Phillies to welcome back not one, but two, closers

By Brooks Peck, Special to SI.com, ProFantasySports.com

The end is near.

No, not the end your friendly neighborhood street person has been babbling about since 1999 or the one hinted at in the trailer for that untitled J.J. Abrams movie. This is a good end -- an end that will bring not one, but two closers back to the Phillies' bullpen.

That's right; Tom Gordon and Brett Myers' days on the DL are finally numbered, and those numbers are low. According to the Phillies' official Web site, Gordon could be back in the bullpen on July 16, with Myers to follow suit shortly thereafter. Good news for the Phillies, of course, and fantasy owners who have been patiently waiting for one (or both?) of these two to get back to work and notch some saves already.

It's been a while since either one last took the mound. Gordon has been on the DL since May 1 with a strained rotator cuff. His stay was extended by an upper respiratory infection that landed him in the hospital for five days and put his return on hold indefinitely. He's been on a rehab assignment since July 4 and hasn't suffered any setbacks since then, which brings us to now.

With Antonio Alfonseca blowing his last two save chances the timing for Gordon's return, assuming he remains on schedule, is pretty perfect. Although Gordon blew three of eight save chances and worked his way to a 4.82 ERA and 1.71 WHIP before hitting the DL, the blame for all that can easily be placed on the shoulder injury which he kept to himself for much of April. Whether he returns to pitch like he did last season, when he had 34 saves and a 3.34 ERA, remains to be seen, but assuming his shoulder (and every other part of him) is healthy, Gordon should look much better than he did back in April.

Just how well Gordon does could directly impact Myers' role upon his return. While it's likely Myers will get back to pitching in save situations as manager Charlie Manuel had originally envisioned, a successful Gordon could give him time to ease his way back into action. But we can worry about all that when the time comes. For now, let us rejoice in the fact that these two are on their way back and Alfonseca will no longer have to be depended upon as a major league closer. He can now return to simply being the overweight, six-fingered anomaly he is. The end.

While you ponder how this column can continue after the words "the end" were clearly used, let's take a look at some other bullpen situations around the league:

Astros: Wednesday night's eight-pitch perfect inning for Double-A Corpus Christi ended Brad Lidge's brief rehab assignment on a strong note -- one that could finally (maybe) translate to a little ninth-inning reliability for the Astros. In Lidge's absence, Dan Wheeler blew three of his last four save chances and had a 10.43 ERA in June. Also, opponents have been hitting well over .300 off him since the start of June. Oh, and he shoved starter Chris Sampson right after blowing a save for him. Plus, I'm pretty sure he littered this one time. Anyway, the point is Lidge should be in line for some save chances in the very near future.

Devil Rays: Al Reyes appears to be on schedule to return from the DL when he's first eligible on July 19, which means Gary Glover will soon return to doing whatever Gary Glover did before he was thrust into being the Rays' closer. There really shouldn't be any controversy here once Reyes gets back in the bullpen -- Glover has converted one save situation, but it was a scary save (which should totally be a real stat) where he allowed two hits, one being a homer, before finishing off the Royals one run shy of extra innings. See ya soon, Al.

Rockies: Perhaps explaining those four blown saves in a row that All-Star Brian Fuentes notched before losing his job, it was revealed that he has a strained muscle on his pitching side. The injury caused him to sit out the weekend series before the All-Star break, but isn't thought to be bad enough to land him on the DL. Rookie Manny Corpas has already secured a win and his first career save since taking over closing duties from Fuentes, and is looking reliable enough for the time being. Don't get too attached, though, because Fuentes should eventually earn his job back.

Royals: With rumors swirling -- or at least gently rippling -- of Octavio Dotel possibly being traded, the question of who would be his replacement arises. The answer is simple though -- it's Joakim Soria. See how I didn't mention Zack Greinke there? Yeah, that was on purpose. The end. (For real.)

Brooks Peck covers baseball for ProFantasySports.com. He can be reached at brookspeck@profantasysports.com.