Changing of the Guard in Chicago and KC?

CHICAGO WHITE SOX TURN TO HERMANSON

Dustin Hermanson has picked up the save in each of the last two ChiSox wins. The first one wasn't surprising - manager Ozzie Guillen had indicated that Shingo "Mr. Zero" Takatsu would not be used against Cleveland after his 3-HR meltdown vs. the tribe last week.

Friday night, however, was a different story, and indicates that Guillen may have run out of patience with Takatsu. The ChiSox entered the 9th inning with a 4-run lead, and Luis Vizcaino put the first two men on base - creating a save situation.

So, naturally, Guillen turned to Mr. Ze... no, wait... Damaso Marte?

Marte promptly plunked Raul Ibanez, loading the bases. Guillen then called for Mr. Zero, who gave up a 2-run scoring single to Bret Boone, and then walked Randy Winn. With a 2-run lead and 2 men on, Ozzie had seen enough. He called in Hermanson, who closed Seattle out for his 2nd save.

While it's probably too early to call this the end of ShingoTime on the South Side, it's becoming clear that Guillen is increasingly turning to Hermanson in critical situations. Remember, he was 17/20 in saves for the SF Giants down the stretch in 2004.

MACDOUGAL RELIEVES AFFELDT IN KC

This one has less to do with effectiveness as it does with durability. Jeremy Affeldt, a pitcher that Tom has been swooning over for years (seriously, he's got a total man-crush on the guy), has some injury issues. He's had blisters that led to fingernail removal, he's torn up the muscles in his rib cage... he's no stranger to the DL.

On Friday, he was effective enough to retire the first two hitters he faced, but left the game after throwing one pitch to Carlos Guillen. Former Royals closer Mike MacDougal entered the game and retired Guillen for his first save of the year.

It appears that this time, the problem is Affeldt's groin. We'll keep you posted, but if the problem lingers, it's clear that Mac will get the ninth inning opportunities. It's equally clear that manager Tony Pena absolutely loves MacDougal - even when Mac was struggling with control issues and was sent to AAA Omaha last season, Pena continued to talk him up.

We'll keep an eye on both situations, but obviously Affeldt's injury status will dictate who is closing in KC. I doubt that Ozzie Guillen knows who is the ChiSox closer at this moment, but it's clear that Hermanson has all the momentum.

Quick Injury Updates

Rockies reliever Chin-Hui Tsao was activated from the DL yesterday, threw a scoreless inning, and will assume the role of closer in Colorado. Manager Clint Hurdle indicated that Tsao would not pitch on consecutive days, but seriously, big deal. How often do the Rockies have save opportunities on consecutive days?

In Arizona, Greg Aquino's elbow is inflamed, but structurally sound. He could be throwing within 10 days. However, if the inflammation around his ulnar nerve doesn't subside, he could face nerve transposition surgery, which sounds pretty nasty. In other Arizona ex-closer news, Jose Valverde still has that inflamed biceps tendon, but the D-Backs may call him up from his minor league rehab assignment by the end of the month, and, well, Matt Mantei is in Boston. (I couldn't discuss injured Arizona relievers without mentioning MM at least once.) None of this really matters, because Brandon Lyon has excelled in the ARZ closer role, and he's not giving it back any time soon.

In more important news, Eric Gagne is now feeling only "minor stiffness" in his pitching arm, and is confident that he will begin a throwing program in the next couple of days.

Finally, Joe Borowski and his physicians were happy with the results of his most recent x-ray, and he began some light throwing over the past week. He's still probably a week away from returning, and while there's no guarantee that he'll assume the closer role upon his return, LaTroy Hawkins is 0-for-1 in the young season.

39 Blown Saves in 99 MLB Games

The title says it all - As reported by the Associated Press this morning, we've seen 39 blown saves in the 99 MLB games that had been played through yesterday.

Seems like an astonishing statistic. However, as the article also notes, there were 35 blown saves in the first 102 games played in 2004 - so this year isn't really all that out of the ordinary. One good day for bullpens across the league, and we'll ahead of last year's pace at the completion of today's games.