Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
The top two closers on every fantasy baseball cheat sheet this summer have been Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves and Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds. They are both at the top of their respective field and both completely dominated the fantasy world last season.
Unfortunately, Chapman was drilled with a comebacker on Wednesday night in a Cactus League game against the Kansas City Royals. Chapman’s face was split wide open and the fireballer was forced to go to the hospital.
Chapman was later diagnosed with a concussion and was forced to have surgery to place a metal plate in above his left eye. The original prognosis has Chapman sidelined for six to eight weeks, which would put him out until May at the earliest.
As a result of Chapman’s injury, Kimbrel is now sitting atop the fantasy closer rankings all by himself. Kimbrel is the only closer that legitimately owns the ninth inning, because as we saw last season, no one’s job is safe. There has been a very high turnover at the closer position in recent seasons and it just proves that it is never wise to reach for a closer.
On draft day, Kimbrel will be the only closer that is worth reaching for. He will be good for another 40-plus saves and will be safest option to plug into the RP spot on a weekly basis.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
