Closer Updates: Blue Jays & Brewers

The Ryan Franklin and Joe Nathan/Matt Capps stuff is old news by now, but let’s get you caught up on some others in danger of losing their jobs…

Frank Francisco & Jon Rauch | Blue Jays

Toronto was finally able to activate Francisco from the disabled list yesterday, though manager John Farrell told MLB.com’s Larry Millson that he won’t necessarily jump right into the closer’s role. “[Francisco will] be available late in the game,” he said. “Whether or not he closes, we’ve got options between he and Rauch to close. We’re going to use both in most leverage situations we can. And where the best matchup exists, that could be the ninth, that could be the eighth inning.” For what it’s worth, Rauch was used in the 10th inning of the tie game last night and Francisco warmed up to pitch an 11th inning that was never needed.

Rauch has pitched well the last two weeks or so, and this appears to be one of those situations where he won’t lose the job just because Francisco is back. He’ll have to pitch poorly for Francisco to get his foot in the door, so until you see hard evidence that he won’t get the save opportunities, stick with Rauch.

John Axford | Brewers

An Opening Day meltdown was followed by four scoreless appearances, but the Brewers’ closer has run into some trouble in his last two outings. He’s walked four of the twelve men he’s faced in those two games, allowing a run each time. Luckily it didn’t matter with a four run lead on Thursday, but Monday’s outing resulted in his second blow save in five chances. Manager Ron Roenicke said he remains confident in his closer, so expect Axford to keep the job for the time being. Takashi Saito is on the disabled list with a hamstring issue for at least another week, though LaTroy Hawkins is scheduled to come back on Friday. As of this moment, Axford’s biggest competition is Kameron Loe, so he’s safe for the foreseeable future even if his performance is sketchy.

Quick notes…

• Mariano Rivera blew his first save of the season last night and has been worked heavily over the last week (five appearances over the last seven days), so it’s a safe bet that Rafael Soriano will get the save opportunity tonight, should one arise. The Yankees are off tomorrow, so Mo should be ready for action come Friday.
• Tonight would be three nights in a row for Joakim Soria, and if he is used again, Aaron Crow could be in line for the save opportunity tomorrow.
• Jonathan Broxton has struck out four of the last 15 men he’s faced after whiffing just one of the first 19, so hooray for that.
• Last we heard, there is still no timetable for Andrew Bailey’s return from a forearm strain, though he has been throwing off a mound of late. Brian Fuentes is safe, for now.
• David Aardsma made his first rehab appearance last night, and is expected to make a few more before being activated from the disabled list. Chances are he’ll wrestle the closer’s job back from Brandon League rather quickly, if not immediately.

And just a bit of housekeeping, I plan on posting updated closer rankings on the first Tuesday of every month, so the first update will come two weeks from today. Here’s the preseason rankings, which are already approaching obsolete, as you’d expect.