June Relief Pitcher Rankings
Monday, June 06, 2011
Welcome to the June rankings. Players are ranked based on how much value I believe they'll provide in 5x5 leagues over the rest of the season. Along with the position rankings, you'll find a fully updated top 250 list.
Click to see other June rankings:
Top 250 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DHRelieversFalling off: Falling off:
Sean Burnett (No. 42),
Rafael Soriano (No. 61),
Jesse Crain (No. 65),
Ryan Franklin (No. 66),
Ryan Webb (No. 69)
Soria has pitched three perfect innings in low-pressure situations since losing the closer's role, while Crow, who has yet to get a save chance for the Royals, has given up three runs over 2 1/3 innings in his last two appearance. Soria obviously isn't what he was, but I don't think he's a lost cause either. My guess is that he'll be back closing games before the end of the month.
The Jays are another team not producing any save chances; their last save was earned by Rauch on May 27. Rauch got the ball in the ninth in a four-run game Sunday and allowed one run before closing out the Orioles. I think he has the edge on Francisco at the moment.
Madson gets bumped up to No. 21 in the rankings. He's pitching like a top-10 closer right now, and he's capable of keeping it up the rest of the way. Charlie Manuel's eternal confidence in Lidge still has me wary, but Lidge's velocity was well down in his shoulder rehab even before his recent setback last week.
Padilla is the top Dodger on the board, even though he didn't come off the DL as expected last week. His arm is reportedly sound, but he's dealing with neck pain again. If he's able to overcome it, he could be back closing for Don Mattingly in a week or so. Neither Broxton (elbow) nor Kuo (yips) seems likely to find his way back to the mix before the end of June. Rubby De La Rosa is shaping up as a real sleeper pick.
Welcome to the June rankings. Players are ranked based on how much value I believe they'll provide in 5x5 leagues over the rest of the season. Along with the position rankings, you'll find a fully updated top 250 list.
Click to see other June rankings:
Top 250 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DHRelieversFalling off: Falling off:
Sean Burnett (No. 42),
Rafael Soriano (No. 61),
Jesse Crain (No. 65),
Ryan Franklin (No. 66),
Ryan Webb (No. 69)
Soria has pitched three perfect innings in low-pressure situations since losing the closer's role, while Crow, who has yet to get a save chance for the Royals, has given up three runs over 2 1/3 innings in his last two appearance. Soria obviously isn't what he was, but I don't think he's a lost cause either. My guess is that he'll be back closing games before the end of the month.
The Jays are another team not producing any save chances; their last save was earned by Rauch on May 27. Rauch got the ball in the ninth in a four-run game Sunday and allowed one run before closing out the Orioles. I think he has the edge on Francisco at the moment.
Madson gets bumped up to No. 21 in the rankings. He's pitching like a top-10 closer right now, and he's capable of keeping it up the rest of the way. Charlie Manuel's eternal confidence in Lidge still has me wary, but Lidge's velocity was well down in his shoulder rehab even before his recent setback last week.
Padilla is the top Dodger on the board, even though he didn't come off the DL as expected last week. His arm is reportedly sound, but he's dealing with neck pain again. If he's able to overcome it, he could be back closing for Don Mattingly in a week or so. Neither Broxton (elbow) nor Kuo (yips) seems likely to find his way back to the mix before the end of June. Rubby De La Rosa is shaping up as a real sleeper pick.
Matthew Pouliot is the Executive Editor of RotoWorld.com and has been doing the site's baseball projections for the last 10 years. Follow him on Twitter at
matthewpouliot.
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Matthew Pouliot
