Saturday, April 4, 2009

Soria gets sorted

Royals closer Joakim Soria made good in his last spring training outing, firing a perfect ninth inning in a 5-4 win over Texas. That's a lot better than his last two appearances when he gave up 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings. The Royals attributed his problems to illness, lack of normalcy due to pitching in the World Baseball Classic and a minor groin issue.

Fantasy Impact: Soria is one of the handful of elite closers in the game. His numbers are off the charts, and if the Royals approach a .500 record in 2009, he'll draw comparisons to Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan and Brad Lidge.

Wilson works for SF

Pitching for the first time in 10 days after a finger infection, Giants closer Brian Wilson tossed a shutout inning on Friday night. Wilson took Saturday off. He's expected to pitch Sunday in the Giants final tune up, making him available for opening day on Monday.