Brandon League Leads American League in Saves

Brandon League of the Seattle Mariners is currently the leader in saves for the American League. The young closer has proven once again that he is one of the best closers in baseball, despite a rough week that he had earlier in the season. It has to make fans wonder if he will be selected to the American League All-Star team, or if he will be passed over for someone less worthy.

According to ESPN, League now has 18 saves during the 2011 MLB season. That is two ahead of both Mariano Rivera (New York Yankees) and Jose Valverde (Detroit Tigers) to lead the league. It's also just behind Huston Street and Leo Nunez, who lead the National League with 19 saves during the current season.

For a guy that wasn't even supposed to be a full time closer coming into the year, those are pretty amazing statistics. The Mariners had penciled in David Aardsma to be their closer again this year, but League stepped in when offseason surgery kept Aardsma from being ready back in March. Now Aardsma is still out recovering, and League has become the seemingly permanent closer for the ball club.

When comparing League to the other closers in baseball, he has posted pone of the best WHIP's out of all of them. That 1.07 is much better than what Valverde, Neftali Feliz and Chris Perez have been able to post. He also has a better save percentage than Rivera, Feliz, Kevin Gregg, Brian Fuentes, and Joakim Soria this year. Now it will be interesting to see if he is considered to be in the elite category of closers by the American League manager. If it ends up being Terry Francona selecting the pitchers though, it seems likely he will be looked over in favor of a less reliable Jonathan Papelbon.

Thanks to League, the Mariners have one of the best bullpens in baseball right now. It creates a situation where Seattle can shut the door on opponents if they take a lead into the seventh inning. The back end of their bullpen has three pitchers that need to be considered for the All-Star Game, especially if the managers are going to add set-up men to the mix again.

Soon, most of baseball will know who League is, even though most of the hitters in the American League are already well aware of what he can do on the mound. He has shut down the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, and New York Yankees already this season, merely posing the question of who's next?