The changing parabola that is the saves game is taking over the first “S” in this weeks post. Steaks are boring, throw rocks at them. The “saver stitch” has changed in several different destinations, and the funny thing is, I just wrote about closing situations two-and-half-days ago. Strange days indeed, my friends. The closer in the Desert, the Beantown, and now, the City of Angels, is possibly up for grabs. Check the bottom for the first two, as I would like to concentrate on Huston Street. He pulled up lame on Sunday and with the All-Star break here, we will anxiously await his massive 5.7 K/9 rate. The rumor mill was already circling for Street to be a trade candidate in a few weeks, now the possible injury puts a dent in the already dented can. The adds for the Angels are a yuck Joe Smith, who if possible, has been equally as bad as Street. My speculative pick if Street is more injured than it appears is Deolis Guerra for a bit, before seeing what Cam Bedrosian has. Baby Bedrock was a tout of mine a few months back and stumbled. Guess what? He is back, but no one cares because the Angels are bad and not anything or anyone watches except the cast of Angels in the Outfield. So those looking for a speculative add for the boring non-three days of fantasy, check the stacks of Angels and be ahead of the curve, instead of having trouble with it.
Jose Peraza – Was earning and burning some playing time with the Reds, now that Brandon Phillips has a fracture in his hand that could see an upswoon in his AB’s. Has two in the past week in only 11 plate appearances. Previous problem was timing, his appearances in the line-up, but now all of that looks to be changing a bit.
Travis Jankowski – Another week, another 3 SB’s. I don’t see it stopping as he gets on base at a healthy .364 clip. Other stats may be empty, but don’t blame him, he can’t hit himself in from second.
Nick Franklin – Since being promoted, he has practically played every game for the last two weeks. He can play all over the field, which helps him as a more waiver wire add than, say, Jankowski. His legs will never be his biggest tool for you, but he did steal 8 in the minors before getting recalled. If his .380-plus OBP is there by next week, he will be on 16-team radars and start to get more love down the pipe.
Koji Uehara – With Kimbrel now dinged ’til August, the Sawx acquired Brad Ziegler from the desert. This muddles the situation in Boston more than does it in Arizona. In Boston, it’s Ziegler, than Uehara for saves. Koji got two cheapies while B-rad was still getting his chowda on from the Quincy Mahket.
Tyler Clippard – Is the veterans preference for the Snakes? The manager is on record saying it’s a sharing-type situation. I was calling for a Hudson takeover a month ago, and he has hit some rough patches. Confidence comes from having a high pressure job. Clippard gets 60% of the save chances and Huddy will get the other 40%.
Ryan Dull – Got the “our loser has sucked and we need to see if he can do it save” on Saturday. Madson has been spotty at best the past few outings. A change isn’t coming tomorrow, but tomorrow may be another disaster for Madson. Dull should be added anyways because of the ratio help, but just in case people are on snooze control go grab him… he might like it.
