Wilson, Putz Down: More Closer Injuries

Maybe this isn’t the craziest spring training for injuries but it sure seems that way as far as closers go. Just on Friday mourning I did an overall re-ranking of our relief pitcher rankings and sure enough Brian Wilson, and J.J. Putz go down. While both closers aren’t expected to miss a long period of time (may still find the DL to start the year), these mounting problems are starting to be a pain in fantasy owners’ sides.

I guess all this madness just goes to show you that it’s hard to trust a closer not named Mariano Rivera in the past few decades. Throwing a baseball overhand is working against the natural way your body is designed to throw, and you can only expect injuries when a human does it for a living.

Anyway, of the two closers that had injury concerns it is probably Brian Wilson that I have the most concern about in his ability to make it to Opening Day. At least his injury is only an oblique strain and not like Andrew Bailey, who is dealing with an arm injury. Wilson claims that he will be ready for Opening Day but in the end, it will be up to the coaches and Brian Sabean to decide if he will actually suit up.

Even if Wilson misses the first two weeks, he should be fine after he recovers and is still worth a top five overall selection as far as closers go. If Wilson should miss time, Sergio Romo or Jeremy Affeldt would likely get the opportunities to save games in his absence.

As for Putz, I’m concerned that he had his back flair up but this isn’t an issue he’s had in the past, so hopefully he just needs a few days of rest. Until further notice, take Putz as a respectable mid round closer. Before these recent injuries, Putz and Wilson were two of the few closers I had any concerns about as far as their competition and health.

As for Putz’s replacement, I’m not sure who will be the go to guy at this point. The Diamondbacks have done an overhaul in the bullpen but we should know more in the next week.

Old man Yankee is looking better each and every day that goes by.

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