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Closer Report

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Every week I take a look at the going's on in the life of relief pitching in fake baseball. This week, like the ever growing trend of this year to date the relief pitching corps are in constant in flux. So have a gander at how I would rank the best conclusionary pitchers and the guys that set them up.

  • Matt Capps has some shoulder woes, Gardenhire has stated he doesn't think it's too awful. Capps has been a decent RP 2 for most of the year. Guys to monitor in case of injury are Jared Burton and Glen Perkins. Both of those guys seem like in house options if Capps gets traded in a month or so also.
  • Drew Storen is less than a month away as quoted by himself. Tyler Clippard has done swimmingly in his stead after appearances by a H-rod and a Lidge, who was recently designated for assignment.
  • Ryan Cook is the future of rock and roll. No really but it's fun to speculate his career after baseball. Ryan has taken the horns and ran with them in Oakland. Barring something unforeseen he should continue to gather a slew of counting stats while helping all peripheral categories.
  • Tom Wilhelmsen is gaining some momentum and has me saying, Brandon who? He has garnered 4 save chances in his last 6 total appearances and is a K machine, while sporting great 4-1 K/BB rate. Seattle may not get as many chances to have him soaring up the rankings but stats are stats.
  • It seems as though the inevitable has well inevitably happened in Anaheim as Ernesto Frieri was always the favorite to take over anyways. Scott Downs has been up and down with injury and hasn't been able to solidify enough to show he deserves some save chances. I would still roster both, because Downs doesn't do anything to hurt your roster.
Rankings and other goodies after the jump.

1. Craig Kimbrel

2. Jonathan Papelbon

3. Chris Perez

4. Aroldis Chapman

5. Jim Johnson

6. John Axford

7. Joel Hanrahan

8. Jason Motte

9. Kenley Jansen

10. Rafael Soriano

11. Joe Nathan

12. Fernando Rodney

13. Santiago Casilla

14. J.J. Putz

15. Jose Valverde

16. Tyler Clippard

17. Rafael Betancourt

18. Jonathan Broxton

19. Addison Reed

20. Heath Bell

21. Frank Francisco

22. Alfredo Aceves

23. Ernesto Frieri

24. Brett Myers

25. Ryan Cook

26. Casey Janssen

27. Huston Street

28. Matt Capps

29. Tom Wilhelmsen

30. James Russell / Shawn Camp

Tier 1.

Jonny Venters ATL

Mike Adams TEX

Sergio Romo SF

Vinnie Pestano CLE

Joaquin Benoit DET

Sean Burnett WAS

Sean Marshall CIN

David Hernandez ARI

Jason Grilli PIT

Antonio Bastardo PHI

Scott Downs ANA

Tier 2:

Steve Cishek MIA

Tim Byrdak NYM

Edward Mujica MIA

Francisco Rodriguez MIL

Pedro Strop BAL

Eric O'Flaherty ATL

Aaron Crow KC

Alexi Ogando TEX

Vincente Padilla BOS

Joel Peralta TB

Josh Lindblom LAD

Bobby Parnell NYM

Matt Belisle COL

Glen Perkins MIN

Tier 3:

Nate Jones CHW

Greg Holland KC

Juan Cruz PIT

Bryan Shaw ARI

Randy Choate MIA

Andrew Cashner SD

Juan Cruz PIT

Joe Smith CLE

Cory Wade NYY

Kelvin Herrera KC

Matt Thornton CHW

Jose Arredondo CIN

Brad Ziegler ARI

Jesse Crain CHW

Andrew Miller BOS