2012 Player Profile: John Axford, Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are a team in disarray.  Their MVP Ryan Braun is facing a 90 game suspense and the other half of their offense left to Detroit.  Even Casey McGehee was traded making room for newly signed Aramis Ramirez.

Now, with all that going on, the Brewers are still a team to be reckoned with.  They still mount a potent offense and a pitching staff that can easily give them 6 quality inning on most days.  They are supported by one of the top 2012 bullpens in the National League.  It includes setup man Francisco Rodriguez, Jose Veras, and Kameron Loe.  They all lead to the closer, John Axford.   Axford came onto the scene in 2010 for Milwaukee and has never looked back.  He  did had a brutal start to the 2011 season and left doubt in the minds of some as to being a long-term closer.  After blowing his first save opportunity of 2011 and two of his first five chances, Axford went on to convert his next 43 opportunities.  He finished 46/48 on the season and that ain’t bad.  Add that to his career numbers of 71/76, even better.  John Axford does one thing and one thing well, he gets the hardest three outs in baseball on a consistent basis.  To pile on that, he posted a 1.95 ERA and a10.51 K/9 in his sophomore season as closer.

With two strong years under his belt, Axford is still a risk with increasing potential.  2012 will be trying year for Axford and his fantasy owners.  True closers get the job done year after year and three years of straight consistent closing is a major stepping stone.  I don’t see any reason why John Axford will not continue his success as the Brewers closer this season.  He has everything a closer needs in order to be successful.  Axford is mentally built for the job.  Not only does he relish in the pressure of the job, but he has the sense of humor needed to put away a blow save and forget out it.  His trademark handlebar mustache harkens back to Rollie Fingers and Goose Gossage and anyway that Axford can get mentioned in the same sentence with those guys is a good thing.

Axford comes at hitters with more than a tough look and the determination for three outs. He delivers a very interesting set off pitches, fastball, curveball, and, slider.  His location of his fastball is so good, that it makes his slider and curveball nearly untouchable.  With a fastball that can reach 97 MPH, nobody wants to touch the slider and the curveball will buckle knees.  Those three pitches result into nearly 50% ground balls and a whole bunch of strikeouts.  That won’t change in 2012.

While it is expected that the Brewers will have less leads going into the ninth inning, it’s also expected that they will have a whole lot more close games then they did with Braun and Fielder in that lineup.  Axford will have another huge year and the sky is the only limit for this closer.

The Closer Report 2012 Projections: 41 Sv – 4 Wins – 2.22 ERA – 1.16 WHIP – 79 Ks

2012 Fantasy Draft Analysis:

Axford will be hard to predict where he will be drafted in individual fantasy drafts, but he will go early.  According to early ADP results, John Axford is going around the 89th pick and as early as the 61st.  I expect him to go much closer to the 61st pick and getting Axford in the 8th round or later is a steal.