Scouting Pitchers: Radar Love - Closer Edition

Scouting Pitchers: Radar Love - Closer Edition

This article is part of our Scouting Pitchers series.

American League

Baltimore: This situation is a work in progress. David Hernandez recorded the save on June 10, and was at 94-97. Will Ohmana is listed on the Orioles' site as their closer, and he set up Hernandez on the 10th by dealing at 90-92.

Boston:Jonathan Papelbon: 91-97 against the Phillies on June 12. Closer-in-waiting Daniel Bard was at 97-100 while filling in for Papelbon in Cleveland on June 10.

Chicago White Sox:Bobby Jenks: 92-94 in closing out the Cubs at Wrigley on June 12.

Cleveland:Kerry Wood: 94-97 against Boston on June 10.

Detroit:Jose Valverde has been nasty this year, allowing hitters a .107 average. He was at 95-96 against the Pirates on June 12, and was throwing 85-86 mph splitters for strikes. A trip to the All-Star game is right around the corner.

Kansas City:Joakim Soria: 90-92 in Cincinnati on June 11. I suppose Soria or Billy Butler will be the Royals' representative in Anaheim on July 13.

LA Angels:Brian Fuentes: 88-90 in Dodger Stadium on June 12.

Minnesota:Jon Rauch was at 92-93 as he shut the door on the Braves on June 11. Rauch struck out the side: Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones, and Troy Glaus.

NY Yankees:Mariano Rivera: 90-93 against the Astros on June 11. Batters are hitting .127 off Rivera.

Oakland:Andrew Bailey: 91-95 against the Angels on June 10.

Seattle: The Padres walked off on David Aardsma

American League

Baltimore: This situation is a work in progress. David Hernandez recorded the save on June 10, and was at 94-97. Will Ohmana is listed on the Orioles' site as their closer, and he set up Hernandez on the 10th by dealing at 90-92.

Boston:Jonathan Papelbon: 91-97 against the Phillies on June 12. Closer-in-waiting Daniel Bard was at 97-100 while filling in for Papelbon in Cleveland on June 10.

Chicago White Sox:Bobby Jenks: 92-94 in closing out the Cubs at Wrigley on June 12.

Cleveland:Kerry Wood: 94-97 against Boston on June 10.

Detroit:Jose Valverde has been nasty this year, allowing hitters a .107 average. He was at 95-96 against the Pirates on June 12, and was throwing 85-86 mph splitters for strikes. A trip to the All-Star game is right around the corner.

Kansas City:Joakim Soria: 90-92 in Cincinnati on June 11. I suppose Soria or Billy Butler will be the Royals' representative in Anaheim on July 13.

LA Angels:Brian Fuentes: 88-90 in Dodger Stadium on June 12.

Minnesota:Jon Rauch was at 92-93 as he shut the door on the Braves on June 11. Rauch struck out the side: Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones, and Troy Glaus.

NY Yankees:Mariano Rivera: 90-93 against the Astros on June 11. Batters are hitting .127 off Rivera.

Oakland:Andrew Bailey: 91-95 against the Angels on June 10.

Seattle: The Padres walked off on David Aardsma on June 11. He was at his customary 94-96 when Adrian Gonzalez reached him for a crucial double.

Tampa Bay: Another All-Star representative, Rafael Soriano was at 92-96 when closing out the Marlins on June 12.

Texas:Neftali Feliz was a little wild at 93-99 in Milwaukee on June 12. Chris Ray came in and saved the game while tossing 93-95.

Toronto: The roller-coaster named Kevin Gregg was clocked taking its terrified passengers at 90-93 mph in Tampa Bay on June 10.

National League

Arizona: How long can the Diamondbacks go with Chad Qualls? His ERA is now 7.77 after he took the loss on June 10 against the Braves. In his defense, Qualls is generally throwing strikes at 93-94, and is keeping the ball on the ground (2.91 G/F).

Atlanta:Billy Wagner: 92-96 in Minnesota on June 12. It will be nice to see him have a seventh All-Star appearance in his last season.

Chicago Cubs: Another likely All-Star, Carlos Marmol has held hitters to a .146 average and is on pace to strike out 138 batters. The NL record is 157, set by Brad Lidge in 2004. Marmol was at 93-95 against the White Sox on June 12.

Cincinnati:Francisco Cordero: 92-95 against the Royals on June 11.

Colorado:Manuel Corpas: 90-93 against the Blue Jays on June 12. Huston Street will be activated in about a week. If healthy and effective, best guesses are that Street will resume closer duties around the All-Star break.

Florida:Leo Nunez: 93-95 in Tampa Bay on June 13.

Houston:Matt Lindstrom: 96-97 against the Cubs on June 6.

LA Dodgers:Jonathan Broxton was at 93-96 against the Cardinals on June 9. He'll make the trip down the freeway to Anaheim on July 13. Broxton has been very efficient this year, using just 15.2 P/IP. That bodes very well for his ability to maintain his stuff into the fall.

Milwaukee:John Axford throws 93-96, but he has one of the worst deliveries I've ever seen. I'm not surprised he had Tommy John surgery. Don't count on him for anything. I'd say Carlos Villanueva, who throws 90-91, will settle into the closer role for the rest of 2010.

New York:Francisco Rodriguez is down to 90-92, but he still closed out Baltimore on June 12.

Philadelphia:Brad Lidge was at 93-94 in Boston on June 13.

Pittsburgh:Octavio Dotel was at 92-94 in Detroit on June 13 as he served up a game-winning homer to Miguel Cabrera.

St. Louis:Ryan Franklin: 90-92 in Arizona on June 11.

San Diego:Heath Bell: 93-95 in New York on June 10.

San Francisco:Brian Wilson was grooving at 94-97 against the A's on June 12.

Washington:Matt Capps: 94-96 on June 9 against his old team, Pittsburgh.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Benkard
James Benkard writes about fantasy sports for RotoWire
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