[closing_time list_id=”25010″ season=”2018″ include_stats=”1″]
- Carlos Martinez is the new closer in St. Louis with Bud Norris completely falling apart over his past three outings. We know how dominate CarMart can be when starting games, so expect more of the same from him closing games out.
- Corey Knebel has had himself a nice little comeback in the month of September (0 hits, 0 walks, 10 K’s in 5 innings), with the Brewers even handing him a save opportunity with Jeremy Jeffress unavailable. It’s great to see Knebel pitching well again, but I’d still expect to save chances to be divided up between him, Jeffress, Josh Hader, and Joakim Soria. All but Soria still can be valuable to mixed leaguers still, but Jeffress is the preferred option for those needing saves.
- Sean Doolittle returned from the DL this past week, with his first appearance coming in a setup role in front of Greg Holland. Even with Holland pitching well for the Nationals, Doolittle has just been too good for them the past year and should resume closing out games as soon as this week.
- Brad Boxberger is out as the Diamondbacks primary closer, with some committee consisting of Yoshihisa Hirano, Archie Bradley, and Brad Ziegler expected to take over. Bradley may seem like the obvious pick, but he has really struggled the second half of the season, whereas Hirano has been awesome. Don’t be surprised to see Hirano get the next save chance and he’d be my preferred add right now.
- Roberto Osuna picked up 4 saves this past week, while Jeremy Jeffress and Carlos Martinez had 3 each. Osuna didn’t have one strikeout this week, however, which is very unusual for him, especially given the 4 innings he worked. Still, he was able to not allow any runs while allowing just 3 hits and a walk.
Why the down arrow on Jeffress? He has been great – they won’t be giving away any of his save ops as long as he pitches like he has. They haven’t divided the saves up at all yet. I think the guys behind him are trending up in holds leagues, but I don’t think anything is happening for saves.
Re: Boxy – I will still take him over those other non-closers at the back. As you mention, they don’t have any clear-cut options to displace him – I think he will get as many opportunities as a dumpster fire like Peralta or most of the other closers on non-contenders. SSS goes a really long ways for RP. If Hirano blows up, then it is probably right back to how it was a week ago. Not a great situation to be sure, but nothing beyond 20 is! it will be interesting to see how AZ handles the situation. I do think they will try Hirano, but the dude literally has 0 saves. His numbers are surely inflated as he has been insulated by quality arms in Boxy and Bradley and he even has Chafin as the lefty to handle any lefties that could cause him trouble. Think about the absurdity of the PHI pen this year – volatility renders the entire bullpen useless for fantasy. We like to overact and look for the next big thing… but more often than not the whole thing should just be avoided. That AZ bullpen has been crazy bad lately. It has to turn around and whoever is closing that day might just stick. That is one positive about AZ – they seem to want one closer.
Too many other factors in MIL with Knebel, Hader and potentially Soria. I’d still own Jeffress in a 12 teamer but still skeptical on what the Brewers will do now that Knebel is pitching like his 2017 self.
I’m still like Hirano as the 9th inning guy for the Diamondbacks. Steady if unspectacular but he got the save last night, so let’s see if they give him a chance to roll with it.
What a disaster already lol. They tried to go with Diekman on Tuesday (?!?) but he yielded the save to Hirano, who blew his first solo attempt in spectacular fashion on Wed. In any case, the bullpen management has gone way off the rails in AZ. I wonder who gets the next save opp? Crazy how quickly this has gone to a disaster. To me, Hirano looks like a guy that you would not want to face lefties – that is my only beef with him, but it does make him a pretty sketchy closer. To make things even sketchier, Diekman, Box and Chafin got tattooed on Thursday lol.
Drop Seranthony to pick up Hirano after last night? I’m in a save only league. Playoffs!!!
Do it, last night may have been the last straw for Seranthony. Hirano has been the best reliever in AZ for two months now and should get the bulk of the save chances.
cool thanks!
Why do you think Cishek over Chavez? Of course, now that Strop is hurt, this is relevant.