1) Mariano Rivera
2) Heath Bell

Mariano Rivera has returned to the top after going all of June without walking a batter or blowing a save, resulting in an ERA and WHIP both under 1. Pair that with Heath Bell’s 1.55 WHIP in June and the constant rumors of him being traded and barring injury, Rivera could be a lock to hold the #1 spot for the rest of the year. Heath Bell’s WHIP is a big worry for me for the future, mainly his hit rate going up to 9.8 H/9 in July from 5.25 H/9. The hit rate will have to come down for him to continue to convert saves at such a successful pace.

3) Brian Wilson
4) Craig Kimbrel
5) Joel Hanrahan

Mr. Joel Hanrahan joins the top 5 after converting every single save chance he’s gotten and walking very few batters (8 BB in 39.1 IP). He’s been a great piece in all 4 closer categories and has been good both at home (1.23 ERA, 0.91 WHIP) and on the road (1.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP). In the month of June he held opposing batters to a .116 batting average. At age 29, he may be a good keeper in deep leagues if he doesn’t falter, or could be nice trade bait when it gets closer to fantasy league trade deadlines.

6) Andrew Bailey
7) Huston Street
8) Joakim Soria

Oh how things can change. One day at the beginning of June it is announced that Aaron Crow will be taking over as the closer of the Royals, and this piece ranked Crow at 22 for the rest of the season ahead of guys like Kyle Farnsworth and Brandon League. Crow went without getting a save opportunity and Soria was given his job back in no time. Soria went on to a 0.00 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP with 6 saves in June and is now seemingly back to his old self. He could be a nice buy if his owner is still worried about him losing his job if he’s shaky again.

9) Carlos Marmol
10) Kyle Farnsworth
11) Drew Storen

I can’t seem to make up my mind about Drew Storen. On the one hand, he tied for the most saves in June with Brian Wilson at 10 and kept a 1.17 WHIP. On the other hand, he did all that with a 4.61 ERA and has a very “lucky” BABIP of .212 for the year. In fact Storen’s BABIP is the second best of all pitchers with 10+ saves behind Francisco Cordero’s slim .173 BABIP. If he brings down the ERA, all the other numbers would be good enough to be a top 8 guy. I believe he’ll have a better July than June and is worth targeting if he’s got a shaky owner.

12) Chris Perez
13) Neftali Feliz
14) Jose Valverde

Jose Valverde is one of two closers, Joel Hanrahan being the other, who have not blown a save opportunity yet this year. At age 33, he’s quietly having another good year with his 2011 numbers being right in line with his career numbers. His walk rate is the only that has gotten worse by a significant margin, putting his 2011 WHIP at 1.34 against his career mark of 1.18. His consistency has been a gift to owners that believed in him in the preseason and there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue on this course.

15) Jonathan Papelbon
16) Brandon League
17) Francisco Cordero
18) J.J. Putz (DL)
19) Leo Nunez

Leo Nunez has been fine this year, but fine is boring so he doesn’t get talked about much. His ERA and WHIP are a little higher than most folks would like but they won’t kill you. He strikes out about a batter an inning so he doesn’t hurt you there either, and he’s converted 22 of his 25 saves. But none of his numbers stand out which is why he’s at 19. He’s Leo Nunez and he is what he is: a perfectly average closer. At age 27, he still has room to improve and in the next few years he could get quite a bit better. But for now, he’s just boring Leo Nunez.

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