Closer Monkey

Year: 2016

  • Thanks, Chip Hale, for reading Closer Monkey

    August 26, 2016 Arizona Diamondbacks — Arizona is home to the worst bullpen in the major leagues (5.19 ERA) without anyone good enough to be considered a closer. Manager Chip Hale is searching for answers. Clearly, he must be a Closer Monkey subscriber as we pointed out yesterday that Daniel Hudson — he of 11 straight scoreless…

  • Fernando Rodney is still shooting arrows for Miami

    August 25, 2016 Miami Marlins — It wasn’t a huge surprise when Don Mattingly called on Fernando Rodney in a save situation on Wednesday, and it certainly didn’t shock anyone when Rodney loaded the bases, then managed to escape. But it was unusual when the manager suggested he might leave Rodney in the closer role down…

  • Matt Strahm surging in Kansas City

    August 24, 2016 Kansas City Royals – The Royals’ bullpen is on fire right now, having thrown a club record 32 scoreless innings. A big part of that has been rookie southpaw Matt Strahm, who has compiled a streak of nine straight scoreless innings. That included a clean seventh inning on Tuesday, which lowered his…

  • Carlos Estevez is back in the bigs

    August 23, 2016 Colorado Rockies – Right-hander Scott Oberg was placed on the 15-day disabled list with the very scary sounding condition “axillary artery thrombosis.” Carlos Estevez, who closed for the Rockies for a time despite a 5+ ERA, was recalled from Triple-A to replace Oberg. Boone Logan has been fantastic this year, so we…

  • Fernando Salas appears secure; A.J. Ramos is back

    August 22, 2016 Los Angeles Angels – Over the past few weeks, the Los Angeles Angels have been an insult to “shambles” everywhere, and save chances have been scant. But when they occur, they’ve belonged to Fernando Salas. He picked up his fourth save last night, and we’ll remove the asterisk until someone else gets…