5/7/2008

AL Roundup: Junior League's Closers Burning Bright

Who's Glowing and Who's Fading in AL Bullpens

With the season creeping up on its sixth week, who are the closers worth their contracts, and who are near collapse? The AL might not be as crazy as the NL this season, but there are still a few closer situations in flux.

George 'Tiny' Sherrill has found a warm welcome in his new role as closer of the Baltimore Orioles.

Unlike the National League's chaos, American League bullpens have been relatively calm seas so far in 2008, with only a few surprises.

The top names on the AL closer board as May warms up are surprises, for example. As could have been predicted, Angels uber-closer Francisco 'K-Rod' Rodriguez has been lights-out in Anaheim, and with free agency ahead of him, there's no reason to think he won't stay in high gear all season long. Right behind him in effectiveness, not to mention trade-worthiness, is Minnesota's Joe Nathan, who's sporting a microscopic 0.69 ERA after 13 appearances.

The next-best closer in the AL so far this year, though, is more surprising. Lefthander George Sherrill, acquired by the Baltimore Orioles as part of the trade that sent Erik Bedard to Seattle, has been near perfect, with 11 saves and only one failed attempt on the season. Those who noticed that he was baseball's best setup lefty last year might have seen this coming, but for most fans, it's a shocker. Expect Sherrill to slide a bit in the weeks to come, but remain one of the AL's most reliable arms.

A safer bet to dominate as the summer heats up is Boston's crazy man, as Papelbon keeps being Papelbon to the tune of 10 saves already this season. He won't maintain that pace, not the way the Red Sox are committed to saving him from overuse, but he should end the year with one of the best bullpen ERAs and K rates in the business, which is fine enough for us. Another closer who hasn't yet lived up to his reputation, despite looking just fine, is Oakland's Huston Street. Street's adequate work so far this year has been hard to see in the ridiculous glow of his setup man, Santiago Casilla, who's carrying around a ridiculous 21:3 strikeout to walk ratio without yet giving up a run.

The old men of the league, the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, Tampa's Troy Percival and Detroit's Todd Jones, have been quietly toiling with good, if unflashy, success, and remain the anchors of their respective bullpens.

Toiling away in even more obscurity, Joakim Soria of the Royals, who still gets no respect despite being one of the AL's best last season, is quietly putting together a very very good season. He's already notched 8 saves without giving up even a single earned run.

Two closers who have been satisfactory so far, but no better, are Chicago's Bobby Jenks and Texas' CJ Wilson. Jenks has been hit harder than White Sox fans would like, while health and clubhouse rumors have been swirling around Wilson, who could benefit from lighter use in a lefty-only role in order to prevent injury.

While injuries have ravaged the NL, the AL has remained pretty healthy, with only a few teams needing to pull out Plan B. The Indians (Rafael Betencourt in, Joe Borowski out) and Blue Jays (Jeremy Accardo in, out, in, and out in favor of BJ Ryan) are the only two teams that have needed to adjust to significant injuries. Ryan is the man long-term in Toronto, despite Accardo's powerful stuff, while Borowski is destined to re-replace Betencourt, even though Betencourt has been the better pitcher for many years now. Japanese closer Masahide Kobayashi has been good in a setup role, but there are no plans to move him to closer any time soon.