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Closer Rankings: Uehara pushes toward top, Doolittle makes big jump
Craig Kimbrel has been the mark against which other closers have been measured this season, and Koji Uehara is giving the Braves' thrower a run for his money. In 12 appearances for the Red Sox in June, Uehara has gone 2-0 with five saves in six opportunities, a 2.08 ERA, 0.62 WHIP and 12 K's in 13 innings. While he's has fewer chances to rack up saves in Boston (17 to Kimbrel's 26), Uehara's numbers compare favorably to our top closer.
Also on the rise is Oakland's Sean Doolittle, who has been a mark of consistency over the past two months, not giving up a run since imploding in Houston on April 26. Since then, he's tossed 23 unblemished appearances, notching 40 strikeouts compared to just five hits and a single walk. In that stretch, he's lowered his ERA from 6.17 to 1.95 and his WHIP 0.63 points to just 0.57 on the season.
Sergio Romo's rough time in San Francisco has seen him drop seven spots to 17th, giving Jean Machi, up 14 spots to 36th, some relevancy if he can start to steal opportunities from the incumbent reliever.
1. Craig Kimbrel
2. Koji Uehara
Uehara's ERA is 1.26, his WHIP is 0.76, and he has 45 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. Splitting hairs between Uehara and Kimbrel.
3. Aroldis Chapman
4. Greg Holland
Holland's ERA is 1.88, his WHIP is 1.12 and he has 42 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. It's clear there's a dip after the top four closers.
5. Kenley Jansen
6. Sean Doolittle
The last time Doolittle allowed an earned run, the NBA and NHL playoffs were still in the first round.
7. Huston Street
8. Glen Perkins
Perkins has allowed three earned runs in his last two appearances, though he surrendered just one run in his 11 previous times out.
9. Joakim Soria
10. Steve Cishek
11. Francisco Rodriguez
Rodriguez has slowed down a bit from his ridiculous April, but he remains in firm control of the Brewers' ninth-inning duties.
12. Rafael Soriano
13. David Robertson
14. Casey Janssen
15. Trevor Rosenthal
Rosenthal is still walking a ton of batters (20 in 36 innings), but so long as he keeps notching saves and missing bats, he's pleasing his fantasy owners.
16. Fernando Rodney
Rodney has discovered the control fairly recently, issuing just two free passes in his last 11 appearances.
17. Sergio Romo
Romo has put up two scoreless innings after allowing seven runs in 1 1/3 innings against the Rockies.
18. Jonathan Papelbon
19. Zach Britton
The strikeouts aren't coming, but Britton has a 1.64 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 38 1/3 innings. It's OK to believe.
20. Addison Reed
21. Chad Qualls
Qualls remains a prime trade candidate, which would likely rob him of most his fantasy value. Now would be a good time to try to sell him.
22. Hector Rondon
Rondon has allowed one hit and one walk with five strikeouts in two innings since coming back from elbow soreness.
23. Cody Allen
Cleveland Indians
24. LaTroy Hawkins
25. Joe Nathan
26. Ernesto Frieri
27. Jenrry Mejia
Mejia has been up and down since moving into the closer's role, but he seems to have a solid grip on the job for now.
28. Ronald Belisario
He's still the closer, but Belisario has Daniel Webb looming over his shoulder.
29. Jake McGee
McGee has been the best pitcher in the Rays' bullpen, and that makes him the favorite in this mess of a ninth-inning situation.
30. Juan Carlos Oviedo
Tampa Bay Rays
Oviedo picked up his first save of the season a week ago, though he allowed a solo homer. He has the most experience as a closer among the members of Tampa Bay's committee.
31. Joel Peralta
Tampa Bay Rays
32. Brad Ziegler
Arizona Diamondbacks
Ziegler has been mostly good this year, but the only reason he ranks this high is because of Addison Reed's struggles. Kirk Gibson does not yet seem willing to make a change.
33. Mark Melancon
34. Joaquin Benoit
San Diego Padres
35. Daniel Webb
Chicago White Sox
36. Jean Machi
San Francisco
With Sergio Romo's recent struggles, Machi could be in line to pick up some saves in the not-too-distant future. He has a 0.29 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in 31 1/3 innings this year.
37. Joba Chamberlain
Detroit Tigers
38. Drew Storen
Washington Nationals
39. Joe Smith
Los Angeles Angels
40. Darren O'Day
Baltimore Orioles
41. Wade Davis
Kansas City Royals
42. Danny Farquhar
Seattle Mariners
43. Bryan Shaw
Cleveland Indians
44. Junichi Tazawa
Boston Red Sox
45. John Axford
Cleveland Indians
46. Tyler Clippard
Washington Nationals
47. Neil Ramirez
Chicago Cubs
48. Grant Balfour
Tampa Bay Rays
49. Adam Ottavino
Colorado Rockies
Michael Beller is SI.com's fantasy sports editor and a staff writer covering fantasy, college basketball and MLB. He resides in Chicago and has been with SI.com since 2010.