The NL Closer Report

by
April 5, 2010

There hasn’t been much movement amongst the closers since we took a look last week, but here is a quick look at how the closers for each National League club match up during Week 1 of the MLB 2010 season.

The Top Tier

Jonathan Broxton | Los Angeles Dodgers
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Broxton could be in line to carve up some saves as the club lines up against Pittsburgh and Florida for the first week of the season. On the down side, the club may score too many runs – especially against the lowly Pirates.

Heath Bell | San Diego Padres
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Well, he’s still in San Diego. The club will open the year on the road and the offense could be flowing with trips to Arizona and Colorado so save opportunities may be hard to come by for Bell.

The Middle Tier

Brian Wilson | San Francisco Giants
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The Giants club will face the Astros (in Houston) and Braves (in San Francisco) during the first week of the season. The club matches up well against Houston and should be able to take at least two wins. It will be a tougher series against Atlanta, but that could also make for some close games.

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Francisco Rodriguez | New York Mets
The Health Report: Recovered from pink eye
The Comments: It would be understandable if Rodriguez’ head was somewhere else this week after two of his brothers were seriously injured in an automobile accident. Series against the Marlins and Nationals could result in a number of save opportunities.

Carlos Marmol | Chicago Cubs
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The team will be in tough in Atlanta and will face three solid pitchers. The Cubs will then go to Cincinnati. Marmol had a rough spring and is probably on a short leash, but he has some dominating stuff when he can command it.

Francisco Cordero | Cincinnati Reds
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The Reds club will begin the year at home against both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Clearly, it will be a challenging first week. Cordero did not allow an earned run in spring training, so he looks to open the season strong.

The Third Tier

Trevor Hoffman | Milwaukee Brewers
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The Brewers gave Hoffman a late start to spring training and the oldest closer in the game did not look sharp. The club opens the year at home against the Rockies and the Cardinals so there could a lot of offense.

Billy Wagner | Atlanta Braves
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The Braves open the year at home against the Cubs and then head out of the road to San Francisco. The first series should features some close games, which could give Wagner a couple of saves opportunities.

Ryan Franklin | St. Louis Cardinals
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The club will be on the road in Cincinnati and Milwaukee and match up well against the two clubs so Franklin should get some early opportunities to prove ’09 was not a fluke.

Chad Qualls | Arizona Diamondbacks
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: Qualls looks to be recovered from knee surgery. The club will host the Padres and the Pirates so the Diamondbacks certainly have a chance to win some games in the first week, which should provide Qualls with some save opportunities.

Octavio Dotel | Pittsburgh Pirates
The Health Report: Returning from oblique injury
The Comments: The club will be in tough at home against Los Angeles and then on the road in Arizona. Dotel is not the most reliable closer in the game.

Leo Nunez | Florida Marlins
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The club will head to New York for the opening series before returning home to face the Dodgers.

Matt Capps | Washington Nationals
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: It will be a tough opening series against the Philadelphia Phillies but things will then get a little easier against the Mets. I don’t foresee a ton of save opportunities in the first week for Capps.

Matt Lindstrom | Houston Astros
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The Astros will be in even tougher than the Nationals, as the club is set to face both San Francisco and Philadelphia during the opening week of the season. On the plus side, all six games will be in Houston.

The Fill-Ins

Ryan Madson | Philadelphia Phillies
The Health Report:
The Comments: With Brad Lidge out, Madson will be the go-to guy early on in the season. The youngster could be in line for some save opportunities in the first week of the season with the club matching up well against the Nationals and the Astros.

Franklin Morales | Colorado Rockies
The Health Report: Healthy
The Comments: The club will be on the road against Milwaukee before returning home to face San Diego on the weekend. Morales is in line for saves with Huston Street on the DL, but the youngster had a bumpy spring.





 

Marc Hulet has been writing at FanGraphs since 2008. His work focuses on prospects and fantasy. Follow him on Twitter @marchulet.

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jirish
15 years ago

Billy Wagner is decidedly not a “third tier” closer. He has been one of the best relief pitchers of all time, and he’s shown no ill effects since returning from TJ. In fact he’s already got a perfect inning under his belt.

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