Aroldis Chapman has had his struggles of late, but he’s been way too dominant to fall out of the Top 10 at this point. However, the recent blowup by John Axford is just the latest in what is becoming a very worrisome season. Let’s take a look at how far he fell, as well as all the rest in our latest rankings:
- Craig Kimbrel – Atlanta Braves (1)
- Joe Nathan – Texas Rangers (4)
- Jonathon Papelbon – Philadelphia Phillies (3)
- Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds (2)
- Kenley Jansen – Los Angeles Dodgers (5)
- Joel Hanrahan – Pittsburgh Pirates (6)
- Jim Johnson – Baltimore Orioles (8)
- Chris Perez – Cleveland Indians (9)
- Santiago Casilla – San Francisco Giants (10)
- Rafael Betancourt – Colorado Rockies (11)
- John Axford – Milwaukee Brewers (7)
- Fernando Rodney – Tampa Bay Rays (12)
- Jonathon Broxton – Kansas City Royals (13)
- Frank Francisco – New York Mets (14)
- Brett Myers – Houston Astros (15)
- Tyler Clippard – Washington Nationals (18)
- Jose Valverde – Detroit Tigers (19)
- Jason Motte – St. Louis Cardinals (16)
- Rafael Soriano – New York Yankees (17)
- J.J. Putz – Arizona Diamondbacks (20)
- Heath Bell – Miami Marlins (23)
- Matt Capps – Minnesota Twins (24)
- Huston Street – San Diego Padres (21)
- Tom Wilhelmsen – Seattle Mariners (27)
- Alfredo Aceves – Boston Red Sox (22)
- Addison Reed – Chicago White Sox (25)
- Scott Downs/Ernesto Frieri – Los Angeles Angels (26)
- Casey Janssen – Toronto Blue Jays (28)
- James Russell/Shawn Camp – Chicago Cubs (29)
- Brian Fuentes/Ryan Cook/Grant Balfour – Oakland Athletics (30)
Closers currently on the DL: Sergio Santos, Drew Storen Kyle Farnsworth
Closers out for the year: Brian Wilson, Ryan Madson, Joakim Soria, Mariano Rivera
Closers Removed Over The Past Week: Brian Fuentes
Thoughts:
- Just when we thought John Axford had turned things around he implodes once again. Against the San Diego Padres on June 10 he allowed 3 ER on 3 H and 2 BB, striking out 1, in just 0.1 innings of work. We know his potential, but while he’s been sabotaged partially by poor luck (64.6% strand rate) he has been hit hard (28.8% line drive rate) and struggled with his control (5.56 BB/9). He needs to rectify those issues to be considered a Top 10 option once again.
- It appeared that Jason Motte had righted the ship in June, but he had a disastrous outing against the Indians allowing 3 ER on 2 H and 1 BB, striking out 2, over an inning of work. Overall the numbers are good, with a 1.01 WHIP and 26 K over 26.2 IP. However, he’s now given up 2 ER or more in three of his past seven outings. Hopefully it’s just a blip on the radar, but it needs to be monitored.
- Tyler Clippard continues to climb our rankings, slowly but surely. The looming return of Drew Storen could quickly remove him from the closers role, but he should have a few more weeks of racking up saves. He’s allowed just 2 H and 3 BB in his last 11 outings. It makes you wonder why he wasn’t the first person to get a crack at the closers job, doesn’t it?
- Has J.J. Putz finally gotten things on track? Over his past 5.0 IP he has 4 saves allowing 0 ER on 2 H and 1 BB, striking out 5. I would be cautiously optimistic at this point, so while I am keeping him down on the rankings a little bit he has the potential to fly up next week.
Make sure to check out all of our recent rankings:
- Catchers (as of 5/29/12)
- First Basemen (as of 5/24/12)
- Second Basemen (as of 6/3/12)
- Third Basemen (as of 5/11/12)
- Shortstops (as of 6/12/12)
