Closer Monkey

Tag: Jake Diekman

  • Closers for Rangers, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Angels still unsettled

    March 22, 2018 Texas Rangers — One week from Opening Day, the Rangers’ closer situation still hasn’t really cleared up. With Jeff Banister eager to deploy Alex Claudio and Matt Bush (who lost his chance at the rotation after three poor starts) in high-leverage situations before the ninth, it sounds more and more like Texas…

  • Top 15 Middle Relievers for 2018 Fantasy Baseball Drafts

    March 5, 2018 Below are our Top 15 middle relievers for 2018. Please note that these rankings are calibrated for traditional (Saves only) leagues and are thus weighted towards players with the best chances of winning the closer role at some point this year. If you missed them last week, check out our 2018 tiered closer…

  • Chris Hatcher becoming a reliable set-up man

    September 18, 2017 Cincinnati Reds – Raisel Iglesias got a second day off after throwing 42 pitches on Friday, so Michael Lorenzen got his second save with a clean 9th inning. He remains Iglesias’s handcuff going into the season’s final two weeks. Hierarchy remains: Iglesias | Lorenzen | Shackelford. Oakland A’s – Chris Hatcher finished…

  • 2017 AL West Preview

    February 27, 2017 Houston Astros – Ken Giles will certainly hope for a better start to 2017 than he had last year. After losing the closer’s job in spring training, Giles yielded 10 earned runs over 10 innings in April. By mid-August, Giles reclaimed the closer job and never looked back, gathering 14 saves over the final…

  • Trevor Rosenthal throwing gas, nearing return

    September 13, 2016 St. Louis Cardinals — Trevor Rosenthal, who has been injured since July 24, is nearing his return to the Cards’ bullpen. He has reportedly been reaching 100 mph on the radar gun during bullpen sessions, so we would expect him to at least make a case for regaining the closer role for the home…