Kuzul

Some people prefer to wait until late in their draft to acquire their fantasy closers, figuring that you can take some risks while also finding saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. 

Others like to use early- to mid-round picks in order to get an elite closer or two, hopefully stabilizing their standing in saves.  Which strategy is right is a debate for another day, but let’s look at how I currently rank the Top 15 closers heading into 2011:

1. Heath Bell – San Diego Padres
2. Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants
3. Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals
4. Neftali Feliz – Texas Rangers
5. Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees
6. Rafael Soriano – Free Agent
7. Jonathan Broxton – Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Andrew Bailey – Oakland Athletics
9. Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox
10. Francisco Rodriguez – New York Mets
11. Carlos Marmol – Chicago Cubs
12. Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins
13. Huston Street – Colorado Rockies
14. Jose Valverde – Detroit Tigers
15. J.J. Putz – Arizona Diamondbacks

Thoughts:

• Joe Nathan is a real wild card, but we all know what he is capable of doing. If he proves that he is healthy in Spring Training, he could easily perform as a top 10, and maybe even a top 5 option. Since 2004 he has had one season with an ERA above 2.10 and one season with a WHIP above 0.98. To say that he has the potential to be one of the elite and a steal on draft day is an understatement.
• Will the Rangers move Feliz to the rotation? I can’t see it after his success, but time will tell at this point.
• J.J. Putz will get an opportunity to rediscover his glory as a closer in Arizona. As long as he keeps his control in under (as he did in 2010), he should be a solid option as a second closer for fantasy owners.
• Mariano Rivera is the best closer ever to play the game, we all know that. At this point, is anyone really waiting for him to finally regress due to his age? He’s one of the elite and he should be considered as such until he finally decides to hang up his spikes.
• If you draft Jonathan Papelbon, you may want to grab Daniel Bard for your bench, just in case. I know Bobby Jenks was brought in, but Bard is still the likely replacement should something happen.
• If it wasn’t for his strikeout potential, I wouldn’t go near Carlos Marmol. However, he could easily lead all relief pitchers in strikeouts, which certainly helps to offset any potential problems his walk rate brings with him.

What are your thoughts on these rankings?  Whose too high?  Whose too low?

**** Make sure to pre-order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****

Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First-Round Breakdown

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Every year, managers, coaches and writers from around Major League Baseball award honors and trophies to the players—and every year, they screw up.

So Bleacher Report’s featured columnists decided to do it ourselves. Instead of just complaining about the awards as they were announced as we would normally do on our own, we teamed up to hold our own mock awards vote.

This week, we looked at the Comeback Players of the Year in the AL and NL before naming the AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year. Today, we end Week 2 of our four-week series with the best relievers in the National League.

The top five vote-getters are featured here with commentary from people who chose them. The full list of votes is at the end.

So read on, see how we did and be sure to let us know what we got wrong!

Begin Slideshow

How good has Cubs closer Carlos Marmol been this season? Historically good. 

As ESPN.com’s Bruce Levine reports, Marmol “is averaging 15.94 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. The Major League single-season record for a reliever is 14.98 for nine innings pitched by the Dodgers’ Eric Gagne in 2003.” 

Considering that Gagne was a ‘roided up phony of a pitcher when he set that record, it makes  Marmol’s accomplishment even more impressive.  

That slider employed by the Cubs closer is the best slider this side of White Castle. The only question coming into Marmol’s first full season as a closer was whether his lack of control would prevent him from being a successful closer.  

Well, we can put some of those fears to rest, because even though he has walked 52 batters in just over 75 innings pitched, he has generally gotten the job done. Marmol has 36 saves in 41 opportunities thus far in 2010. 

Right-handed hitters are batting just .166 against him this year. Even more impressive is the measly .132 average that lefty swingers have been able to muster.

Carlos has allowed just two hits in September, covering his last 14 appearances.  He has struck out 23 while not allowing a run this month. 

Marmol is up for arbitration this winter. How would you like to be his agent?

More Useless Trivia

For starters

In case you’re wondering, yes, Marmol has the all-time Cubs record for strikeouts by a relief pitcher. Not surprisingly, a starter holds the all-time strikeout mark for the Cubs. 

Ferguson Jenkins broke his own Cubs record when he K’d 274 batters in 1970, one more than his previous year.         

He’s truly a “Hit”

When Cubs rookie Starlin Castro went 2-for-5 on Wednesday. It was the 38th multi-hit game by the Cubs young shortstop. That is the most for a Cubs rookie since Mark Grace compiled 41 in 1988. 

Big Zzzzz…

On Monday, Carlos Zambrano moved into second place on the Cubs all-time strikeout list when he passed Charlie Root, who recorded 1,432 Ks in his career. Jenkins, of course, holds the all-time Cubs record. 

Power outage

And this from Chicago Cubs Online: “2010 is the first season since 1993 that the Cubs did not hit at least 75 home runs at Wrigley Field. Lou and Q’s offense managed only 74 longballs in 81 home dates.”

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It’s not as though Carlos Marmol throws 100 miles per hour. It isn’t as though he can pinpoint the ball on either corner, or change a batter’s eye level at will.

In fact, if any hurler in the game’s history has been more frequently guilty of “throwing” rather than “pitching,” he will need to submit himself for review. Carlos Marmol just goes out, toes the rubber and lets go of whatever may be in his right hand when he finishes his improbable delivery.

Yet, it works.

After a 2009 that seemed to portend an end to the reign of terror Marmol had effected during his first two dominant seasons in the Chicago Cubs‘ bullpen, 2010 has been by far Marmol‘s best as a Major League pitcher.

His command continues to cavort with AJ Pierzynski’s plate discipline and Juan Pierre’s throwing arm somewhere in the baseball ether, but Marmol has found a way to overcome it, and send everyone who can’t resist his whipsaw slider back to the dugout holding their lumber.

Of the 274 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings this season, only three have a higher swing-and-miss rate than Marmol. Of these, none can match the 63.4 percent rate at which Marmol gets ahead of hitters by throwing first-pitch strikes.

Marmol has walked more than two batters for every three innings pitched this season, but after walking a shade under eight per nine innings last year, the Cubs have to be thrilled with his work.

Marmol walks more men than the ideal closer, but balances this by doing one thing that all closers must be able to do: He keeps the ball in the park.

In 2008, Marmol allowed 10 home runs. In his other three seasons of relief, however, he has surrendered just six long-balls—in all three years combined.

Marmol earned just $2.125 million this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility, largely because of the excessive walks in 2009.

This year, with a full season as a dominant closer under his belt, he will have much more leverage with the Cubs in an arbitration situation. That is why, if GM Jim Hendry is smart, he will sign Marmol to an extension through 2013.

Marmol will be 28 next season, not young but not yet old by any means. Because he relies primarily on a breaking ball, rather than pure heat, he will probably stand up better to the early stages of aging than closers like Jonathan Broxton and Francisco Rodriguez have in the past two seasons.

Broxton signed a two-year deal prior to this season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and got $11 million total. At the time, Broxton had completed one arbitration-eligible season, as well. He had 55 career saves—four more than Marmol has right now. Broxton‘s career strikeout rate stood a shade under 12.00 per nine innings, as will Marmol‘s if he continues his current pace over the season’s final four weeks.

Broxton‘s walk rate and ERA, however, were each substantially better than Marmol‘s will be, both for their careers and over the previous two seasons. Broxton is almost two years Marmol‘s junior.

Taking this comparison into consideration, Marmol and the Cubs could likely agree on a two or three-year deal in the neighborhood of five million per season. Given the market price of good closers–as a free agent, the rather tame Brandon Lyon got $15 million over three years from Houston last winter—the Cubs should jump at this chance to keep Marmol around through their rebuilding phase.

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To commemorate Carlos Marmol’s 100th strikeout this season, I’ve decided to highlight one of the few bright spots amid an awful season for the franchise.

Marmol, in his first full season as the team’s closer, has certainly showed why he should be among the game’s elite relievers.

Carlos Marmol’s 2010 campaign will be highlighted as a massive step forward in his career, as he eclipsed both the aforementioned 100 strikeout mark as well as the two WAR mark for the first time in his young career.

By far, the most frustrating aspect about Marmol’s game has been his inability to limit free passes. His BB/9 stood at 7.91 last season, the worst mark for a Major League reliever, and the primary reason his WHIP stood at an obnoxious 1.46. This season, he is limiting his walk rate to 5.82 BB/9—still among the worst in the majors, but obviously a vast improvement.

Marmol has always been the unhittable type, with a .182 career batting average against (BAA), and last season he had a .171 BAA. His batting average on balls in play (BABIP) last season (.262) suggested that would regress to the norm a bit, so a slight rise in hits would be expected in the 2010 campaign.

Well, it has risen: .003 points, although his BABIP hasn’t stabilized—it skyrocketed to .360, suggesting hitters are getting lucky with a .174 BAA.

This year, Marmol is leading all Major League relievers with contact percentage, or rather non-contact percentage. His 60.6 percent contact rate is far below the 80.9 percent league average. To counter Marmol’s talents for missing bats, hitters are simply not swinging at his offerings, hoping to simply draw a walk.

That is how nastily Marmol is pitching this year; hitters are coming up to the plate with the intention of just watching him pitch, because they have no hope of getting a hit off him, or making any contact off him for that matter.

Carlos Marmol is dealing this year.

So what’s the change this year? For one, Marmol is getting ahead of batters. His career first strike percentage sits at a below average 53.5 percent, but this year he is throwing strike one 62.1 percent of the time, slightly above average. This has allowed Marmol to keep hitters off balance even more with his slider, which he throws 58.4 percent of the time. All of this leads up to a career-high 16.17 K/9 rate, the best in the majors by far.

Marmol has found a new secret to success, although it’s not really a secret to the rest of us: Miss bats, limit walks, and keep the ball on the ground, which he’s doing a bit better (career-high 38.5 ground ball percentage).

Carlos Marmol has established himself as a premier closer, which the Cubs have been searching dearly for for years now. Marmol looks to have gotten on the right track with some of his issues, particularly with walks. However, it remains to be seen if he can improve on this or if he’ll simply regress to his career norm.

This article can also be seen at TheUnfortunateCubsFan.com

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Relievers are often called upon when a strikeout is necessary to prevent the other team from scoring. Here are the five relievers that are best at striking hitters out, based on their K/9 rate. 

Begin Slideshow

With the trade deadline behind us and dog days of August upon us, fantasy baseball owners are either making their way towards bragging rights for next season, or making their way towards the local landfill (Hey, it happens to best of us!).  

Whether you spent a fourth round pick on an elite closer, or waited to piece together your closing committee, let’s take a look at how the relief pitchers will finish out the rest of the season.

If you “mixed and matched” your relief corps this season hoping for saves here and there, it’s important to also mix in guys with high strikeout totals and low walk rates (as it is with most pitchers). In previous seasons, I’ve done just a “straight” ranking by position, as opposed to a “tiering” system, but have recently found that the tiering system will help you to better distinguish the difference between a tier-one player and a Tier-two player, ultimately leading to better value.

Tier-One

Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees

Heath Bell – San Diego Padres

Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox

These top relievers are the same pitchers season after season who continue to be worth every penny for owners who draft them early. Rivera may pitch until he’s 100 years old, but is still the best in the game. Having Kerry Wood help deliver a lead to Mo in the ninth makes him even better.  

Although Bell is involved in trade rumors every season, he continues to be the backbone of a strong bullpen in San Diego, as they push towards a division title.   

Don’t be freaked out by Papelbon being placed on waivers earlier this week, as most players are during this time of the year. “Cinco Ocho” hasn’t posted the strikeout numbers we’ve all wanted in 2010, but he’s still racking up the save numbers and has been one of the top closers over the past four seasons.

Tier-Two

Jonathan Broxton – Los Angeles Dodgers

Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants

Carlos Marmol – Chicago Cubs

Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals

Billy Wagner – Atlanta Braves

Jose Valverde – Detroit Tigers

Neftali Feliz – Texas Rangers

Rafeal Soriano – Tampa Bay Rays

The tier-two guys contain a mixture of all reliable closers who have job security. 

Broxton is certainly capable of cracking the tier-one group. After posting a disastrous month of July, his value is down right now. Since the All Star break, Broxton has posted an ERA of 9.00 and has only struck out 4.5 batters per nine innings (K/9 ratio). The recent poor results make you wonder if the big guy is dealing with some type of injury. The Dodgers brought in Octavio Dotel during the trade deadline, but he won’t pose a threat to Broxton unless he goes down with an injury. Dotel was just brought in because of Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre’s love affair with ex-Yankee players.  

Wilson dealt with some small back issues in the beginning of August, but appears to be fine and still remains an undervalued closer.  

The only bright spot with the Chicago Cubs this season is Marlon Byrd’s defense and the strikeouts from Carlos Marmol (16.8 K/9 this season!).

Injuries were the concern with Wagner this offseason for fantasy owners, but those who took a gamble on the left-hander during the late rounds have certainly been rewarded. Wagner and the rest of the Braves’ bullpen have lifted Atlanta into a division lead showing the Phillies that not everything revolves around offense.

Soriano leads the American League in saves with 31 and is also posting a 0.89 WHIP this season. He doesn’t have high strikeout totals like the rest of this group (36 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings), but doesn’t walk many hitters and has only surrendered three home runs.

Things just keep getting better for the Texas Rangers and Feliz this season. The lights-out fireballer has taken the closer’s role and ran with it, striking out everyone in his way. Feliz’s ERA at home is a high 5.06 this season (thanks to the Ballpark in Arlington) but on the road, Feliz has posted a 1.45 ERA and currently sits in third place in the American League with 29 saves. 

Tier-Three

Francisco Rodriguez- New York Mets

Leo Nunez – Florida Marlins

Matt Capps – Minnesota Twins

Huston Street – Colorado Rockies

Andrew Bailey – Oakland Athletics

The original “K-Rod” has bounced back nicely this season during his second year with the New York Mets. He’s posting better numbers across all categories this season, and could climb into the tier-two section during the final month of play. The fantasy value for Rodriguez has slipped over the past two seasons due to the inability of the Mets to produce save opportunities.

With questions around Nunez’s job security earlier this season, he’s proved that he’s the man down in Miami. Nunez has allowed just one home run and walked 11 batters over 44 1/3 innings this season. With 26 saves already in the books this year, Nunez has matched his career high in saves (26 with the Marlins in 2009).

The Minnesota Twins felt that Jon Rauch was not capable of closing games this season and went out and acquired Capps during the trade deadline. Capps has bounced back this season after an unlucky 2009 in Pittsburgh. Capps is an above-average reliever who posts low strikeout totals (7.4 K/9) and has spent time closing against subpar National League hitters to this point. The move to the American League will truly be a test for Capps, as the NL East doesn’t have Miguel Cabrera types.

Street and Bailey, when healthy, are reliable arms during the ninth inning, but both pitchers have struggled with the injury-bug this season. With not many reliable closing options on their teams, both will continue to see save opportunities.

Tier-Four

Brian Fuentes – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Ryan Franklin – St. Louis Cardinals

Bobby Jenks – Chicago White Sox

Francisco Cordero – Cincinnati Reds

Brad Lidge – Philadelphia Phillies

Matt Lindstrom – Houston Astros

Fuentes and the Angels are fading fast in the American League West standings.  Fuentes will continue to close in the ninth, but doesn’t post “wow” numbers. He posted better numbers during the month of July (1.00 ERA, 0.78 WHIP) but continues to have the tendency to give up too many walks and home runs.

Prior to the 2010 season, I warned fantasy owners about Franklin. He uses the magical illusion of smoke and mirrors to deceive fantasy owners into thinking he is a top closer when in fact, he’s not. Franklin has a 25/6 K/BB rate over 42 2/3 innings and left-handed hitters have a stat line of .303/.333/.515 against him this season, making him avoidable. Manager Tony LaRussa is also known for riding the hot hand and playing the matchups. If Franklin fades down the stretch, so could his save opportunities.

Lidge this season has been inconsistent, but with the Phillies are really left with no other options during the ninth inning, so look for Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel to stick with Lidge.

Tier-Five

David Aardsma – Seattle Mariners

Chris Perez – Cleveland Indians

Kevin Gregg – Toronto Blue Jays

John Axford – Milwaukee Brewers

Joel Hanrahan – Pittsburgh Pirates

Drew Storen – Washington Nationals

Alfredo Simon – Baltimore Orioles

Aaron Heilman – Arizona Diamondbacks

Aardsma – see above under Ryan Franklin. Aarsdma has blown four saves this season and has also walked 16 batters over 34 1/3 innings. With the chances of the Mariners actually having a lead during the ninth inning slim, Aardsma has little fantasy appeal.

 Perez finally ends up where he belongs – pitching in the ninth and closing out games. Too bad it’s for the Cleveland Indians. With Wood leaving via a trade, Perez controls his own destiny and is a viable fantasy option for cheap saves the rest of the season.

Prior to Hoffman imploding back in May, most knew little or nothing about Axford. With little bullpen relief on the Brewers, Axford was given the job and hasn’t looked back since. Yes, Axford has the unknown factor surrounding his name, but with a sweet mustache and a 10.8 K/9 ratio this season, he’s a reliable bottom tier closer.

With Dotel leaving for Los Angeles, Hanrahan takes over the closer duties for the Bucs. It was a toss up for the ninth inning job between Hanrahan and All-Star Meek, but with Hanrahan owning more ninth inning experience, the Pirates will roll the dice with him. Hanrahan will have the same value as Dotel did when he was closing games for Pittsburgh, but fantasy owners shouldn’t be afraid to own either Meek or Hanrahan.

The Storen era is officially set to begin in Washington. The Nationals have stated that they will use a closer committee role the rest of the season with Storen, Tyler Clippard, and Sean Burnett, but Storen is your guy long term. Clippard posted horrible July numbers with a 7.90 ERA during 12 appearances. Clippard has already logged over 62 innings this season which is a career high for him, so fatigue could be playing a factor. Burnett, a former first round pick for the Pirates, is holding right-handed hitters to just a .174/.245/.209 stat line over 86 at-bats this season, while lefties are hitting .302/.371/.476 over 63 at-bats.  Oh year, Burnett has a career 6.71 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP from the month of August until the end of the season. Take in this order: Storen, Clippard, and Burnett.

Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter didn’t fool around with the bullpen during his fist game on Tuesday evening. Mike Gonzalez recorded the first two outs during the ninth before being replaced by Simon, who recorded the final out for the save. With the Orioles having nothing to lose by trotting Simon out there, the whole closing situation in Baltimore is a toss-up. Gonzalez wants to pitch in the ninth inning badly and appears to have regained the velocity on his fastball which has been missing all season, so anything can happen. Be warned.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in shambles this season, and the bullpen isn’t exempt from the mess. In one of my earlier pieces, I wrote that Gutierrez was the favorite to earn save opportunities for Arizona given the recent failures of Chad Qualls and Aaron Heilman. With Qualls leaving for sunny Florida, D-backs’ manager Kirk Gibson was still reluctant to name a closer.  With Gutierrez hitting the disabled-list with a right shoulder injury, it’s Heilman’s turn on the carousel. I also like rookie Sam Demel as a potential replacement for Gutierrez, as he’s posted 21/5 K/BB over 20 1/3 innings. 

 – All statistical data provided via Baseball-Reference.com

Reggie Yinger is the Senior Editor at Baseball Press and his writing has appeared in a men’s national magazine publication.  He also contributes exclusive writings to The Fantasy Fix. You can contact him at 

reggie@baseballpress.com or follow him on Twitter 

@sacksjacked.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Yes, woeful.

The Chicago Cubs spent $146,859,000 on their 2010 payroll, which works out to an average of $5,439,222 per player and is good for third in all of Major League Baseball. Only the Evil Empires—the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox—shelled out more scratch for their squads.

Only the Bronx Bombers are paying more per victory.

They boast Marlon Byrd, Ryan Dempster, Kosuke Fukudome, Derrek Lee, Ted Lilly, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Silva, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, and Carlos Zambrano. Each player mentioned is a current or former All-Star with the exception of Silva.

Each player on that list also makes eight figures with the exceptions of Byrd, who is the lone 2010 All-Star, and Soto.

Finally, they have one of the game’s best managers (allegedly) at the helm in Lou Piniella.

Nevertheless, the Cubbies are nine games under .500 (41-50), nine games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds, 8.5 games behind the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, and struggling in the National League Central—not exactly a juggernaut division.

They’re also nine games off the NL Wild Card pace with a half-dozen teams jockeying for position better than Chicago’s.

It’s true that injuries and insanity have derailed the club, but similar concerns have befallen organizations with a lot less money/talent and they’ve managed to stay the course.

Shoot, the Sawks have seen their regular second baseman, catcher, center fielder, left fielder, Opening Day starter, and No. 3 hurler hit the shelf for extended periods. Boston did spend about $16 million extra on payroll, but don’t tell me that explains the competitive disparity. (The Red Sox own a 51-39 record in the Show’s toughest division.)

Especially since the Windy City’s Senior Circuit rep has gotten unexpected contributions from youngsters Starlin Castro and Tyler Colvin.

Given the mediocrity of the NL Central, there is still time for the Not-So-Lovable Losers to right the water-logged ship and they’ve come out of the All-Star break on a two-game winning streak, so there’s hope.

The Cubs’ 2010 epithet isn’t carved in stone yet.

That caveat notwithstanding, the North Siders have to be one of baseball’s biggest disappointments to date (along with the Seattle Mariners).

But don’t for one second blame the Cubbies’ closer, the scintillating Carlos Marmol.

In fact, the season Marmol is cobbling together is almost reason enough to root for his spend-and-burn franchise. After all, if he were saving truly meaningful games, his remarkable campaign would be far more celebrated.

Actually, if Chicago could simply climb to the fringe of contention, the 27-year-old would be getting his just deserts considering the national audience the organization commands.

At the moment, though, it’s flying criminally low on the radar.

As one of his supremely satisfied fantasy owners, I’ve been watching this absurdity unfurl itself and it’s been quite an eyeful. Check the numbers before play starts today—17 SV, 20 SVOpp, 81 K, 28 BB, a 2.11 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP, a .153 BAA, a .306 OBPA, a .207 SLGA, and a .513 OPSA in 42 2/3 IP covering 42 G.

The WHIP and on-base-percentage-against aren’t all that dazzling because of the Dominican’s propensity to get a wild hair up his nose, but the rest are outstanding. The low batting-average-against and minuscule slugging-percentage-against suggest Marmol is as unhittable as he looks.

As of Chicago’s 91st game, only the immortal Jeff Clement has taken the closer deep in 2010.

Sounds about right.

Of course, everything else pales when compared to those lovely, lovely strikeouts.

I’ll handle the math (or the navigation to his baseball-reference.com page)—81 whiffs in a shade over 42 frames equates to a 17.1 K/9.

Let that sink in.

If the filth merchant dusts a tenth of a batter more per three outs, he’ll be striking out opposing lumber at the rate of two hitters per inning.

The last human we saw do that was 14 and he was playing against 12-year-olds.

Carlos Marmol is doing it against professional hitters.

Yikes.

Like I said, the feat should make us all Chicago Cub fans if only to get Carlos some love.

Because in this Year of the Pitcher, he’s been one of the best.

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The All-Star break is fast approaching and it is safe to say that the Cubs should be sellers at this season’s trade deadline.

In my opinion, it’s time for a good old fashioned fire sale.

The Cubs have a very strong minor league system, and it could be made even stronger if they were to clean house and deal anyone of any value not named Colvin, Cashner, or Castro.

So if we are in fact in full scale fire sale mode, here are the six Cubs that have the most value on the trade market, and should be dealt before the deadline hits.

Begin Slideshow

They did it! The Blackhawks finally got their Stanley Cup in one of the more bizarre endings you’ll see in a championship game.

My only regret is that they didn’t win it at home. The city was wild enough on a Wednesday during an away game, imagine what clinching on a Friday at home would have been. Oh well, guess we’ll have to wait for the Cubs to win the World Series before we get another Chicago Fire.

Oh yea, and there were some baseball games this week.

63%

Combined stolen base success rate for Elvis Andrus and Julio Borbon , which has led to Ron Washington’s decision to limit their attempts until they can improve their technique. It’s a huge blow to each of their values, though Borbon didn’t have much anyway.

I’m especially concerned about Andrus because not only has his batting average dipped in recent weeks, he stopped drawing walks. His BB:K rate has been an atrocious 5:14 so far in June, lowering his OBP to .377, down from his high of .431 just a month ago.

Let’s hope it’s simply a case of a young player needing to make an adjustment and not a trend that will continue.

.226

Batting average over the past 25 games for Ian Stewart , another young player poised for a breakout season who has fallen off the wagon in recent weeks. How close this is to his 2009 average (.228) is unsettling to say the least, but you knew you were getting somewhat of a batting average liability with him.

What’s more alarming is while the batting average is regressing to the norm, his power numbers have remained stagnant, with only one home run over that 25 game span. Looking at the numbers the culprit seems to be a severely decreased fly ball rate, which has turned into a bloated line drive rate (25%).

While this may sound great, it clearly hasn’t helped him recently. Plus, this number is unsustainable, so hopefully the line drives will turn back into fly balls and not grounders. I’m benching him until further notice.

Nine

Innings pitched by Zack Greinke in his last start, finally securing that ever elusive second win. We can all breathe a little easier now, the Zack Attack is back. He struck out 12 batters and walked zero, an unbelievable performance despite two solo jacks allowed to Joey Votto . Reportedly the performance was a result of an “adjustment,” always music to a fantasy owner’s ears and bodes well for future production.

Nevertheless, his struggles with keeping the ball in the park will keep him from repeating last year’s Cy Young numbers, but I’d still bet on a 3.3 ERA and over 200 K’s at the end of the season.

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