Closers are a commodity: they don't require a lot of strength to go after, or in your case, worthy of a high draft pick, and they're a plenty. Every team needs a good closer, or someone else will replace them. In a deep 16 team league, there are enough closers to go around. I would never draft a closer high, even Craig Kimbrel. They're just not worth it. At least a starter can pitch every 5 days on a schedule; a closer might not pitch those 5 days. Anyway, it's beneficial to you to let someone else draft closers high and you make 2 value picks. I discussed Jason Grilli yesterday, today we'll discuss the presumable incoming closer for the Kansas City Royals: Greg Holland. He took over the closer's role in the second half of 2012 and performed well. He's got a great arm and great stats to go with it, so here we go:
Holland's stat lines over the last two seasons:
- 2011: 5-1/1.80 ERA/60 Innings/37 hits/19 BB's/74 K's/4 Saves
- 2012: 7-4/2.96 ERA/67 Innings/58 hits/34 BB's/91 K's/16 Saves
Not too shabby. Holland throws hard: very hard. Now, he missed his targets a little more in 2012: his WHIP (essentially the amount of base runners a pitcher allows) went from 0.93 to 1.37. As a closer, 1.37 tends to be too close to struggling or volatility: he should be as close to 1 as possible. If he gets to 1.2 or lower, he'll be closer to the 2011 stat line. He should be closer to a 2.50 ERA if he can accomplish this. His strikeout rate went up by more than a K per inning, as well. Aaron Crow is right behind him if he falters, so you can have a go-to guy for Holland, but he's worth the investment.
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