Fantasy Baseball 2018: 3 Closer situations to monitor all season
By Bill Pivetz
There are a few teams with muddled closer situations that fantasy owners can’t figure out. Here are 3 situations to monitor all season.
Drafting a closer is easy when you know that pitcher doesn’t have any competition or someone waiting behind him to take over. Closers like Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel and Ken Giles are safe bets to stay their respective team’s closer for the whole season. But what do you with teams that have two or three options for their closer? How do you prepare for that?
There are a lot of teams that could change their closer after the first month of the season. We saw that happen a few times last season. Teams like the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels rotated a few guys to pitch in the ninth inning throughout the 2017 season. Spoiler, those two teams are on the list.
It’s tough for fantasy owners because you invest a draft pick in a relief pitcher, thinking he will rack up 20 saves this season. Next thing you know, that pitcher is relegated to the seventh inning and you have to pick up the team’s new closer. Sometimes that happens again and now you have three relief pitchers from the same team, trying to guess which one will be called upon in the ninth.
Despite all the research you do, MLB managers are always one step ahead (some would say behind) you and pulling tricks from their sleeves. So, with it being the start of the 2018 season, here are three closer situations you will have to monitor all year.
Honorable mention: Miami Marlins (Brad Ziegler and Drew Steckenrider), Baltimore Orioles (Brad Brach, Darren O’Day and Zach Britton), Detroit Tigers (Shane Greene, Alex Wilson) and Chicago White Sox (Joakim Soria and Nate Jones).
The Los Angeles Angels were the poster team of confusing closer situations last season. They had eight different relievers record at least one save. Three of them had at least six. The Angels enter this season with two of those three still on the team.
The team is going with Blake Parker as their closer to start the season. He posted a 2.54 ERA, 0.832 WHIP and 11.5 K.9 with eight saves last season. Those are great numbers and easy to see why the Angels are going with Parker.
However, Cam Bedrosian is still looming around. He recorded six saves of his own with a 4.43 ERA, 1.299 WHIP and 10.7 K/9. Bedrosian throws just as hard as Parker but with a little less control. He allowed one more walk in 23 fewer innings.
Veteran closer Jim Johnson is also in the bullpen. But with the Angels in a “win now” mood, I don’t expect him to sniff the ninth inning.
I think Parker will have the job until he blows it. He does a better job striking out batters and doesn’t allow them to get on base, two things that make up a good closer. If Bedrosian corrects his mistakes, then he could force Mike Scioscia’s hand.
The St. Louis Cardinals had a rough time with their closer last season. Veteran Trevor Rosenthal started as the team’s closer but Seung-hwan Oh’s performance and Rosenthal’s injury pushed him into the role. That didn’t last long as he was removed from the job. Rosenthal was back there to end the season.
But with Rosenthal going to free agency and Oh signing with the
Rangers
Blue Jays, the Cardinals are in need of a closer. The team signed Luke Gregerson from Houston but he is currently on the 10-day DL.
The other options in the Cardinals bullpen are Dominic Leone and Tyler Lyons. The latter recorded three saves with a 2.83 ERA, 1.093 WHIP, 11.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Leone, the expected closer, posted a 2.56 ERA, 1.052 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 70.1 innings with Toronto.
There are reports that the Cardinals and free agent Greg Holland agreed to a deal. After a physical, Holland will likely take over the team’s closer job. However, he will need time to get back into game shape, which should take a couple of weeks. Gregerson will move back to an eighth-inning role. I still think Leone could spell Holland for a game or two per week.
The Texas Rangers weren’t as bad as the previous two teams as they had only two relievers record more than three saves last year. Alex Claudio and Matt Bush had 11 and 10, respectively. With Bush going to the rotation, many thought that Claudio would have the job to himself.
He posted a 2.50 ERA, 1.040 WHIP and 6.1 K/9 in 82.2 innings last year. Claudio didn’t give up many free passes or home runs, 1.6 BB/9 and 0.5 HR/9. He has the make-up to be a top-15 fantasy closer. Unfortunately, his manager doesn’t think so. According to CBS Sports, and other outlets, Rangers manager Jeff Banister sees Claudio as an “any situation” relief pitcher.
“There are opportunities for him to come in any inning and help preserve a win for us,” manager Banister said.
While that is good for him, getting opportunities in all situations. That doesn’t help fantasy owners when drafting a closer.
Though, the Rangers have two other options that can rack up the saves. Keone Kela is the name at the top of that list. He posted a 2.79 ERA, 0.905 WHIP, 11.9 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 with two saves. Jake Diekman is the other. He finished with a 2.53 ERA, 1.313 WHIP, 11.0 K/9 and 8.4 BB/9 in 10.2 innings.
Neither have the longevity of being a closer but they do have the ability to whiff a pitch by a batter. All three should be drafted after Round 25 in a standard league.
If you already have three closers, it’s not a bad idea to add one or two middle relievers or set-up men. They can still help with strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. Plus, there’s the possibility of them earning a save or two during the week or even taking over the closer job permanently. There are plenty of other relievers that are worth drafting for that reason alone.