David Robertson – No Savior

Fantasy baseball - Mariano Rivera smilingWhen Mariano Rivera went down with a freak batting practice injury, baseball took a hit losing a 42-year old legend with 608 career saves, for the season. With five full months left to play, the Yankees will likely turn to young David Robertson to fill the void created when Mo Rivera tore the ACL in his right knee. Robertson is 27-years-old and has recorded only 3 career saves over 216 career appearances out of the bullpen.

Robertson has electric stuff, his pitches move all over the strike zone and he had a breakout season last year, striking out 100 batters in just 66.2 innings. It is worth noting that the Yankees are turning to Robertson over Rafael Soriano who once saved 45 games in a season for Tampa Bay. The Yankee brass must have confidence in Robertson if they jumped him from a 7th inning guy to their closer.

Fantasy baseball - David Robertson throwing a pitch

Fantasy owners have taken note of the situation in New York and have reacted accordingly. In ESPN leagues, Robertson has jumped from being owned in 12.5% of leagues to 74.5% in just the last 7 days and 38% in Yahoo leagues. Robertson is worth keeping an eye but do not be overzealous in picking him up.

Closing games for the Yankees and the pressures of New York City is no easy task and Robertson will be under immense pressure to perform. The Yankees play an unbalanced schedule in the AL East with numerous battle-tested teams that won’t give up until the 27th out is recorded. Getting those last three outs will be Robertson’s new job. Good luck, kid.

While Robertson may succeed in his new role, he has an uphill battle to climb and Rafael Soriano waiting to take over the closer duties if he does not start off well. Rivera has handled nearly every save opportunity for the Yankees since 1997. There will be plenty of saves to be had for whoever closes games the rest of the way in 2012, which means Robertson may save 25-30 games, and if he does, that will be one great (and unlikely) accomplishment.

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