Closer Watch: 2011

[onejayhawk]

Hong-Chih Kuo was put on the DL with an anxiety disorder. It would appear that Vicente Padilla is pretty much locked down as the closer for the time being. Scott Elbert was called up from AAA to be the lefty specialist on the roster.

They should get Zack Grienke's doctor.

J

[Bodhizefa]

Brandon League just had his third crappy outing in a row. And it was ugly as he melted down and hit two batters and then gave up consecutive base hits to lose it in grand fashion.

The tough part of this equation is that the Mariners don't have a single person who could step in and feasibly be a solid 9th inning option. Lueke struggled mightily in his short stint with the M's this year, and he's not exactly lighting it up in Triple-A. Cortes has massive control problems. Aardsma may be done for the year, and, at the very least, is out for a good long while. The M's don't have anybody else above Single-A who even profiles as a closer type. League may not be a good closer (personally, I think he's always been rather hittable and that his stuff doesn't really translate well to closing as he's generally not a strikeout guy), but I think his leash is fairly long. Those in really deep leagues might be interested in handcuffing him with Jamey Wright, who has been the de facto set-up man since Seattle doesn't really have anyone else. But Wright's nothing more than a stopgap as he's neither as good as League nor as young as 99% of the rest of the American League.

This would be a great time for a guy like Lueke to get super motivated, start kicking butt on the farm, and subsequently rise through the ranks to take over the closing role by August. He's got the arm and the stuff for it, but I think he needs to get his head on straight and start utilizing everything he's got.

[TopChuckie]

Brandon League just had his third crappy outing in a row. And it was ugly as he melted down and hit two batters and then gave up consecutive base hits to lose it in grand fashion.

The tough part of this equation is that the Mariners don't have a single person who could step in and feasibly be a solid 9th inning option. Lueke struggled mightily in his short stint with the M's this year, and he's not exactly lighting it up in Triple-A. Cortes has massive control problems. Aardsma may be done for the year, and, at the very least, is out for a good long while. The M's don't have anybody else above Single-A who even profiles as a closer type. League may not be a good closer (personally, I think he's always been rather hittable and that his stuff doesn't really translate well to closing as he's generally not a strikeout guy), but I think his leash is fairly long. Those in really deep leagues might be interested in handcuffing him with Jamey Wright, who has been the de facto set-up man since Seattle doesn't really have anyone else. But Wright's nothing more than a stopgap as he's neither as good as League nor as young as 99% of the rest of the American League.

This would be a great time for a guy like Lueke to get super motivated, start kicking butt on the farm, and subsequently rise through the ranks to take over the closing role by August. He's got the arm and the stuff for it, but I think he needs to get his head on straight and start utilizing everything he's got.

How about Josh Fields? Too soon? Still walking too many?

This sucks because I have Aardsma and the timing would have been perfect if he had come back on schedule.

[Bodhizefa]

How about Josh Fields? Too soon? Still walking too many?

This sucks because I have Aardsma and the timing would have been perfect if he had come back on schedule.

Fields is worthless. His command is awful. He's organizational depth at this point.

[GwynnInTheHall]

Kuo is now talking about potential retirement due to his anxiety issues. I guess this is the second time he's gotten "the yips", as Ken Gurnick puts it. Famously, Steve Blass got "the yips" back in the 1970s and quickly became totally unable to throw strikes. I'm not sure that history is repeating itself but it's certainly not good news for the Dodgers and their fans.

I watched Khalil Green go through something similar. This sucks because I drafted in every league with the thought Kuo would become the closer. It's a shame because the guy is tremendously talented.

[overkill94]

Kuo is now talking about potential retirement due to his anxiety issues. I guess this is the second time he's gotten "the yips", as Ken Gurnick puts it. Famously, Steve Blass got "the yips" back in the 1970s and quickly became totally unable to throw strikes. I'm not sure that history is repeating itself but it's certainly not good news for the Dodgers and their fans.

FWIW, his agent is refuting the claims that he'll never pitch again. It must be extra tough for foreign players to go through something like this considering how hard it is to properly express yourself in a language you barely know. It'll be interesting to see if he makes it back for his bobblehead night on June 14th - how special would it be for him to make his return that same day?

[overkill94]

Brandon League just had his third crappy outing in a row. And it was ugly as he melted down and hit two batters and then gave up consecutive base hits to lose it in grand fashion.

The tough part of this equation is that the Mariners don't have a single person who could step in and feasibly be a solid 9th inning option. Lueke struggled mightily in his short stint with the M's this year, and he's not exactly lighting it up in Triple-A. Cortes has massive control problems. Aardsma may be done for the year, and, at the very least, is out for a good long while. The M's don't have anybody else above Single-A who even profiles as a closer type. League may not be a good closer (personally, I think he's always been rather hittable and that his stuff doesn't really translate well to closing as he's generally not a strikeout guy), but I think his leash is fairly long. Those in really deep leagues might be interested in handcuffing him with Jamey Wright, who has been the de facto set-up man since Seattle doesn't really have anyone else. But Wright's nothing more than a stopgap as he's neither as good as League nor as young as 99% of the rest of the American League.

This would be a great time for a guy like Lueke to get super motivated, start kicking butt on the farm, and subsequently rise through the ranks to take over the closing role by August. He's got the arm and the stuff for it, but I think he needs to get his head on straight and start utilizing everything he's got.

With League on his way to blowing yet another save chance, would Wright be your best guess as next-in-line? Someone in my AL league picked up Pauley but Wright is still out there.

[Judge Jude]

Salas enters in the 7th with Cards struggling to keep a 5-4 lead, bags loaded, one out. nice work by Salas to preserve the 5-4 lead, gets Rolen and Cairo to preserve the lead entering the 8th...

ESanchez - would you let this guy close?
enters with 5-4 lead, walks Renteria on 4 pitches but that's ok because - oh, wait MVP Votto is up next.
1st pitch to Votto, wild wild pitch, runner to 2nd.
Votto grounds to 1B, runner to 3rd one out.
then a bingle on 1-2 pitch to Phillips (all of his missed naildowns come with 2 strikes, it seems) ties it.

10 BB and 4 WP in 14 IP, even with 21 K that's absurd

fyi, game on MLB Network...

[griswold]

Salas enters in the 7th with Cards struggling to keep a 5-4 lead, bags loaded, one out. nice work by Salas to preserve the 5-4 lead, gets Rolen and Cairo to preserve the lead entering the 8th...

ESanchez - would you let this guy close?
enters with 5-4 lead, walks Renteria on 4 pitches but that's ok because - oh, wait MVP Votto is up next.
1st pitch to Votto, wild wild pitch, runner to 2nd.
Votto grounds to 1B, runner to 3rd one out.
then a bingle on 1-2 pitch to Phillips (all of his missed naildowns come with 2 strikes, it seems) ties it.

10 BB and 4 WP in 14 IP, even with 21 K that's absurd

fyi, game on MLB Network...

At what point is LaRussa going to figure out that his best closer is Salas and starting trying out Sanchez and others there...???

[Hornsby]

At what point is LaRussa going to figure out that his best closer is Salas and starting trying out Sanchez and others there...???

I think that in Sanchez, they see a guy who's stuff is so electric that if he gets it, he'll be a top closer for them for the next decade. The Red announcers were comparing his stuff to Marmol's, and I can't disagree with them. And this kid isn't getting beat badly, it's bleeders, bloops, walks, and wild pitches. It's all within his control to harness at this point...

[Judge Jude]

We may need 15 innings before we know if Salas is the best closer for sure, lol.
But he has been solid and Sanchez is too jacked up.

I've noted before that the key to many guys claiming a closer job is having easy gigs early on, with 2-run and 3-run leads, preferably at home. A chimp could get those saves.

Cards led 3-0 and 5-2 tonight, and I was pleased as a Sanchez owner. Was not pleased to see him in a 5-4 lead spot. Sure enough, a walk, a WP, and a groundout had the tying run at third without a hit yet.

I agree that LaRussa has given Sanchez too much opportunity per results. Awesome stuff and longterm answer quite possibly, but I'd even be tempted to go Salas for now with 1-runs leads and Sanchez otherwise. Once Sanchez settles down, he'll be more likely to hold those 1-run leads.

[cardboardbox]

I agree that LaRussa has given Sanchez too much opportunity per results. Awesome stuff and longterm answer quite possibly, but I'd even be tempted to go Salas for now with 1-runs leads and Sanchez otherwise. Once Sanchez settles down, he'll be more likely to hold those 1-run leads.

If Salas gets the 1 run leads, he gets the 2 and 3 run leads also. I cant remember any team going with a committee based on how close the game is. I think us Sanchez owners have to realize the end is near. He really looks like he needs some more time at AAA.

[Hornsby]

And that's why Jason Motte isn't the closer either....

[Judge Jude]

I think the Cardinals will mix in Salas with Sanchez now, although they are totally smitten with Sanchez so Salas will slide with the slightest mistake.

Sanchez a good bench pick in some mixed leagues, even if he doesn't get the next SV try. He's the guy they've chosen, so he'll get more chances.

Salas for NL-only tries, but he's already taken in those. I don't see Salas keeping the job longterm at any point, though, fair or not. Heard the Reds announcers talking about Duncan touting Sanchez as "having that closer stuff." He and LaRussa know what they want, and who they want.

[Bodhizefa]

Time to start taking Jamey Wright seriously. :/