RELIEVERS: Who is the closer for 2013?

This week, we take a preliminary look at bullpens who currently do not have a clear-cut incumbent closer. Those teams are the Cubs, Tigers, Astros, Dodgers, Angels, Mets and A's.

The Chicago Cubs signed Kyuji Fujikawa (RHP, CHC) to challenge incumbent Carlos Marmol (RHP, CHC) for the closer role. Marmol has always been wild, but in 2012 he took it to a whole new level early in the year and lost his job for a few weeks. When he returned to the role, it still took him some time to throw more strikes and overall he had a poor year. Here are the current projections for the pen candidates:

CHC             IP  Sv   Dom  Cmd hr/9  xERA  G/F  BPV 
============== === ===  ==== ==== ====  ==== ===== ===
Fujikawa        58  15  10.1  2.4  1.2...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Relief Pitchers

This column filters by first two weeks K%-BB% and then looks at the projections to make an early call on whether the elite start is real or not real.
Apr 19 2026 3:07am
Using projections for skills and early-season usage patterns, we look at five more bullpens.
Apr 12 2026 3:05am
We are a week into the 2026 season and can start to look for usage patterns in fluid bullpens. Griffin Jax's season so has left managers screaming.
Apr 5 2026 3:06am
Every week brings changes to bullpens. One game does not give us much, but it gives us something, like a Jordan Romano (RHP, LAA) save.
Mar 29 2026 3:06am

Tools