Around The League:
-Another year, another shoulder strain for Sean Doolittle. It's unknown how long he will miss, but it looks likely that Santiago Casilla will be the primary closer for the Athletics moving forward. He's obviously worth owning in all formats and there's a pretty good chance he had hang onto his job with his above average strikeout and ground ball rates.
-Nationals Koda Glover is slated to return to the team this weekend and he should immediately be back into the mix for saves with the team. Shawn Kelley had only had one save chance since Glover hit the disabled list, so Kelley didn't exactly have an opportunity to run away with the job. On Friday, Kelley hit the disabled list with a back strain after sitting out the previous three days with an illness. On Thursday, the team turned to Matt Albers, not Blake Treinen, to set-up for the save in the 8th inning, so he's potentially the favorite for saves until Glover returns. Regardless, Glover remains in an excellent position to come back and win the job and needs to be owned in all formats.
-Last week's handcuff of the week, Nate Jones, hit the disabled list this week with an elbow injury. Health issues have plagued him throughout his career, so this news is pretty concerning. Tommy Kahnle and Anthony Swarzak become the primary set-up options for the White Sox during Jones' absence.
-Fernando Rodney hits the top news yet again this week after he blew his second consecutive save last Saturday. He did bounce back with a save on Tuesday this week and his manager remains confident in his closer, but Rodney just clearly isn't the strong closer he was several years ago. It seems almost a certainty that a change will be made in Arizona at some point this season, but it's tough to pinpoint whether that will happen this week, next week, or in August. Archie Bradley remains the most talented arm here, but as I've mentioned before, he fills the role as "firefighter" extremely well. JJ Hoover is the current set-up man and it wouldn't be outlandish to assume he would be first up in line for saves, if a change is made.
Handcuff Of The Week:
Justin Wilson (DET) - Justin Wilson started off the season the right foot after going his first eleven games of the season without allowing a hit. The left-handed set-up man for the Tigers has been one of the best relievers this year and has become increasingly into the spotlight with struggles to current closer Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod has allowed runs in over half of his appearances this year, but he continues to rack up strikeouts (10.13 K/9), so it's difficult to imagine old-fashioned manager Brad Ausmus pulling his long-term veteran from the role. Rodriguez has adapted to his loss of velocity by changing up his pitching arsenal, featuring his changeup more often and throwing his fastball a little less. Nonetheless, if the Tigers determine themselves out of the playoff race around the trade deadline, Rodriguez is a logical piece to shop for the aging team. Wilson is an interesting case study because while he's left-handed, lefty batters actually hit him a little better than right-handers. To help combat the splits, he has started to slide over on the rubber against left-handed batters, as well as integrating in a slider into his repertoire to make it a little more difficult for opposing hitters to pick up his pitches. Wilson already featured a hard cutter, which cut in the opposite direction to be difficult for right-handed batters to pick up, but the slider allows him more options for lefties. The results, albeit a small sample, have been promising. Wilson has faced 12 left-handed batters this year and just 1 reached base (via a walk), while 6 others have struck out. After largely throwing fastballs last year, his concerted effort to throw more breaking balls, like the aforementioned slider for lefties and a changeup for righties, have contributed to a career best 69% contact rate and 13.9% swinging strike percentage. He's another reliever that can help you immediately, but also has a shot for saves down the line. Go grab him while he's cheap because the progress is real.
Click on the following link for the rest of the closer report (including more "Around The League" notes, our closer rankings & statistics, as well as handcuff grades) in the member area: http://www.fantistics.com/baseball00/M-Closer.htm.
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