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Closer Report: Shawn Tolleson, Sean Doolittle, Fernando Rodney

Shawn Tolleson has taken over closing duties for the Rangers

Shawn Tolleson has taken over closing duties for the Rangers

For an overview of every team’s closer situation, check out our Fantasy Baseball Closer Depth Charts.

The Texas Rangers were supposed to be bad again this season. They finished 67-95 in 2014, firmly in last place in the American League West and 31 games behind the first place Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim. They didn’t do too much in the offseason to address their weaknesses, admitting that they were in rebuild mode and hoping for further development from young players like second baseman Rougned Odor under the tutelage of veterans like Adrian Beltre. What little hope they had for 2015 was dashed in March when ace Yu Darvish underwent Tommy John Surgery and was ruled out for the season and likely for part of 2016 as well.

Despite all of this, the Rangers sit at 23-25. While they’re in fourth place, they are a game out of second. The Rangers started the season with Neftali Feliz as their closer, but after he put up a 5.09 ERA and 1.75 WHIP, the team had to make a move. At first, there was no “official” closer, but Shawn Tolleson gradually emerged as manager Jeff Bannister’s first choice in the ninth inning, and he has excelled in his new role so far. In 22.1 total innings this season, Tolleson has a 2.82 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a 30/4 K/BB ratio. He has saved five games in five opportunities as the Rangers’ closer and is a must-own in all fantasy formats where saves count. He won’t end the season as a tier-one guy with the Kimbrels and Chapmans, but he’ll accumulate a good deal of saves and strikeouts and won’t hurt you in WHIP or ERA.

Closer News Around the League

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks are back in this spot again this week. Last week, Enrique Burgos seemed to be taking a step ahead of everyone else in the Arizona bullpen, but he landed on the disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis and could be out for a while. For now, it seems Brad Ziegler will be the main guy manager Chip Hale goes to with a ninth inning lead. For the past seven days, Ziegler has earned two saves and blown one while posting a 2.70 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. While his usage along with Hale’s unwillingness to anoint a closer show that Ziegler may not be the full-time option, he’s likely the best bet among Arizona’s relievers to keep collecting saves in the near future, despite a blown save on Wednesday. Opening Day closer Addison Reed has improved a bit since being removed from his role, but not much. In the last seven days, Reed has a 5.40 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in three innings. Hale said he eventually wants Reed to have the closer role back, but the assumption is he’ll need to earn it, and those numbers are simply not what you want to see in the ninth inning of a close game.

Chicago Cubs

Cubs closer Hector Rondon has nine saves in twelve chances and has provided manager Joe Maddon with a solid if unspectacular 3.43 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. He does have a nice 20/5 K/BB ratio, but has allowed more hits (22) than innings pitched (21). Despite his relative success, there have been rumblings that the Cubs are looking for a change in the ninth inning. Since Rondon hasn’t been a disaster, there won’t be a need for a sudden move, but we may see Maddon start mixing in other options in the ninth. Righty Neil Ramirez has been thought of as the Cubs’ closer of the future, but he is only a year younger than Rondon and currently on the DL with a shoulder injury. Pedro Strop picked up a save on May 23rd, but has been mostly working the eighth inning. His numbers aside from ERA are great though; 0.88 WHIP, 24 strikeouts, and only 12 hits allowed in 21.2 innings. His ERA is a bit inflated at 3.74, but that’s mostly due to three bad outings. The Cubs’ situation is one to keep an eye on, but not one that requires a move just yet. Owners of Rondon can feel safe for now, but should keep an eye on his usage and be wary of any consecutive bad outings.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Kenley’s back! The Dodgers had been mixing and matching ninth inning relievers at the beginning of the season because their closer, Kenley Jansen, was on the disabled list with a foot injury. In his absence, Yimi Garcia, Chris Hatcher, Juan Nicaso, and Joel Peralta all earned saves. Since his return, Jansen has already earned four saves, more than any of his replacements had tallied all year. Jansen has been in five games since his return, pitching five innings and accumulating nine strikeouts without allowing a single batter to reach base. He won’t keep his 0.00 ERA and 0.00 WHIP all season, of course, but Jansen is a safe bet to be among the elite closers from here on out, especially given how many games the Dodgers are likely win.

Seattle Mariners

Fernando Rodney’s quiver has to run out of luck arrows sometime, right? Rodney is 2-2 and has 13 saves. That’s where the good ends. His ERA is 6.98 and his WHIP is 1.71. He’s striking out 8.38 batters per nine innings, but also walking 4.19 in the same span. The 38 year old has had a pretty long leash in the past and has only blown two saves despite his ghastly ERA. Manager Lloyd McClendon has said he is not worried about Rodney’s ERA as long as he keeps getting saves, but that likely won’t happen if he continues to allow almost seven runs per nine innings pitched. Seattle has a few other arms capable of closing in their bullpen: Carson Smith is seen as their closer of the future and currently has a 0.86 ERA with a 0.67 WHIP. He’d likely take over if Rodney continues to falter, but Charlie Furbush (1.64 ERA, 0.82 WHIP) and Tom Wilhelmsen (1.69 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) would probably be in the discussion as well.

Injury Updates

  • Oakland A’s closer Sean Doolittle was activated from the disabled list after missing the first eight weeks of the season with a slight tear in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder. He’ll likely get into a few games in lower leverage situations, but should earn his closer role back sooner rather than later. Doolittle can put up excellent numbers in the ninth inning, but with the A’s struggles this season, he may not see as many save opportunities as he did last year. Tyler Clippard was closing games while Doolittle was out and only managed four saves since Opening Day.
  • New York Mets reliever Bobby Parnell hit 94 on the radar gun and worked a scoreless inning in his first Minor League rehab appearance as he works his way back from an elbow injury. With the emergence of Jeurys Familia (14 saves, 1.54 ERA, 0.77 WHIP), Parnell certainly won’t be working in the closer’s role, but he may be a decent source of strikeouts and would likely be next in line if Familia were to get hurt.

Interesting Tidbit

Brett Cecil is the Toronto Blue Jays’ full-time closer. In the past 30 days, non-closers Chad Qualls (Astros) and Seth Maness (Cardinals) have had just as many saves as Cecil, two. Cecil has been good enough this season. He’s only blown one save and has allowed 14 hits in 15 innings with 17 strikeouts and 4 walks. He simply isn’t getting save opportunities. The Blue Jays either seem to lose or win by more than three runs, making save opportunities few and far between for Cecil.

Top Performers 5/21-5/28

All of this week’s top performers have two things in common; they each saved four games and they each made it through the week without allowing a run.

Tolleson continues to cement his role as Texas’ closer and should hold onto the job unless he gets hurt or suddenly becomes ineffective. He is currently only owned in 40% of fantasy leagues, so check your wire and pick him up immediately if he’s available.

Storen keeps racking up saves and strikeouts, helping the Nationals all but forget their slow start. Storen is one of the most-owned closers at 93%, so if you have him, enjoy him. The Nats will win a lot of games, and Storen will save many of them. He could end the season near the top of the saves leaderboard.

Britton is having a fantastic season so far, striking out well over a batter per inning (11.29 K/9) and locking down games with ease. The Orioles aren’t having the season they hoped for, but every team in the AL East is still in the race. It is a fair prediction to expect many close games between those teams. Britton will be a great source of saves and strikeouts from here on out.

Finally, Casilla has been outstanding, punching out about a batter per inning (9.15 K/9) and posting a 1.31 ERA for the season. The Giants and Dodgers will likely battle for first place all season long, so Casilla at the back end of the Giants’ bullpen will be tested often. He won’t end the season in the top tier of closers, but he’s a solid, consistent source of saves.

Spec Picks for Upcoming Schedule

  • Jeurys Familia vs. Miami Marlins (5/29-5/31/15)- The Miami Marlins are floundering in last place in the NL East while the Mets are only a game and a half behind the division-leading Washington Nationals. Regardless, these teams seem to always play competitive, close games. With the Mets playing better baseball and the circus going on in the Miami dugout, it seems a safe bet that Familia should get at least a chance or two to close out some wins for the Mets this weekend.
  • Kenley Jansen vs. St. Louis Cardinals and Trevor Rosenthal vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (5/29-5/31/15)- As mentioned above, Jansen has yet to allow a runner to reach base this season. That will certainly change, but he’ll still put up great number from here on out. Rosenthal, meanwhile has allowed base runners this year but is still performing at an excellent level (0.81 ERA, 1.03 WHIP). The Dodgers and Cardinals are both great teams that will likely play close games. Close games lead to save situations, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that each of the three games in this weekend series will end with one of these closers picking up a save.

We welcome any comments and suggestions you have to make the report as useful as possible for your fantasy team’s needs.

David A Marcillo is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from David, check out his archive and follow him @DavidMarcillo77.

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