Just like Monday was a bad day to be an American League second baseman, Wednesday was a bad day to be an American League closer. Whether it was because of injury or because of just flat out pitching poorly, there were a bunch of closers who were replaced on Wednesday.
Let’s take a look at what is going on in the world of closers.
Baltimore Orioles
Out: Mike Gonzalez. The Orioles placed Gonzalez on the 15-day DL due to a sprained left shoulder. The move is retroactive to April 10.
It looks like the Orioles are on their way to “one of those seasons,” where nothing goes right. Baltimore signed Gonzalez to a two-year contract in the offseason and in three appearances, he blew two saves and has an ERA of 18.00.
His velocity was down from last year in all three games and now we know why. Gonzalez has a history of injuries, so the Orioles should be concerned with Gonzalez.
Remember, Gonzalez did appear in a career high 80 games last year, so perhaps that has affected him for this year.
In: Jim Johnson. Johnson should take over for Gonzalez as the closer in Baltimore. He did have 10 saves last year, so he has experience closing out games. With the Orioles really struggling, I am not sure how many save opportunities Johnson will have.
Pick him up in your fantasy league if you are really desperate for saves already.
Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim
Out: Brian Fuentes. The Angels placed Fuentes on the 15-day DL due to a strained back. The move is retroactive to April 6.
Fuentes hurt his back lifting weights last week. That kind of sounds like a made up manly excuse for what perhaps really happened.
Mike Scioscia: “Hey Brian, how did you hurt your back?”
Fuentes: (In a deep, manly voice) “I hurt my back lifting weights. I was benching 450 pounds with one arm and something just gave.”
Fuentes has only appeared in one game this year. He should be back next week.
In: Fernando Rodney. Amazingly, the Angels signed a mediocre lefty closer last year in Fuentes and this year signed his mediocre right-handed twin in Rodney.
Rodney will get his saves, but if the Angels are up by three, he will give up two runs and if they are up by two, he will give up one run. He is very shaky.
Pick him up as a low-level No. 2 closer.
Toronto Blue Jays
Out: Jason Frasor. Like I said last week, it’s a lot easier to be the No. 2 than the No. 1 . Frasor was given the closer’s job out of spring training and really struggled.
In five appearances, Frasor blew two saves and has a 6.23 ERA. He will go back to being a setup guy.
In: Kevin Gregg. I am not a fan of Gregg’s at all, but right now he might be the Blue Jays best option. In 4.1 IP, Gregg has only allowed one hit while striking out six.
It’s almost guaranteed that Gregg will implode at one point, so be prepared for that.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments