 1.2 innings giving up two hits and a walk. He was very economical, only needing 16 pitches.
Frank Francisco returned from the DL Sunday and looked strong. He threw a perfect inning and struck out two in his return. He setup in the eighth inning for C.J. Wilson, who got the save. By the looks of it, Francisco can be back to saving by Wednesday.
Scott Downs left the game Saturday night after chasing down a ground ball. He apparently injured his left foot on the play and today was added to the DL for the Blue Jays. Jason Frasor has taken over for Downs and should get a few save chances for the sinking Blue Jays, but don't expect much. The Blue Jays just don't produce many opportunities. Also keep an eye on Brandon League and deep sleeper closer and newly acquired Josh Roenicke to get some saves chances. The Blue Jays got Josh Roenicke from Cincinnati in the Scott Rolen deal. He is the son of former major leaguer Gary Roenicke.
 Matt Lindstrom pitched one inning tonight. He threw 13 pitches and ten were strikes. he gave up one hit, but other than that looked great. His command looked good, but his velocity wasn't quite there. He was throwing fastballs between 95 to 97 MPH, slightly below his 98-99 MPH top speed. "I was throwing good breaking balls," Lindstrom said of Sunday's outing. Nothing was said about Lindstrom getting the closer job, what is clear so far, he's won't be closing jobs right away.
 So far so good for Frank Francisco. He looked good in a minor league rehab appearance Friday night and should get activated Monday according to the Rangers. It all depends on how he feels and holds up after battling pneumonia. Expect the Rangers to ease him back into the closer job. If you own C.J. Wilson, you have at most a week left with him closing games. My hunch is, you should hold on to Wilson the rest of the season. You never know with Francisco.
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