Closing Time 6/26: Ranking the Top 30 Closers Every Tuesday

[closing_time list_id=”22497″ season=”2018″ include_stats=”1″]

 

It may look like a four-man committee in San Francisco right now, but eventually, as delicate as they are treating him, Mark Melancon will get his job back, the one that the team is paying him $62 million to do. It sounds like it is just a matter of when Melancon is able to pitch consecutive days, however, Bruce Bochy is still unsure of when that will be, leaving the situation still in flux. For now, expect Sam Dyson and Tony Watson to see the bulk of the 8th/9th work with Melancon sprinkled in. At some point though, hopefully, pre-All-Star break, we should see Melancon re-inserted as the team’s closers.

• In other committee news, the Astros situation still remains fluid, although it looked like Ken Giles was at least given an opportunity to take his job back from Hector Rondon. He earned a loss after allowing a run in the 9th during a tie game Friday and is still terrible in non-save situations and great in save situations (and 27/3 K/BB to back it up). It’s still somewhat unclear what the Mets are looking to do with their closer situation since they have only had a grand total of 3 saves the past month with two going to Robert Gsellman and one to Jeurys Familia. Ryan Tepera has a little over a month left as the Blue Jays closer. Dave Cherman did a great job of laying out how to handle the Roberto Osuna situation here. For the time being, it’s probably best you just stay away from all Royals relievers.
• We had a slew of closer injuries this past week, with Hunter Strickland, Brandon Morrow, and Arodys Vizcaino all hitting the DL. We talked about the Giants situation in the opener and that seems to be the most significant injury of the three. Morrow is already back throwing and could return after the minimum amount of DL time which would see him return this weekend. I still think the team plays it safe, with a return next Tuesday more likely. Vizcaino’s shoulder injury, on the other hand, is a bit trickier, but it does seem likely to be a short-term thing. Steve Cishek, Pedro Strop, A.J. Minter and Dan Winkler are still worth adds in the short term if you have roster space.
• Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen, Sean Doolittle, Keone Kela and Raisel Iglesias all tied for the weekly lead in saves with 4. Kela has been great since his May 1st implosion against the Indians and has allowed only 4 runs over 18 innings to go with 13 saves and a 21/7 K/BB ratio.