The big ninth-inning story in baseball right now plays out north of the border in Toronto where primary closer B.J. Ryan came up with an elbow injury.  Jason Frasor is the man for the Jays for now and he is not a stranger to the position. Jason was the Jays’ closer for part of the 2004 season collecting 17 saves.

Not only does Jason have closing credentials now, he is getting better. In a text book example of a pitcher coming into his own, almost all of his indicators that count have been improving over the last few years. 

Where do you want to look? K/9? Over the last three seasons we have 7.11, 7.47, 9.18 … BB/9? … 4.7, 3.3, 3.0 … WHIP? … 1.46, 1.27, 1.28 … Strand percentage? 73.7%, 77.2%, 76.6% … K/BB? 1.5, 2.2, 3.0 …

And you know what? So far in 2007 all of those indicators are better than they were last year. There is every reason to believe that Jason is up for the job and will hold on to the 9^th inning until Ryan returns unless he simply needs a night off as he did last Sunday. 

The only question left is how long Ryan will be out. The range of possibilities is wide in this instance. The current estimate is 4-6 weeks but we are dealing with a ligament sprain, which could ultimately result in Tommy John surgery if things do not go well.

The good news is that no less an authority than Dr. James Andrews says there are no tears in his elbow ligament and the Jays have successfully rehabbed similar injuries to A.J. Burnett and Gustavo Chacin without surgery. 

The bottom line is that Jason is a worthy claim in all formats, and could pay dividends long term if Ryan’s condition fails to improve.

In Florida Jorge Julio was taken out of the closer picture completely yesterday when the Marlins placed him on the DL. Henry Owens remains the teams primary closer even if manager Fredi Gonzalez doesn’t want to admit it publicly. 

If you need to spec claim for saves Taylor Tankersley still isn’t a bad guy to have at this point should Owens fail.

Coming up behind the two of them is Matt Lindstrom who pitched a scoreless inning last night for the Marlins. Matt struck out 70 in 58.2 IP in 2006 over two minor league levels for the Mets. In AA Lindstrom pitched 40 innings striking out 54. The rub is that he walked 14 and allowed 42 hits for a 1.38 WHIP. His BHIP% in the minors was unusually high but the walks are still an issue.  Matt doesn’t warrant much attention unless Owens and/or Tankersley fail but I’m just bringing up the name now to get him on your radar. In leagues that score holds, Matt could be a source for that column over the next couple of scoring periods. 

Joakim Soria collected his first MLB win last night going two strong innings against the Tigers. He struck out 4 after entering the game with the score tied in the 9^th and the Royals won it in the 10^th.  He threw 31 pitches but the Royals have an off day today so Soria should be available for a save opp on Friday if needed. David Riske remains the Royals second option but Soria looks secure for now as he fills in for Octavio Dotel. Dotel appears to be at least two weeks away at this point with an oblique. We’ll keep you posted.

In Colorado LaTroy Hawkins has been extremely erratic and he is moving out of short relief and towards the middle innings. Brian Fuentes appears secure in the closer’s role and has strung together 4 scoreless outings after a shaky start to the year. Still, young gunslinger Manny Corpas has taken his place in line with strong start to the season. 

Manny went a scoreless inning last night allowing just a hit. That gets him to 7.2 IP overall this season allowing just 1 run (1.17) with 7 Ks and 2 walks while allowing just 4 hits. He got 8.2 IP in AAA last year but spent most of his time in AA saving 19 games in 34 appearances. Manny struck out 35 in 36.2 IP (8.5/9) allowing just 4 walks (0.9/9) and 22 hits (an 0.71 WHIP). The kid throws ground balls as well.

Again, Fuentes seems solid for the Rockies but Manny Corpas is a name to know especially if your league scores holds. 

The Reds claim the dreaded bullpen by committee but David Weathers is certainly the Chairman. Weathers has been handed all the Reds save opps this year and gone 5- for -5. Mike Stanton has been shaky and Todd Coffey and Kirk Saarloos may be the bridesmaids in Cincinnati at this point. It matters little, Weathers is the guy for now.

Al Reyes has managed to drive a couple of nails into the closers role in Tampa going 5- for -5 in save opps to this point. He’s also strung together 6 scoreless outings covering 6 IP with 7 Ks, a walk and 2 hits allowed (0.50 WHIP). 

Finally, the Phillies have shaken up their staff giving Jon Lieber a rotation slot and sending Brett Myers to the bullpen to set up Tom Gordon. It is mind boggling, but there it is. Brett pitched a scoreless inning last night in his relief debut but allowed two hits.  Myers probably moves to first in line behind Gordon in the closer’s role but Gordon is secure while healthy, and it is hard to imagine the Phillies won’t come to their senses on this one very soon.

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