Closer News and Notes 6.6.2012

Huston Street, SD – Street was activated from the 15-Day DL yesterday and immediately got active. He managed to get the win, entering the ninth inning with a tie score. He was not as crisp as you’d like to see. He loaded the bases and escaped the jam by getting Buster Posey to ground out. To be fair, one of the hits was a single to the pitcher that Street couldn’t handle. He is the closer again, Dale Thayer is out as closer and will share setup duties with Andrew Cashner.

Ernesto Frieri, LAA – Ernesto Frieri was acquired by the Angels May 3, and with an injury to Scott Downs and ineffective pitching by Jordan Walden, was thrust into the closer role for the Angels. Since taking over the role, Frieri has been dominant.  He is 4/4 in saves and has struck out 30 batters in 14.1 innings for the Angels.  His ERA sits at 0.00 for the Angels.  Overall, with is work for the Padres, he has 48 Ks in 26 innings with a 1.04 ERA.

Jose Valverde, DET – It’s been an up and dopwn season for Valverde, but mostly down.  After missing ten days with a strained, he pitched three consecutive days beofre getting a day off.  He blew his last save against the Yankees, where he walked two.  He did manage to get the win.

Jim Johnson, BAL – Johnson’s remarkable season continues.  He did blow his first save of the season and his save potential has slowed down as I expected with the Orioles losing a lot more lately.  Johnson has only secured one save in two chances since May 23, 2012.  In that span, the Orioles were 3-8.

Addison Reed, CHW – The rookie closer was dazzling his fantasy owners along with the White Sox management until he took a hard loss on June 2.  In that game, Reed gave up a pair of runs and took the loss in 1.1 innings of work.  Since taking over the closer role, Reed is 7/7, but has had three brutal outings in non-save situations, including a 6-run blow up.