Jose Contreras Headed to DL, Ryan Madson to Close for Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies closer Jose Contreras is headed to the 15-day disabled list with a strained flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow, according to Matt Gelb of philly.com.  Contreras, 39, is owned by 97.4% of ESPN fantasy owners as he has posted a 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP replacing Brad Lidge as the Phillies' closer.  The severity of the injury is not known, and it is speculated that Contreras will undergo an MRI, so owners will want to keep track of his status.

In the meantime, Ryan Madson will be taking over 9th inning duties, despite not entering the game in a save situation on Sunday.  Fantasy owners who drank the kool-aid on Madson last year will remember that he blew just as many saves as he converted (5), but his peripherals were solid (10.87 K/9, 2.21 BB/9 in 53 innings), and in a small sample size he has maintained those ratios so far in 2011. 

The Phillies are always going to be in games, giving their closer plenty of opportunities, but this stretch of their schedule will be particularly advantageous for Madson's cause, as 4 of their next 5 series are against teams currently sitting at .500 or below.  If you're a Jose Contreras owner or you're in a league that values strikeouts, make Madson a priority pickup.  He'll be getting plenty of innings for at least the next two weeks and possibly beyond, depending on the severity of Contreras' injury.