The closer is the most glamourized and expensive relief pitcher on a baseball team. They are the bullpen celebrities, the only relievers marketed by major league teams alongside sluggers and aces.

And right now, a third of them — including the Blue Jays’ Sergio Santos — are injured. Their teams are forced to find ways to finish games without them.

RELATED: INJURED CLOSERS PHOTO GALLERY

Some are doing better than others. Consider the Jays one of the others.

Their seven blown saves lead the American League, and they are struggling more than any other team in the absence of their ninth-inning shutdown man.

After incurring the third-most blown saves in the majors last season — tying the Los Angeles Angels for the most in the American League — Jays’ GM Alex Anthopoulos revamped his team’s bullpen this off-season, adding veteran free agents Francisco Cordero and Darren Oliver, and trading for the hard-throwing Santos.

Bullpen depth was supposed to be one of the team’s strengths this year, but after 30 games it has proved to be the biggest weakness.

The club had trouble closing out tight games even before Santos was injured — the 28-year-old went 2-4 in save opportunities before he was sidelined with shoulder inflammation on April 21 — but they have been worse without him, going a combined 2-7 since his injury.

Interim closer Cordero has posted a failing 2-5 grade, while fellow relievers Casey Janssen and Darren Oliver have each earned a blown save of their own.

After Cordero’s last meltdown, the Jays announced on Wednesday that Janssen would serve as the team’s closer until Santos returns.

Cordero said he agreed with the decision because “I’m not doing my job.”

A grand slam by Brandon Inge closed Cordero’s run with the gig on Tuesday night, when the Jays coughed up a 3-2 lead against Oakland in the ninth and ended up losing 7-4.

The Jays’ 36 per cent save rate (4-11) is the lowest in the majors, behind the Colorado Rockies (7-16, 44 per cent), who have already accumulated nine blown saves.

The league average save success rate this season is 65 per cent, down 3.3 percentage points from last season’s average.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, have hardly missed their injured closer, Kyle Farnsworth. The team is 11-12 in save situations so far this season, with hard-throwing Fernando Rodney filling in for the ailing Farnsworth.

What is a save situation?

The “save” became an official statistic in Major League Baseball in 1969, and is the most common measurement used to track a closer’s effectiveness. A “blown save” registers when a save opportunity is lost.

According to the MLB’s Rule 10.19, a save is awarded to a pitcher who meets all four of the following criteria:

He is the last pitcher in a game won by his team;

He is not the winning pitcher;

He is credited with at least one out;

He satisfies one of the following criteria:

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs;

He enters the game with the potential tying run on base, at bat or on deck;

He pitches for at least three innings

Read more about: