Matt Capps to Close

Today, the Pittsburg Pirates announced the demotion of Salomon Torres from the closer role in favor of Matt Capps.  Capps has a poor 34.9% ground ball rate that will lead to Home Runs, but if it increases to it’s 2006 level of 40.7% the damage won’t be too bad.  His K/9 is up from 6.25 in 2006 to 7.36 in 2007, but at age 23 this doesn’t look very fishy.  He showed good control last year with a 1.34 BB/9 and has maintained this so far in 2007 with a 1.84 BB/9.  A K/BB of 4.00 is very good and makes Capps a pretty good option despite his low ground ball rate.  He should be owned in all leagues.  Torres can be dropped in most leagues, but should remain first in line should Capps go down.