Fantasy Baseball: Closer Report (8/9)

In theory, we shouldn’t have any more changes at the closer position or at least not as many. The teams in contention made moves by the Major League trade deadline to strengthen themselves, and those teams that are out of it, well they never really mattered much anyway. Injuries, however, are always going to happen and they always seem to happen at just the worst time. In my home league, I traded for Craig Kimbrel last week. Yeah, that’s not working out so well as he is hurt. In another league, I traded for Brad Hand. That trade takes effect Friday, unfortunately, that’s after the handful of saves that Hand had this week. Those had better not be the last saves he accumulated in the near future. We all have sob stories like this, the trick is to move past them

National League

Chicago Cubs: As hinted at above, the Cubs placed Kimbrel on the injured list with inflammation in his right knee. At present time the injury isn’t expected to keep him out of the lineup for much more than the minimum 10 days he must spend on the IL. Until Kimbrel returns, Pedro Strop who himself has just returned from the IL with a neck injury is expected to handle any save opportunities that arise. Keep in mind though, if you’re planning on bidding for Strop this weekend, Kimbrel could be back by the end of next week.

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies finally made the move that we have been waiting for. They have removed Wade Davis from the role and given the job to Scott Oberg. Davis owners really can’t complain and had to see this coming. Davis has an ERA of 6.61 and a WHIP of 1.71. It really doesn’t matter that he has only blown two saves this season. Those numbers are just horrendous. Oberg is a pickup if you need a closer. I know that Davis is the player with the bloated contract, but I have to believe that Oberg keeps this job the rest of the season.

American League

Boston Red Sox: When Nathan Eovaldi was activated off of the IL, we were told that he would close for the Sox. Well, maybe they lied, or maybe circumstances changed, but Eovaldi has been used as a multiple inning reliever and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. The Sox need a bridge that can get them from the starter to the closer as their bullpen has been awful. They will try Eovaldi as that bridge. This isn’t good news for fantasy owners as it all but eliminates the fantasy value of Eovaldi. It does, however, make Brandon Workman a solid pickup for saves this weekend.

Texas Rangers: Shawn Kelley has returned from the injured list but won’t go back to being the closer for the Rangers. The team has given the job back to Jose Leclerc. It’s not that Leclerc deserves to get the job back, but with the Rangers out of playoff contention, they have nothing to lose and want to get their high priced reliever back to being the reliever he used to be.

Toronto Blue Jays: Apparently Ken Giles is good to close again, but not on back to back days. The Jays are easing him back into the role. Giles didn’t look good Wednesday in picking up the save versus the Rays as he gave up two earned runs and three hits in one inning. That’s the bad news. The good news is that he’s back as the closer. How healthy he actually is, remains to be seen.