Perez earns cheers for No. 14: Indians closer Chris Perez, who drew fire after his last outing for criticizing the fans for booing him, closed out his 14th game of the season on Tuesday, allowing a walk and a hit to the Tigers before shutting the door on a 5-3 victory. He struck out one in the outing, and moved into a tie for second place in the league in saves. (Updated 05/22/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 5/23/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Perez has been mostly terrific this season, and he is now well on his way to his second 30-save season in a row. He blew his first save chance of the season, however he has closed out 14 in a row now. He has 16 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings, and should be considered a solid starting reliever in all Fantasy formats. (Updated 05/22/2012).
05/22/2012 22:25 Cheered Perez gets job done for Indians
Chris Perez, greeted by a standing ovation from the time he left the bullpen, worked another scary ninth inning for his 14th save as the Cleveland Indians ended a 10-game losing streak to Detroit with a 5-3 win over the Tigers on Tuesday night.
05/22/2012 19:15 Indians' Perez sets up closer vs. Cleveland fans after criticism
As if closing isn't difficult enough, Chris Perez makes it worse when he bashes Indians fans about the attendance for the first-place team. Scott Miller wonders what the response will be Perez's next time out.
05/20/2012 13:40 3 to Watch: The Rivalry, what rivalry? edition
The Nationals desperately want to have a rivalry with the Phillies. The Phillies don't see it the same way. 3 to Watch says it's not a rivalry yet, but that this week's series at Citizens Bank Park could help one develop.
When Chris Perez emerged as the Indians' closer midway through 2010, he was everything Fantasy owners hoped he would be from the time the Cardinals drafted him 42nd overall in 2006. But when he held the job from start to finish in 2011, he was kind of disappointing. He was reliable enough, converting 36 saves in 40 opportunities, but he lacked the knockout ability expected of a closer -- the knockout ability he had demonstrated at every other point in his career. In fact, of the pitchers with more than 15 saves, only Francisco Cordero had a lower strikeout rate than Perez's 5.9 per nine innings. The key difference is Cordero is 36 and in the latter stages of his career while Perez is 26 and just beginning his. Perez also lost some velocity on his fastball from one year to the next, which might have had something to do with the decline in strikeouts. Was an injury to blame? Hard to say, but he hasn't been completely healthy this spring. Of course, his injury is a strained oblique, and the Indians still think he'll be ready to go at the start of the season. Perhaps last year Perez simply fell victim to the whims of a relatively low number of innings. Considering he has an assured role for a wild card potential contender, he's still worth drafting as a No. 2 reliever. (Updated 3/27/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start