Yesterday White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen announced that Matt Thornton will no longer get the lion’s share of save opportunities. The move is not surprising as Thornton has blown all three of his save opportunities, although it’s not entirely his fault since his fielders haven’t done him any favors.
Guillen did not remove Thornton from the closer’s role completely, as he likely didn’t want to shatter the left-hander’s confidence, but it sounds like Chicago will be implementing the dreaded closer-by-committee approach.
In addition to Thornton, Chris Sale and Sergio Santos will be in the mix for saves. Both pitched two scoreless innings last night and had multiple strikeouts. But judging from their usage patterns, it seems as if Sale may be the head of the committee. He pitched the ninth and tenth innings last night—picking up the win in the process—while Santos came in and pitched the seventh and eighth innings. Sale also picked up the White Sox only save of the season on April 9 while Santos got the hold.
I expect Sale to get the next save opportunity but Santos is worth a speculative add as well. Even if he doesn’t get any save opportunities he has yet to give up a run on the season and he has a K/9 of 10.57. As for Thornton, I wouldn’t drop him just yet, unless you’re in a really shallow league.
Other Closer Notes:
- Ryan Franklin has blown three saves in four opportunities but Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is sticking with him, mainly due to a lack of other options. La Russa doesn’t believe Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs are ready for closing duties and he believes that Franklin is still the best option in the bullpen. While Franklin’s struggles are frustrating he does have the manager’s backing and he has a proven track record of success. I don’t expect a change anytime soon and he could make for a nice buy-low option if another owner is looking to unload him.
- Kyle Farnsworth picked up his second save of the season last night against Boston and is the guy to own in Tampa’s bullpen right now. However, I expect rookie Jake McGee to end up with more saves by the end of the season. Farnsworth has failed as a closer before and he has dealt with injuries in the past few years.
- Sean Burnett picked up his third save for the Nationals on Tuesday night and is the ninth inning guy for now. He has only allowed one run in six appearances and has yet to allow a walk. Drew Storen has also pitched well with a 1.35 ERA and 0.90 WHIP but Burnett is clearly the guy to own right now. However, Burnett won’t have have a long leash in the closers role, especially with Storen’s looming presence, so it’s hard to trust him for the entire season.
- Frank Francisco‘s rehab stint has been going poorly. His fastball has been clocked in the high 80′s and he’ll need at least three more outings before being activated from the disabled list. Jon Rauch hasn’t been great as a fill-in but he should continue getting save opportunities for at least another week.
- Andrew Bailey is progressing nicely from a strained forearm and could be back by the end of the month. For now, Brian Fuentes will continue getting the saves for Oakland.
