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After blowing his league-tying fifth save on Friday, Cardinals closer, err, reliever Jason Isringhausen has been removed from the closer role for the time being.
“I’m just getting sick of embarrassing myself and letting my team down,” Isringhausen told the Associated Press on Friday night. “We should be five more wins in the win column in my mind, so we should be ahead in first place even more. But they can’t keep sending me out there when I’m pitching the way I’m pitching. We’re going to have to figure out some kind of remedy. I’m sure that remedy will give me some time off and get somebody in there that can do a better job right now. I’m just pitching like a second-grader.”
Izzy will get some much needed time to work on his addition and subtraction, spelling words, writing in cursive, taking other kids lunch money, and other activities common to your average second grader. In all seriousness, he chalks it up to a mental break, but his manager Tony LaRussa remains non-committal as to how long of a break Izzy will get and exactly who will replace him as closer in the meantime.
“We’ll mix and match,” La Russa said. “I think all things, everyone rested, [Ryan] Franklin and [Russ] Springer are the guys that match up the best.”
That begs a comparison of Franklin and Springer’s 2008 stats through 37 games.
Ryan Franklin vs. Russ Springer (Inside the Numbers)
| Player | G | IP | W-L | SV | ERA | WHIP | K | H% | S% | BB/9 | K/9 | K/BB | HR/9 |
| Franklin | 19 | 18 | 1-1 | 1 | 2.00 | 1.17 | 8 | 26 | 81 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| Springer | 8 | 6 | 0-0 | 0 | 7.50 | 2.33 | 5 | 40 | 69 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
It’s blatantly obvious that Franklin has been the better pitcher. While Springer has the edge in strikeouts per nine innings pitched, Franklin has continued to try to build on the improvements he made with his control and command last season, albeit not to the extent he enjoyed in 2007. Considering it’s often not realistic for fantasy owners to tie up two roster spots with both saves candidates, my money is on Franklin being the more valuable of the two. It would behoove you to claim him immediately, realizing that it may only be a half dozen saves you get from him before Izzy is back in the closer role. That said, every cheap save counts.
Photo courtesy of MLB.com
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