The A.L. Closer Report: 4/23

For the purposes of the “Closer Report” (which will be a weekly feature), we’ll place the relief aces in one of three categories: Death Grip (these guys have no chance of relinquishing the closer’s role; think Mo Rivera), In Control (a good chance of continuing to rack up the saves) and Watch Your Back (the set-up man is planning a coup d’etat as we speak).

Death Grip

Mariano Rivera, Yankees: ho-hum. Mo has yet to be scored on in seven frames, punching out 8 without issuing a walk. Interestingly (though probably not relevant at all, given the results), Rivera’s scarcely used fastball and bread-and-butter cutter are both down velocity-wise, with the cutter coming in at 90.7 MPH (92.8 in 2008) and the fastball at 91.9 MPH (93.1 MPH in ’08).

Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox: Papelbon is 4-for-4 in save ops to begin the year, though he has had some slight problems in locating his pitches (47.6% of his pitches have been in the strike zone, compared to a 54.8% career average).

Kerry Wood, Indians: Woody hasn’t received a whole lot of work thus far, tossing 4.1 frames. David DeJeus got to him for a two-run HR on Tuesday, Wood’s last appearance.

Joakim Soria, Royals: Soria has been his normal beastly self in the early going, with five saves and eight K’s in 5 IP. Soria has used his wicked low-70’s curveball 24.1% of the time thus far, compared to about 10% in previous years. Perhaps he got bored dominating hitters with his fastball. Or slider. Or changeup..

Bobby Jenks, White Sox: Jenks has received four innings of work, and hasn’t gotten into a game since April 16th. Somewhere, he’s glaring at Bartolo Colon and Jose Contreras.

Joe Nathan, Twins: Like Rivera, Nathan just marches along, posting zero’s near every time he takes the hill. He has surrendered one run in five frames, with three saves to his ledger.

In Control

Brad Ziegler, Athletics: Joey Devine underwent Tommy John surgery this past week, eliminating the main competition for the gig. So far, so good for Ziegler: his submarining splendor has generated groundballs at a 68% clip, though he’s walked four in nine frames.

Brandon Morrow, Mariners: He’s getting the hang of this: since getting roped for 3 runs against the Twins on April 7th, Morrow has tossed five scoreless frames, with seven whiffs and 3 walks. Meanwhile, Chris Jakubauskas (who most baseball fans wouldn’t know from Chewbacca) was torched for 10 hits and 6 runs in 3.1 frames last night in a starting role.

Brian Fuentes, Angels: Fuentes is off to a false start in LA, with a -0.45 WPA and decreased fastball velocity. Just 42.9% of his pitches thrown have crossed the plate.

Frank Francisco, Rangers: Francisco has shot out of the gate dealing, with a 7/1 K/BB ratio and nary a run allowed in 7 innings. It’s extremely early, but Francisco ranks 2nd among all closers in WPA, at +0.84.

Watch Your Back

B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays: the pain continues for Ryan, who coughed up a long ball to Texas’ Michael Young last evening. His tally for the year: 5.2 IP, 8 runs and a 4/5 K/BB ratio.

George Sherrill, Orioles: Chris Ray hasn’t lit the world on fire either, but Sherrill has given up 8 hits and 3 runs in 5.1 innings. Ultimately, he’s a good middle man miscast in a late-inning role: CHONE projects a FIP in the range of four.

Troy Percival, Rays: Percival is another guy who holds the closer’s role due mostly to its more predictable usage patterns, and putting him there opens up Joe Maddon’s ability to deploy J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour and Dan Wheeler whenever he so chooses. Case in point: Percival has chucked just 3.2 innings so far. Howell has 7, Balfour 4.1 and Wheeler 5.2.

Fernando Rodney, Tigers: Rodney needs only to peer over his shoulder at Ryan Perry or check a Toledo Mud Hens box score for “Zumaya” to know that his job security ain’t the greatest. To his credit, Rodney has gotten ahead 0-1 or induced early contact often so far, with a first-pitch strike percentage of 77.3 (57.8% major league average).