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Sergio Santos has taken a hold of the closer role, having gotten the last 3 save chances and successfully completing each of them. He has also not given up an earned run all year, which may be the biggest difference between him and the lefty duo of Chris Sale and Matt Thornton. His 11.1 K/9 ratio this year is not a fluke and is slightly ahead of his career mark of 10.0 K/9. I believe that barring injury or trade, Santos will have the most saves at the end of the year. He's definitely the safest of the trio and worth picking up if you're in need of saves.

Jonathan Broxton has been shut down by the Dodgers with elbow pain in his throwing arm that was affecting his control. At one point in his last outing, he walked back to back batters on 8 straight balls. It seems as though Vicente Padilla and Hong-Khih Kuo will split the save chances based on the opposing lineup, at least until one proves to be best for the job. Kuo did a great job in both the setup and closer roles last year putting up 12 saves and 21 holds while holding down a 1.20 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. Padilla has been solid this year with a save and 4 holds in 6 appearances. If any closer for the Dodgers has 25 saves, I think it will be Kuo. I just don't see Padilla holding up as a good option in the 8th or 9th inning, and who knows if Broxton will even get another chance.

What can be said about Manager Tony LaRussa and his Cardinals' crazy bullpen/closer situation? There is no visible rhyme or reason to LaRussa's use of his bullpen as he has pitched different guys in every possible position. In the last week, Eduardo Sanchez has gotten the 2 available save opportunities and been successful in both against the
Marlins. If I had to rank them right now, I guess I'd rank them Sanchez, Fernando Salas, Mitchell Boggs, and finally Trever Miller. Unfortunately, we have no real idea about LaRussa's plan for the future, so I wouldn't trust any of them if you don't have to.

BABIP And Your Fantasy Team

BABIP stands for Batting Average on Balls In Play and is used to tell as a complement to ERA to see if a pitcher's ERA is unnaturally high or low. The average BABIP for pitchers is about .300, meaning that on balls in play, 70% result in an out by the defense. If that number is significantly higher than .300, it typically means that either the defense behind him is bad or he has just been unlucky. Inversely, BABIP numbers that are significantly lower indicate a pitcher with
good defense behind them or one with good luck. All stats come thanks to Fangraphs stats section that does a good job laying out all the advanced stats available. Let's take a look at some closers with significantly low or high BABIPs and how this information can help you and your fantasy team.

Low BABIP Numbers

Chris Perez
Career BABIP = .245
2011 BABIP = .237

Over the course of his career, Chris Perez has been helped by very good defenses in St. Louis and Cleveland and it shows in his low career BABIP of .245. In 2010, when he took over the closer role from Kerry Wood, he posted a .222 BABIP number (a career best) with a 1.71 ERA (also a career best). Pay close attention to his BABIP as it almost directly corresponds with his ERA. If his BABIP starts creeping up, and his K/9 rate (just 6.2 currently) doesn't go up, it may be time to look to sell high. I still like Perez and believe that he'll stay at his current BABIP range and up his K/9 toward his career mark
of 9.3. If that holds true, he will end the year as a top 8 closer.

Drew Storen
Career BABIP = .270
2011 BABIP = .182

Storen is even earlier in his career than Perez but is showing just how well he can pitch with a good defense behind him. Washington's defense while Storen is in has been phenomenal and Storen's 0.56 ERA is what has come of it. Unfortunately, with his K/9 rate down to a very average 6.75, he's relying a little too much on the defense behind him to get the job done. As the season goes on, that K/9 will have to go up closer to his career 8.07 to continue to be successful.
With Sean Burnett having shown a glimpse of being able to close games, Storen will not have much breathing room if he were to falter a couple times. Watch Storen and if you don't believe he's going to continue being successful, you may want to move him.

Francisco Cordero
Career BABIP = .300
2011 BABIP = .172

Francisco Cordero, in terms of BABIP as well as many other numbers, is an average closer. In fact, his .300 career BABIP is accepted as average performance for a pitcher. However, this year he has had his best ERA number yet at a slim 1.38, and it can be directly attributed to he amazing .171 BABIP, which is best of a pitchers with at least 2 saves. He has suddenly turned into a groundball pitcher (63.9% GB%) as opposed to his career flyball heavy number (42.8%). Maybe he has turned a corner at age 35, but I can't believe these numbers can continue. Find the Reds fan in your fantasy league and sell him high for a tidy gain.

High BABIP Numbers

Jonathan Papelbon
Career BABIP = .272
2011 BABIP = .355

Many pitchers with a current BABIP significantly higher than their career tend to have a down year, but Jonathan Papelbon is not one of them. Despite a career high .355 BABIP, he is still successful thanks to a 11.7 K/9 rate and a K/BB rate of 8, both of which are near the top of the closer ranks. It also helps that he has yet to give up a home run in 12 appearances. If his BABIP gets better, and his K/9 rate stays consistent, he'll be back to being solid Papelbon from the
middle of the decade as opposed to the 3.90 ERA Papelbon we met last year.

Francisco Rodriguez
Career BABIP = .272
2011 BABIP = .412

Francisco Rodriguez was previously blessed with both good luck and good defenses in past years, but has an extremely unlucky .412 BABIP this year with a poor Mets defense. This amazing BABIP has resulted in his highest ever WHIP at 1.83, a WHIP number that is almost unheard of in successful closers. Rodriguez is a career 1.15 WHIP pitcher, so
almost surely his WHIP will get better as the season goes on. Rodriguez has almost no competition in New York so he'll be safe in the closer role all year. His WHIP will get better while his 1.50 ERA may go slightly up, but that's a natural thing for closers with poor defenses behind them. I see no reason to worry about Rodriguez and as his WHIP gets better, he'll be moving up my rankings.

Joel Hanrahan
Career BABIP = .332
2011 BABIP = .383

The most curious numbers this season have come from Joel Hanrahan of the Pirates, who is a high career BABIP guy and has an even higher BABIP this year, but has still been successful in the closer role. His 1.69 ERA is better than he has ever posted before, even in significant stints coming up through the minors. Now at age 29, Hanrahan has lowered his BB/9 rate to 2.25 (down from 3.36 last year and 4.55 career), and has given up more groundballs than flyballs for the first
season of his career. The main trouble with Hanrahan is actually the team around him; the Pirates are not exactly an offensive juggernaut, limiting the number of save opportunities for him to take advantage of. Ride him as long as he's keeping the low ERA, but do not get too attached, especially as promising young arms like Sergio Santos are
coming into the league.

Blown Save of the Week

Brandon Lyon – 5/4 @ CIN
0.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, L, BS

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