Brett Cecil was once again ousted from the Blue Jays’ closer role

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On Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays officially removed Brett Cecil from the closer’s role. While seeing very few save chances throughout the season, Cecil was still ineffective regardless of the situation, currently sporting a 5.70 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with five saves and four losses. Toronto manager John Gibbons has been purposely vague about his team’s closer role, but it seems like they will be going with a closer by committee, at least until someone steps up and claims the job. Steve Delabar and Roberto Osuna are the best bets to pick up the most saves, with Osuna having the higher upside of the two. Delabar has a 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP and has notched 21 strikeouts in 19 innings. He saved Wednesday’s game with a perfect twelfth inning. Osuna, only 20 years old, has a 2.10 ERA and 0.90 WHIP to go with 40 strikeouts in 34.1 innings pitched. He earned a six-out save on Monday, getting five of those outs via the strikeout. Osuna was serving as the primary setup man to Cecil when he was closing games, so he may end up receiving the bulk of the save opportunities for the Jays going forward. Delabar is a good relief pitcher as well, but Osuna is the one to own for now. His strikeout potential will help even when he doesn’t collect saves, as the Jays seem to provide very few opportunities, either blowing out teams or being behind.

Closer News Around the League

Arizona Diamondbacks

Seemingly becoming a fixture in the past few weeks’ Closer Reports, the Arizona Diamondbacks finally provided some clarity regarding their closer situation this week. Opening Day closer Addison Reed was sent down to Triple-A with a 5.92 ERA. Manager Chip Hale had repeatedly stated that he wanted Reed to earn his ninth-inning spot back, but he pitched poorly even outside of the ninth and the team really had no choice but to send him down so that he may continue working on his pitches. That means Brad Ziegler, currently 11-for-11 in save opportunities, just got a little more job security. While Ziegler was previously a temporary option while Reed “worked on his mechanics,” Ziegler is now safe in his ninth-inning role with Reed no longer on the team. Righty Daniel Hudson has taken over the eighth-inning role and would be next in line if Ziegler were to falter. We can assume Ziegler has a fairly decent leash, though, given his past success.

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have one of the truly elite closers in all of baseball in Aroldis Chapman. He is having another ridiculous season, collecting 15 saves and posting a 1.95 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Time for the ridiculous part; Chapman has 56 strikeouts in 32.1 innings. This week, Chapman was placed on the paternity list to attend the birth of his child. In his stead, J.J. Hoover earned a save on Wednesday, tossing a perfect inning with two strikeouts against the Pirates. For the season, Hoover has a stellar 1.35 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. His ninth-inning role was temporary this time seeing as Chapman is already back with the team. However, with Chapman’s name flying around in trade rumors, Hoover is a guy to keep an eye on since he’ll likely take over the ninth inning for the Reds if Chapman switches teams this summer.

Chicago White Sox

Before this season, the White Sox signed former Yankee David Robertson to a four-year, $46 million contract so that he could close out their victories. He’d been doing just that, despite the lack of opportunities coming from Robin Ventura’s team. He’s hit a rough patch though, allowing four runs over his previous four appearances. Still, his numbers are great; 2.84 ERA and 0.98 WHIP to go with his 15 saves and 44 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. There has been a little chatter of “who is next in line?” for the White Sox due to Robertson’s recent struggles. There is a simple answer to that question; no one. Robertson is signed for a lot of money over the next three and a half seasons and has been excellent aside from a recent bump in the road. He is not about to lose his job, and fantasy owners have absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, just in case the Robertson owner in your league is prone to panic over small samples, send out a trade offer. Robertson is a top-tier closer who will continue as the season progresses.

Injury Updates

New York Yankees closer Andrew Miller played catch on Wednesday for the first time since going on the disabled list with a strained forearm. He isn’t expected to return until mid-July and may have to set up for Dellin Betances once he comes back.

Oakland Athletics closer Sean Doolittle was transferred to the 60-day disabled list this week and reports are stating that he may in fact not pitch again this season. He began the season on the DL, made one appearance on May 27th, then landed right back on the DL the next day.

Interesting Tidbit

Until this week, no closer had recorded a four or more out save on consecutive days since Ernesto Frieri on May 18th and 19th of 2013. Tyler Clippard did just that, saving two games while pitching 1.1 innings on June 20th and 1.2 on June 21st. Clippard has been solid for the A’s in place of Sean Doolittle, earning 13 saves and posting a 2.87 ERA to go with a 1.18 WHIP.

Top Performers 6/18-6/25/2015

• Tyler Clippard – 4 IP, 3 SV, 3 K, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP
• Brad Boxberger – 4 IP, 3 SV, 5 K, 2.25 ERA, 1.75 WHIP
• Francisco Rodriguez – 3 IP, 2 SV, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP
• Carson Smith – 2 IP, 2 SV, 3 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP

Clippard continues to do what Clippard does, except this year he’s in the ninth inning instead of his usual eighth-inning role. He’s been solid all season, but the A’s had a slow start to the year, making save chances hard to come by. Now that they’re playing better baseball, Clippard has started to rack up the saves. With former closer Doolittle unlikely to throw another pitch this year, Clippard should keep the ninth inning all season.

The Tampa Bay Rays closer situation was a bit of a mess for a while, but it looks like Boxberger has risen to the top again. He experienced a minor injury which opened the door for Kevin Jepsen and Jake McGee to earn a few save chances, but Boxberger’s three saves this week likely mean that he’ll be the one getting the ball most often in save situations.

“K-Rod” has been outstanding this year and could net the Brewers a nice return at the trade deadline if they choose to shop him around. He collected two saves this week, striking out six and not allowing a run.

Smith is a newer name to the closer world but should make a big impact for the rest of the season. Stepping into Fernando Rodney’s ninth-inning role, Smith did not allow a base runner this week while saving two games for the Mariners.

Spec Picks for the Upcoming Schedule

Francisco Rodriguez vs. Minnesota Twins (Friday, June 26-Sunday, June 28) – “K-Rod” has been one of the few bright spots for the Brewers this season. He has posted a 1.00 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP and 15 saves. The Brewers are coming off a rare hot streak and will face the Twins in a weekend series likely to feature several close games.

Huston Street vs. Seattle Mariners (Friday, June 26-Sunday, June 28) – Street doesn’t have the kind of “stuff” that top-tier guys like Chapman have, but he’s been a solid reliever for a long time and gets the job done much more often than not. This AL West series should feature close games, more than likely ending in the Angels’ favor.

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.