Despite his hamstring injury, the Red Sox expect Koji Uehara to be ready for Opening Day
Over the past six weeks FantasyPros has profiled the anticipated closer situation for each team on a divisional basis in the National League (East, Central and West) and American League (East, Central and West).
We’re happy to announce that our closer chart is available here and will be updated on a regular basis. We’d encourage you to bookmark it as a point of reference to use throughout the season.
This week we will take a look at some recent closer news of note; including injuries, competitions and a few Spring Training performances. There are a slew of injury updates and a good number of situations in flux which could make the difference in how you draft or scan the waiver wire before the regular season begins.
Note: Our projections are a consensus of seven top fantasy sites and values here (as well as any metioned ADP) are accurate as of 3/19/15.
Injury News
- Boston Red Sox closer Koji Uehara is suffering from a left hamstring strain, according to MLB.com’s Andrew Simon. He is considered day-to-day, but Red Sox manager John Farrell does not believe it puts Uehara’s Opening Day status in jeopardy. Junichi Tazawa and Edward Mujica would be the potential replacements for Uehara if the issue is not resolved in time. Uehara owns an indentical ADP and ECR of 119.
- Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen continued throwing Monday after having the hamate bone is his left (non-throwing) hand removed the previous Friday reports MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. He is expected to be fine for Opening Day. Storen is currently coming off draft boards at pick #131 and his ECR sits at 173.
- Tampa Bay Rays lefty Jake McGee threw 20 pitches off the mound Tuesday for the first time this spring. McGee is anticipated back late April or early May. Until he returns, Brad Boxberger is the favorite to handle closing duties for the Rays. McGee is still being drafted head of Boxberger (209 to 262), but owners would be wise to grab Boxberger if they have room on their rosters.
- MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets that Kenley Jansen is throwing while resting his surgically repaired knee on a chair. Jansen, who had surgery on his left foot, is expected to be back in the fold in late April or early May. The replacement situation is in flux with Gurnick suggesting Chris Hatcher could be the interim closer and Joel Peralta the setup man with Jansen out. Keep an eye on who survives Spring Training if you want to vulture some saves for the season’s first month. Jansen is still being selected 93rd in drafts, as when healthy, he is among the premier closers in the game.
- Sean Doolittle is getting closer to throwing, according to a tweet from Joe Stiglich of Comcast SportsNet California. Tyler Clippard is expected to handle closer duties until Doolittle returns. Doolittle is projected to nail down 26 saves, while Clippard is estimated to garner nine. If holds are a category in your league, Clippard is among the best at securing them, and typically owns very good rate stats with plenty of strikeouts, so drafting him late will not hurt your team.
- Brett Cecil has been battling shoulder inflammation over the past several days, and is scheduled to throw 15-20 pitches Saturday in a minor league game according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. With Aaron Sanchez seemingly headed to the rotation after Marcus Stroman’s injury, Cecil is the man in Toronto for saves. He’s estimated to secure 23 in 2015.
- Minnesota’s closer Glen Perkins, who began feeling pain in his left side over one week ago, tossed a successful bullpen session Tuesday. As of this writing Perkins was to work in a minor league game Thursday and if all went well was expected to pitch for the Twins over the weekend. Perkins is being drafted with pick #143 and his ECR is 143 as well.
- According to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com, Arizona Diamondbacks closer Addison Reed threw a bullpen session Tuesday. Provided there are no further complications, he will be ready for Opening Day. Reed is projected to lock down 33 saves in 2015.
Unresolved closer situations
There are a couple of closer “competitions” remaining with no one clearly stated the closer by the respective clubs.
- In New York, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller are the choices for the Yankees. Thus far, Betances has shown signs of a diminished fastball and less-than-stellar command, while Miller has looked much sharper. Betances has been hit hard, and allowed a run in each of his last two appearances through Wednesday. Miller has allowed one run in four innings with five strikeouts. We still speculate that Betances will earn the job, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi has stated more than once that he’d have no problem calling on one or the other depending on the game situation.
- The Houston Astros will likely utilize Luke Gregerson as their closer, though nothing has been announced by the team. He’s tossed four innings this spring allowing one run, two hits and a walk. He has struck out three batters. His biggest competition seemingly comes from Pat Neshek who has allowed one run, three hits and a walk in three innings. Neshek has struck out four hitters along the way.
Notes around the league
- Steve Cishek tossed two innings Tuesday and struck out five batters. He threw an uncharacteristic 34 pitches for this early on in spring (or anytime in Spring Training for that matter), especially for a player known to be the closer.
- Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen has been lights out so far this spring, hurling four scoreless innings. He’s allowed three hits, no walks and has one strikeout.
- Rafael Soriano remains unsigned. At this point, it remains to be seen if anyone wants Soriano for what he’s expecting to be paid, unless the club is forced, by injury or otherwise, into signing him.
Once the regular season begins, the Closer Report will detail the previous week’s closer news, including injuries and any notable changes in a club’s closer situation. We’ll name the top three closers for the previous week, and provide some spec picks for the upcoming schedule.
We welcome any comments and suggestions you have to make the report as useful as possible for your fantasy team’s needs.
Our divisional previews
National League (East, Central and West)
American League (East, Central and West)
Christopher Carelli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Christopher, check out his archive and follow him @Chris_Carelli. He is also the founder of Yankees Unscripted which is devoted to narrative-free coverage of the New York Yankees.
