Sanchez was one of the many pitchers who took his shot at the closer job in St. Louis before Tony LaRussa finally settled on Fernando Salas in the role. Before going on the DL, he hadn’t given up an earned run in his last 10 appearances in 10.2 innings pitched. He struggled with his control while in the closer role, resulting in a high walk rate (12 BBs in 11.2 IP in May), but has since settled down. The K/9 rate has been high at every level, so it seems like the high rate in the majors is legit. At age 22, his future is bright as a stud closer or setup guy for the Cardinals for many years to come. He’s eligible to come off the DL June 28, but the Cardinals have not said he’ll be back right at that date.

Mr. Feliz has had a bit of a down year in his second full season with his WHIP and K/9 rates sticking out the most. His 1.32 WHIP is much higher than his 0.88 WHIP last year, with both walks and hits being significantly higher this year. His 6.1 K/9 is lower than his 9.0 K/9 career rate, but is getting better now with 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched in June. His ERA has gone up quite a bit in June (6.75 in June, 1.45 up to 3.21 for the year) but only because of two blown saves that he gave up 7 ER. In his other 7 appearances in June, he hasn’t given up a run and only gave up 4 hits in 7.2 innings pitched. He’s coming back around and will be great in the future, but if he continues to struggle this year, there will be more rumors of him joining the rotation in 2012, opening the door for trades in dynasty leagues.

Jordan Walden took over the closer duties from Fernando Rodney a week into the season and has run with it. His K/9 rate continues to go up monthly, with 12 strikeouts in just 7.2 innings pitched in June. The hit rate seems to be more important than the walk rate when it comes to his success. When he struggled in May he gave up 16 hits in 13 innings and had a 5.54 ERA that month. The Angels seem to be sold on him being their closer for the future, and you can be sold on him being a big value in your fantasy league for quite some time.

Storen starting the year in a setup role may have been the best thing to happen for both him and his current owners who still believed in him. His value went down with questions of his mental state in Spring Training and owners were able to get him late, and now he’s been one of the best closers in baseball. With just 2 blown saves and 18 successful saves, he’s been one of the most consistent pitchers around, and will have the chance to hold down this job for years to come. His walk rate is a huge advantage for him, having only given up 12 walks in 38.1 innings, and if he gets his hit rate down, that WHIP will get even better. He is a big time piece for dynasty leagues and if there’s an owner in your dynasty league still not sold on him, go get him and enjoy his consistency into the future.

Kimbrel has been striking out batters all season with no signs of slowing down and that K/9 rate combined with his solid WHIP and 20 saves are the making of a top 6 closer at this point in the year. I had him at 8 at the beginning of June and he will likely move up a few more slots in the July rankings in 2 weeks. At age 23, he’s got many more years he can close for Atlanta, and with Jonny Venters locking down the 8th inning, he could end the year with 45+ saves. This guy is a star already at 23 and will be great for many years.

I've talked plenty about Aaron Crow in the space after he was put into the closer role for Joakim Soria in Kansas City and then never got a save opportunity. Crow's ERA, WHIP, and K/9 rate are all great and have been all year. He's been great, but his low .224 BABIP worries me a bit. It could just be the Royals defense being better than we expect with many of the bullpen guys being .240 BABIP guys or lower. He has struggled with control lately giving up 8 walks in 8.2 IP in June, but the rest of his numbers have not suffered.  He's a guy that can help you right now in roto leagues with start limits, and he's also a good stash for the future.

Stutes has gotten more attention as of late picking up wins in come from behind victories by the Phillies over the Cardinals and the Mariners in the last 7 days. He has pitched well in middle relief only allowing runs in 4 of his 24 appearances. His walk rate has not been great but his WHIP is not so high to keep him off this list. His K/9 rate is consistent with what he has down in the minors and if that can continue he’ll be a nice piece in that bullpen for many years. Stutes and his teammate Antonio Bastardo will be leading the youth movement in their bullpen over the next few years.

Blake Wood is one of the many stud 20-something pitchers the Royals have stashed in their bullpen, but he might the least well-known of the bunch. Wood had a rough year in the majors last year trying to get used to the talent level, but this year so far has been much better. He has cut his ERA in half from last year (5.07 down to 2.56), and his WHIP has gotten better due to improvements in both hit rate and walk rate. The hit rate stood out most about last year; 54 hits in just 49.2 IP will kill your WHIP if you have any walks at all (1.55 WHIP last year). Wood is becoming more comfortable in a setup role behind Joakim Soria and the more reliable he becomes, the more innings he’ll get. With constant worries about Soria being traded, Wood could be in the mix for the closer role in the next couple years.

Al Alburquerque might be the #1 noncloser in the American League if not for one problem: he can’t stop walking guys. In 26.1 IP, he has 18 BBs against only 10 hits, proving to be the reason for his WHIP being relatively high. His H/9 rate has never been this low at any level so its pretty safe to assume it’s going to go up so Alburquerque has to bring his walk rate down to keep the WHIP in a good range. His K/9 sticks out the most, being the second best of all pitchers with at least 15 innings pitched. In fact, in 23 total appearances this year, he has failed to strike out a batter only 5 times, and 4 of those were .2 IP or less. Jose Valverde may not continue in the closer role past this year if Alburquerque can convince the Tigers that he should be in that role, and maybe if Tigers are willing to trade Valverde, Alburquerque could get a chance to close at the end of the year.

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