The Closer Report: National League Edition

Earlier this week we opened our 2010 Closer Report series with a look at the American League closers. Today, we’re looking at the National League.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (#3 in MLB)
The Man: Jonathan Broxton
The Pitch: 97 mph fastball (1.45 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Broxton enters his second full season as the Dodgers’ closer and he could be primed for a 40-save season. He’s almost impossible to hit (44 hits in 76.0 innings, 13.50 K/9). Sherrill is a pretty good short-term insurance policy, but not long-term.

The Back-up(s): George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso
The Future: Josh Lindblom, Kenley Jansen

2. San Francisco Giants (#5 in MLB)
The Man: Brian Wilson
The Pitch: 96 mph fastball (1.64 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Wilson has 79 saves over the past two seasons and showed significant improvement from ’08 to ’09, which is very encouraging. Along with 35+ saves, he should produce a 10.00+ strikeout rate (K/9) in 2010.

The Back-up(s): Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo
The Future: Waldis Joaquin, Dan Runzler

3. San Diego Padres (#6 in MLB)
The Man: Heath Bell
The Pitch: 94 mph fastball (1.72 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Bell has been a quality reliever for the Padres but he could be on the move by the trade deadline if a desperate club matches the organization’s demands. Another 40-save season could be in order.

The Back-up(s): Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams
The Future: Unclear

4. New York Mets (#7 in MLB)
The Man: Francisco Rodriguez
The Pitch: Change-up (3.44 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Recovering from pink eye
The Comments: Rodriguez has pretty much remade his approach over the past two seasons by ditching his slider and focusing on his curveball and change-up as his secondary pitches. The change-up has developed into a real weapon for him. Keep an eye on him, though, as his numbers are starting to erode (5.03 BB/9, lowest K/9 of his career).

The Back-up(s): Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green
The Future: Unclear

5. Chicago Cubs (#9 in MLB)
The Man: Carlos Marmol
The Pitch: Slider (1.12 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: With the inconsistent Kevin Gregg now in Toronto, the closer’s gig in Chicago belongs solely to Marmol. If he can find the plate (7.91 BB/9 in ’09), Marmol could be an impact closer, as he’s been almost impossible to hit over the past two seasons (83 hits in 161.1 innings).

The Back-up(s): John Grabow, Jeff Samardzija
The Future: Esmailin Caridad, Marcos Mateo

6. Cincinnati Reds (#10 in MLB)
The Man: Francisco Cordero
The Pitch: 95 mph fastball (1.17 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Cordero has tallied 34+ saves in five of the past six seasons, and a total of 117 over the past three years. On the downside, his strikeout rate has dropped from 12.22 to 9.98 to 7.83 K/9.

The Back-up(s): Arthur Rhodes, Nick Masset
The Future: Brad Boxberger

7. Colorado Rockies (#13 in MLB)
The Man: Huston Street
The Pitch: Slider (4.46 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Injured (Shoulder, 2-4 weeks)
The Comments: Street rediscovered his closer’s touch in ’09 with the Rockies and blew just two saves in 37 opportunities. He also showed improved control and posted a 10.22 K/9 rate. His fly-ball tendencies are mildly concerning, as is the shoulder discomfort, which should keep him out for at least half of April.

The Back-up(s): Franklin Morales, Manny Corpas
The Future: Franklin Morales, Rex Brothers

8. Milwaukee Brewers (#15 in MLB)
The Man: Trevor Hoffman
The Pitch: Change-up (3.95 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy (but old)
The Comments: The 42-year-old vet had a huge bounce-back season in ’09 with 37 saves in 41 opportunities. He should break 600 career saves by the middle or end of May.

The Back-up(s): Todd Coffey, LaTroy Hawkins
The Future: Zach Braddock

9. Atlanta Braves (#18 in MLB)
The Man: Billy Wagner
The Pitch: Slider (3.72 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Upper-respiratory illness
The Comments: Wagner, 38, is nearing the end of a great career. He’s pitched in just 62 games over the past two seasons so you have to be worried about his durability.

The Back-up(s): Takashi Saito, Pete Moylan
The Future: Craig Kimbrel

10. St. Louis Cardinals (#20 in MLB)
The Man: Ryan Franklin
The Pitch: Cutter (2.04 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Franklin was a real good story in ’09 by saving 38 games in 43 tries for the Cardinals – He entered the season with just 18 career saves. Be wary of the 37-year-old hurler, who is likely to be over-valued on draft day.

The Back-up(s): Jason Motte
The Future: Jason Motte, Eduardo Sanchez

11. Arizona Diamondbacks (#22 in MLB)
The Man: Chad Qualls
The Pitch: 93 mph fastball (0.55 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy, but coming off knee surgery
The Comments: The 31-year-old Qualls saved 24 games in ’09 – the first time he’s reached double-digits in saves in his career. He’s by no means an over-powering reliever, but the team should hand him a large number of opportunities.

The Back-up(s): Bob Howry, Juan Gutierrez
The Future: Traded away (Daniel Schlereth)

12. Pittsburgh Pirates (#23 in MLB)
The Man: Octavio Dotel
The Pitch: Slider (1.44 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Minor oblique injury
The Comments: Dotel has closing experience, but he’s coming off a season with the White Sox in which he recorded zero saves. Despite that, he’s posted a K/9 rate of 10.83 or better in each of the past three seasons. He’s injury-prone and not getting any younger (36).

The Back-up(s): Joel Hanrahan, Brendan Donnelly
The Future: Unclear

13. Florida Marlins (#24 in MLB)
The Man: Leo Nunez
The Pitch: Slider (1.55 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Nunez is the club’s undisputed closer simply because the organization has no one better. The right-hander saved 26 games last year but blew seven saves and he’s been pretty bad this spring.

The Back-up(s): Dan Meyer, Taylor Tankersley
The Future: Ryan Tucker

14. Washington Nationals (#25 in MLB)
The Man: Matt Capps
The Pitch: 93 mph fastball (-0.63 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Capps is coming off of back-to-back 20+ save seasons with Pittsburgh but his fastball value has been on a steady decline from 2.22 to 1.73 to -0.63 wFB/C. His secondary pitches were also inconsistent in ’09 and Capps has not performed well this spring.

The Back-up(s): Brian Bruney, Jason Bergmann
The Future: Drew Storen

15. Philadelphia Phillies (#26 in MLB)
The Man: Brad Lidge
The Pitch: 95 mph fastball (1.07 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Knee/Elbow injuries (Out 2-4 weeks)
The Comments: Lidge is likely to miss the first part of April while recovering from off-season surgeries. Considering how toxic he was last season, Lidge could permanently lose his job to Ryan Madson if the youngster can establish himself early on.

The Back-up(s): Ryan Madson, Danys Baez
The Future: Ryan Madson, Scott Mathieson

16. Houston Astros (#28 in MLB)
The Man: Matt Lindstrom
The Pitch: 96 mph fastball (-0.80 runs above average per 100 pitches)
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: For a team that spent as much money this past off-season on the bullpen, the Astros organization is in pretty poor shape (which speaks volumes). Lindstrom failed miserably as the Marlins’ closer in ’09 but he was battling injuries so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt… for now.

The Back-up(s): Brandon Lyon, Sammy Gervacio
The Future: Sammy Gervacio, Chia-Jen Lo