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Brian Fuentes<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> is expected to return from the disabled list on Wednesday, and he’ll reclaim the closer’s role for the Angels<\/a>. Here’s manager Mike Scioscia via the Los Angeles Times: <\/p>\n "Right now, Brian is going to pitch the ninth," Scioscia said. "If we have to adjust, we will."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If they adjust, they’ll clearly lean on Fernando Rodney<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> He’s pitched five perfect innings in Fuentes’ absence, earning a win and four saves while striking out four. <\/p>\n Everyone knows that Rodney has his flaws — he’s 33 and his career WHIP is 1.41 — but he filled in for Fuentes admirably. Don’t cut him loose too quickly. According to the terms of Fuentes’ deal, he’ll trigger a $9 million vesting option if he finishes 55 games this season. The Angels can’t reasonably allow that to happen. Fuentes led the majors in saves in 2009, but he staggered across the finish line, posting a 4.81 ERA and 1.68 WHIP after the break. <\/a><\/p>\n Here’s the minty fresh Tuesday closing grid, now with three times the cavity fighting power… <\/p>\n •<\/strong> Yes, Franklin Morales<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has blown consecutive save opportunities for Colorado, but the second of them was severely umpire-aided<\/a>. He can’t lose the job under these circumstances. Huston Street<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has been throwing off flat ground, but we’re still waiting for a rehab timetable. <\/p>\n •<\/strong> Chad Qualls<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> received a vote of confidence from his manager<\/a> after back-to-back blown saves against the Dodgers: "Qualls is our closer. It’s been a couple of rough games for him, but Qualls is our closer." Juan Gutierrez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has given up three hits, six runs and three walks in his last two appearances, so he hasn’t exactly demanded Qualls’ job. And the Diamondbacks’ defense didn’t do Qualls any favors in Thursday’s blown save at L.A. <\/p>\n •<\/strong> Michael Gonzalez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (shoulder) will pay a visit to Dr. Andrews for a second opinion, but Andy MacPhail found a complicated way to reassure us<\/a> that nothing is wrong: "I have no reason to believe that the original prognosis is not the one that comes to fruition, which is to expect him back in like three weeks." Jim Johnson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> successfully converted a two-inning save against the A’s on Sunday after blowing a save on Saturday. Koji Uehara<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> remains a darkhorse closing candidate, though he’s still DL’d.<\/p>\n •<\/strong> Brad Lidge<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (knee, elbow) finally figured out how to retire the opposing hitters at Single-A, so he’ll make the jump to Triple-A Lehigh Valley<\/a>. Assuming that he absolutely dominates there — safe assumption, no? — Lidge could return by the end of the month, following the Phillies’ nine-game road trip. <\/p>\n •<\/strong> Kerry Wood<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> (back) is throwing bullpen sessions, awaiting a rehab schedule. Chris Perez<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> has saved four games in Wood’s absence, but he’s also shown us Bad Perez<\/a>. (Marson shoulda blocked that wild pitch, though). Like Fuentes, Wood has a vesting option for his team to fret about, but it could be out of reach by the time he returns. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Photo via AP Images Brian Fuentes(notes) is expected to return from the disabled list on Wednesday, and he’ll reclaim the closer’s role for the Angels. Here’s manager Mike Scioscia via the Los Angeles Times: "Right now, Brian is going to pitch the ninth," Scioscia said. "If we have to adjust, we will." If they adjust, they’ll clearly lean on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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