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So I had a thought while working up this week's rankings. I had lots of thoughts, in fact. People on The Amazing Race can be alarmingly dumb. I need new pants. What should I give my dad for his birthday?
But I had one germane thought while working up this week's rankings: What are they for? If my rankings are for the rest of the season, including guys like Jonathan Broxton and Shawn Kelley - whose jobs have expiration dates - is silly. Are they for right now? Then why include injured guys like David Robertson or Aroldis Chapman? For the last couple weeks, I've tried to sort of meld the two, resulting in rankings like Chapman 10th, Broxton 30th.
Despite the fact that there are 30 teams and 30 spots in the rankings, Jose Valverde went unranked last week. I mean, I make no apologies for that, as Valverde is terrible and bad and not good and all that, but still, it seemed weird.
Anyway, this week I endeavor to solve these issues - with two rankings. First will be the right-now rankings, which gives the Kelleys and Broxtons their moment at glory. Guys on the first list might not keep their jobs all season, or they might be banged up for now, so the list will look nothing like it might come, say, July. On the flip side, the second list keeps in mind that Robertson will be back soon, that Koji Uehara looks like he might not hit the DL, etc.
Right-Now Rankings
Rank | Player | Team | Thoughts |
1 | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | Twelve strikeouts in 5.2 innings, 5 saves in 5 chances. He's not bad at all. |
2 | Kenley Jansen | LAD | Has already pitched nine times in 13 games; maybe keep that in check, Dodgers? |
3 | Greg Holland | KCR | The Royals have a favorable schedule coming up (@ HOU, vs. MIN this week). |
4 | Glen Perkins | MIN | Three straight scoreless outings after a rough first week. |
5 | Trevor Rosenthal | SLC | Another week of struggles and diminished velocity and I might start to worry. |
6 | Sergio Romo | SFG | He's looked crazy good so far. |
7 | Huston Street | SDP | No problems so far, but you'd like your closer to strike more guys out. |
8 | Rafael Soriano | WAS | No runs, eight strikeouts in four innings so far. Looks strong. |
9 | Steve Cishek | MIA | The only thing keeping him from the upper echelon is a middling team around him, but it's getting better. |
10 | Sergio Santos | TBJ | When Casey Janssen returns, he might lose time, but for now he's safe. |
11 | Grant Balfour | TBR | He's "granted" "balfour" too much so far, but otherwise has been strong. |
12 | Addison Reed | ARI | If the Diamondbacks continue to struggle like they have, I could see him changing teams again. |
13 | Jason Grilli | PIT | Already four walks in five innings, but otherwise looks good. |
14 | Edward Mujica | BOS | Uehara banged up; they aren't going to rush him. |
15 | Joe Nathan | DET | Yeah, "dead arm" isn't scary at allllll. |
16 | Fernando Rodney | SEA | I don't know, man; he's been crazy good so far, but isn't he terrifying? |
17 | Shawn Kelley | NYY | Excellent last name, short-term job. |
18 | Josh Fields | HOU | I'm not worried about his job -- yet -- despite a blowup Thursday. |
19 | Francisco Rodriguez | MIL | Somehow looking like the K-Rod of old. Didn't see that coming. |
20 | Joakim Soria | TEX | Hasn't inspired a lot of confidence so far. |
21 | Pedro Strop | CHC | As awful as Jose Veras has been, Strop hasn't exactly been lights-out. |
22 | Luke Gregerson | OAK | The team is by-committee right now. Gregerson, Jim Johnson, Sean Doolittle... |
23 | Ernesto Frieri | LAA | I thought Dane De La Rosa might challenge him, but dude looked bad in his return. |
24 | Jonathan Papelbon | PHI | Has looked way better outside of that one Rangers game. |
25 | Matt Lindstrom | CWS | Jonah Keri on Twitter yesterday: "When Matt Lindstrom is your closer...that means Matt Lindstrom is your closer." Ringing endorsement. |
26 | Tommy Hunter | BAL | Buck Showalter seems fully on board with Hunter in the role. |
27 | John Axford | CLE | Blew his first save Sunday; he should have a fair amount of rope. |
28 | Jonathan Broxton | CIN | He's only pitched once so far, so it's tough to really judge how he looks. |
29 | LaTroy Hawkins | COL | I have literally no opinion to offer about Mr. Hawkins. |
30 | Jose Valverde | NYM | Yeah, he's not so good, but the team doesn't really have anyone who is good. |
Rest-Of-Season Rankings
(Since I talked about a lot of these guys already, what say I don't offer thoughts about every single one here?)
Rank | Team | Player | Thoughts |
1 | Craig Kimbrel | ATL | |
2 | Kenley Jansen | LAD | |
3 | Greg Holland | KCR | |
4 | Glen Perkins | MIN | |
5 | Koji Uehara | BOS | I'm not worried about him long-term, but they'll take it easy on him for now. |
6 | Trevor Rosenthal | SLC | |
7 | Sergio Romo | SFG | |
8 | Huston Street | SDP | |
9 | Aroldis Chapman | CIN | Another week is another week closer to his return. |
10 | David Robertson | NYY | Could be back as soon as late this week. |
11 | Rafael Soriano | WAS | |
12 | Steve Cishek | MIA | |
13 | Grant Balfour | TBR | |
14 | Addison Reed | ARI | |
15 | Joe Nathan | DET | |
16 | Jason Grilli | PIT | I thought Mark Melancon might take his job eventually, but Grilli looks strong so far. |
17 | Josh Fields | HOU | |
18 | Joakim Soria | TEX | |
19 | Francisco Rodriguez | MIL | |
20 | Fernando Rodney | SEA | |
21 | John Axford | CLE | |
22 | Tommy Hunter | BAL | |
23 | Matt Lindstrom | CWS | |
24 | Jonathan Papelbon | PHI | |
25 | Sergio Santos | TOR | The threat of Janssen stealing his job makes Santos less secure. |
26 | LaTroy Hawkins | COL | |
27 | Ernesto Frieri | LAA | |
28 | Jonathan Broxton | CIN | |
29 | Pedro Strop | CHC | Strop and ... |
30 | Luke Gregerson | OAK | ... Gregerson seem the strongest candidates for not-holding-their-jobness. |