Who Might Replace Brian Wilson?

I wasn’t the only one surprised to see Sergio Romo trot out of the Giants’ bullpen to start the ninth inning with a three run lead last night, some of the beat writers on Twitter were wondering what happened to closer to Brian Wilson as well. Romo recorded two quick outs before giving up a double to Melvin Mora, then was replaced by Jeremy Affeldt who got the lefty swinging Seth Smith to ground out to end the game and earn the save.

After the game we found out that Wilson is dealing with a groin strain, but like most pro athletes he doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal. His prognosis is still uncertain, but fantasy owners have to prepare for his time away. Romo and Affeldt are the obvious candidates to fill in, so let’s compare…

Romo: 1.54 ERA, 2.85 xFIP, 3.64 career xFIP, 1.70 gmLI
Affeldt: 3.00 ERA, 5.00 xFIP, 4.30 career xFIP, 1.75 gmLI

Just looking at those numbers, it’s clear Romo deserves to fill in for Wilson for however long that may be. Of course, common sense doesn’t always win out, and Affeldt has a distinct advantage in the Proven Veteran™ and bigger salary categories. Those aren’t the best things to base decisions off of, but we have to acknowledge that it happens.

Of course, Romo would have had the save last night if not for the double by Mora, but Bruce Bochy went right to Affeldt to face the lefty. Because of that, I’m tempted to say that Bochy will just roll with the matchups for now. In deeper leagues I would grab Romo because he’ll do more for your WHIP and K categories, and if it is going to be a matchup situation, the saves are going to completely unpredictable anyway.