Masa Kobayashi

Kobayashi of the Indians picked up his second save in as many games last night. This Japanese import was a pick of mine to pick up the closer duties after the loss of Borowski to injury but instead Betancourt was put into the closer role.

For owners who picked up Kobayashi congrats, just a little late. Now, for owners who need saves go out to the wire and see if you can pick this guy up because it seems he will be coming into the 9th to close out games. Combine Kobayashi with Scotty Downs of the Blue Jays and you can start to climb back into the saves category race.

Scotty Downs

Scotty Downs of the Blue Jays just recorded his 5th save of the season. With BJ Ryan coming back from Tommy John Surgery and not pitching on back to back nights, Downs has come out and pitched extremely well for the Jays. With 5 saves and an ERA of 2.60 he is the closer for the Jays when Ryan can't pitch. For owners who are seeking some help in the closer position, picking up Downs is a must. Expect Downs to grab 5-10 more saves this season while helping with the other pitching categories. With 18K's in 18.1 innings of work, he's a nice addition to your roster.

Fuentes

Brian Fuentes recorded his second save of the season against the San Francisco Giants last night. Corpas owners who didn't grab Fuentes should be kicking themselves. Saves in any fantasy league is absolutely cutthroat. Expect Fuentes to continue as the closer unless he has problems, like his 2 week stretch in 2007 which cost him his closer role.

Fantasy Advice...saves and SB's are always the hardest to find in all fantasy leagues so make sure to draft SB's and saves plus watch the wire for injuries and the performance of current closers. Adding someone like Fuentes to your team from the waiver wire can make or break a fantasy championship.

Chad Cordero

Chad Cordero of the Nationals has pitched in 5 games so far and has collected ZERO saves. Owners should not be worried because he is coming back from injury and the team is working him back slowly.

BUT, you might be able to grab him from another team if the owner is a little worried about his health and his zero saves so far this season. Try to make him an offer to see if you can grab Cordero for a below market level price for this guy. Buy low and reap the benefits.

Saito

Takashi Saito of the Dodgers blew his second save of the season against the Rockies and coincidentally it was for Kuroda. Kuroda would have two more wins to his record if Saito, his fellow countryman from Japan, was able to hold a 9th inning lead.

Owners, don't be too worried right now but Saito seems like he has some holes in his pitching after two amazing seasons in 2006 and 2007 with 24 and 39 saves respectively. As always, J. Broxton who is the Dodgers set-up man is the closer in waiting so everyone should have him on their rosters, just in case there is a change of closers.

Jon Rauch

J. Rauch of the Nationals just pitched a scoreless 9th and picked up the Save against the Marlins. As I said before, Rauch is needed on ALL rosters. If you are in need of saves, take a look at the wire. You'll most likely be late since this isn't a real rumour.

DL Time

E. Bedard of the Mariners is officially on the 15Day-DL, retroactive to April 9th. So far Bedard has been reported as saying he's not even sure when he'll be back on the mound. This is a big blow for owners who drafted him early in drafts but with a player of this calibre, you have no choice but to keep him on your bench or hopefully in a DL spot, if it is free. Again, this proves the point on why you should never draft pitching early in a draft. Pitchers will always come up during the season.

J. Borowski of the Indians is on the 15Day-DL with a strained tricep. Borowski was suffering from low velocity on his pitches and here is the reason why. Owners who read my previous post should have picked up Kobayashi and now I will also include the name of R. Betancourt for the job. Both are candidates for the closer position. I believe Kobayashi will get the nod because he is pitching well and has proven, in Japan, he can close out games an grab a save.

Saito/Broxton

The rock solid closer, Takashi Saito of the Dodgers, blew a save by allowing 3ER's against the Pirates. As with every year, Saito has a strong and almost comparable set-up man waiting for Saito to falter. J. Broxton is throwing smoke this season, 12K's in 6.1 innings, and is ready to take the closer role permanently.

Owners of Saito should grab Broxton, if they haven't already, just in case there is a change in closers. At this point in time, one blown save amounts to nothing especially with the record and history Saito has over the past 3 years. Even if there is no change in closers Broxton is a great pitcher to have on your team to lower your ERA/WHIP and provide a nice boost in K's. Owners, shouldn't panic but adding Broxton is something you should do but with Broxton's stats, he'll most likely be on someone else's roster.

Indians Closer Situation

Joe Borowski of the Indians and his great way of ending games might be closing for a AAA team in the near future. Okay, he won't be sent to the minors but he'll be pitching in the 6th/7th/8th, while closer in waiting, Masa Kobayashi, takes over his job.

Borowski blew another save last night, allowing 3ER's against the Red Sox. Owners who drafted Borowski drafted him knowing he was going to have a high ERA and plenty of save opportunities. His time might be coming to a close (no pun intended).

ADVICE - Owners should go out and grab Kobayashi off the waiver wire ASAP!! It is imperative you go out and grab the next closer for the Indians just in case there is a change of scenery for Borowski.

BJ Ryan

BJ Ryan of the Blue Jays is officially back from Tommy John Surgery and collected his first save of the season. Owners of Ryan should take some caution with this and maintain Accardo as a back-up just in case something happens with Ryan. Also, since the Blue Jays want to take care of Ryan's arm you will find the Jays holding Ryan back from back-to-back days of pitching. Ryan is coming back early from surgery and you never know how this will pan out in the future especially since he has an erratic pitching style that puts more than usual amount of pressure on the arm.

Owning both Accardo and Ryan should be a good hedge.

Closers

H. Street of the A's had a 4 out save with 1K. Owners, just hope he has turned the corner from a poor start to the season. Street has value and should be kept in your line up.

Brad Lidge of the Phillies recorded save and finished a nicely pitched game from teammate B. Myers. Remember when Lidge was on the DL and how crap Gordon was pitching? Well, no more Gordon and hopefully more of Lidge. Owners...Lidge is a good closer but seems to have periods of inconsistency. Keep him in your lineup though.

B. Wagner of the Mets recorded his first save of the season by pitching a perfect 9th. Owners should be happy with Wagner and there isn't much to say about him except he is one of the elite closers in the bigs.

Moylan of the Braves recorded the save and might be the newly crowned closer after Soriano was placed on the DL. As I said in a previous post, make sure to pick up Moylan and Boyer top hedge your risk.

CJ Wilson

This closer from the Rangers deserves his own post. In a double-header he recorded both saves! Owners should love this, having a guy grab two saves in one day and only having to use one roster spot. Sweet.

Closer

Accardo of the Blue Jays blew a save allowing 4ER's with 0.1IP. Ouch. Owners, don't worry. He's fine for now. A blown save here and there is no biggey.

Street of the A's had a nice save and no ER's, yay (sarcasm)!

Wood of the Cubs...Blown save. Short and I mean short leash!

Gagne

Blew another save. With 10 blown saves in his ENTIRE career, he already has 3 this year. Not looking so bright for him. He's on one of my teams and he's on a short leash.

Closers

Brad Lidge owners should be happy because he's back!! Lidge of the Phillies recorded his first save of the season but didn't do it without having some intense moments. Lidge walked 2 and let up a run, unearned though. Lidge had some nice numbers last year in the second half of the season. His job is safe as the Phillies closer unless he unravels.

G Sherrill of the Orioles recorded 4 saves for his entire tenure with the Mariners, 128.1IP but just recorded his 4th save on Monday. So far Sherrill is doing just fine in the closer role. People who drafted him late should be laughing at others because you just found a nice bargain. Owners shouldn't be count on Sherrill to do this for the entire season since he doesn't have the history of closing games.

F. Rodriguez of the Angels is suffering from a sore right ankle, the one he uses to push off when pitching. The word coming from the Angels is the injury isn't hampering his performance but it doesn't seem like it. Looking at his numbers and owners should be worried. The latest from Angels website is F-Rod will most likely go on the DL. Look to Scot Shields to take save opportunities, this is a must pickup for all owners of F-Rod.

Notable Pitchers

Broxton of the Dodgers is still bringing the heat. He will give you a nice boost in K's, WHIP, ERA, and the occasional win and on the rare occasion a save. Too bad Saito is still pitching extremely well. But never keep Broxton far from your roster. Saito is old and well, closers can change in a week.

Trevor Hoffman of the Padres had 1ER in his last appearance which gave him his 2 loss of the season. Like I said, owners shouldn't worry just yet but this is not a good sign.

Lyon of the Diamondbacks blew a save but ended up with the W. If he continues to blow saves in the next two weeks, start looking Pena, he should take the saves if Lyon is incapable of holding a 9th inning lead.

Fuentes of the Rockies held the closers role last year until he lost it due to poor performance. But this year he's tearing things up with a stat line of 3IP, 2K, 0ERA, and a 1.33WHIP. I would grab Fuentes and stash him away since Corpas just blew a save.

Wang of the Yankees just had a second great outing of the year with a stat line of 6IP, 4H, 0ER, and an amazing/uncharacteristically striking out 6 batters!! Through his major league career Wang hasn't been high in the K department so don't expect this to continue. But this is a great pitcher for wins since he pitches for the stacked lineup of the Yankees.

Ben Sheets of the Brewers had an incredible outing with a 5 hit complete game shutout with 8K's. Sheets is a must own for all fantasy owners but just like Harden of the A's he's prone to injury. Owners, just hope this is the season where he stays healthy.

Erik Bedard of the Mariners is expected to pitch on Tuesday after skipping his start over the weekend with a sore hip.

Blown Saves

Trevor Hoffman of the Padres blew a save (0.2IP, 4ER) but I do expect him to bounce back. With his reputation in the ninth, owners shouldn't panic.

Brandon Lyon of the Diamondbacks blew a save (3ER, 1HR 0IP) and unlike Hoffman, this should be looked at cautiously. Owners should keep him in the lineup but if he continues you might need to look for another closer on the Diamondbacks.

Putz

Blown save by Mariners closer JJ Putz. Nothing to jump over at the moment but as always with closers, keep an eye out on this situation.

Note pt. 2

Kerry Wood - 1IP, 2H, 3ER, 1BB (intentional), 1K. After being named the closer by coach Pinella, Wood comes out in his first appearance and throws this stat line at Lou. With Marmol and Howry working in save opportunities in 2007 keep an eye out for this closer battle. To give credit to Wood, the closer role is still his but he better change his first day stat line, fast! Wood owners shouldn't worry just yet.

Tom Gordon - 0.1IP, 4H, 5ER, 1BB. When is Lidge coming back?

Barry Zito - Absolutely disgusting!! $126Million for this? (5IP, 8H, 4ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR) Only thing that overshadows this is his "smooth" fastball topping out at 84MPH. UGLY!! Zito owners, why was he even drafted?

Victor Martinez - Day-to-day with a hamstring injury. Not a great injury for a catcher to have. Also, being a top 5 catcher in a position that is shallow in fantasy eyes V-Mart owners should be a tad worried.

Pat Neshek - 1IP, 1H, 3K. Nice stat line for a RP in any league. Gives the nice boost in ERA, WHIP, K's, and of course the occasional save or vulture win.

First Day Notes

The first day of full action is finally finished.

Eric Gagne - He blew his first save opportunity (1IP, 3ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR) but luckily he was on the right end of the stick and came out with a vulture win. Keep an eye on this situation in case this is the start of more blown saves. If you have space, grab Turnbow who might become the new Brewers closer.

Albert Pujols - Does this silence some of his critics? Big Albert hit a HR in his opener, which ended up being deleted due to rain, but shows us the upside he holds especially when he was drafted in the late first round and even into the early second.

Kosuke Fukudome - Had a great day at the plate for his first game in the big leagues (3Hits, 1HR, 3RBI, 1BB). Don't expect him to give huge power numbers but what was a nice sign was his attempt at stealing. He was thrown out but it does show that he will run. Add 15-20SB's this season while hitting 20+HR's. Would you like that on your team?

Erik Bedard - Allowing a HR in the first inning didn't seem like his spring numbers were just that, spring numbers. But after the HR he settled down and finished with 5IP, 3H, 4BB, 5K, 1HR. This was a positive step after a terrible spring.

Chris Young (OF) - Hit a HR in his first game. Taking a quick look at his 2007 stats (32HR in 569AB) shows he has power. But along with the power he has 141K's, 43BB's, and a disgusting .237AVG. Only if he could lower his K's and up his BB's because when he does find the bases he steals, evident by his 27SB's. Young might grow into a mold like Adam Dunn. Not a bad person to have on your fantasy team except for the fact you have to balance the low average with a very high average player like an Ichiro.

Alex Gordon - The highly touted 2007 rookie started his 2008 campaign with a HR and 2RBI's. After starting extremely cold last year fantasy owners hope he can bring the second half of 2007 into this year.