Life is coming at the Giants’ bullpen fast. On Monday, Hunter Strickland blew a save against the Marlins and punched out a door. On Tuesday, Strickland had surgery and Sam Dyson was named the new closer. That night, Dyson notched a save, and then on Wednesday afternoon, he came perilously close to blowing a save.

The Giants gave Dyson a three-run cushion in their series finale with Miami, but the Marlins shaved a run off the lead when Starlin Castro brought Miguel Rojas home with a one-out sacrifice fly. Dyson was one strike away from recording his second save in two days, but then Brian Anderson smacked an 0-2 two-seamer into right field for an RBI single. After J.T. Realmuto singled on Dyson’s very next pitch, Bruce Bochy called for Reyes Moronta to get out of the jam. In striking out J.B. Shuck on four pitches, Moronta got credit for his first career save.
Read the rest of this entry »

Among yesterday’s developments, I was pretty certain nothing was going to top the Cubs losing their closer due to an injury sustained while taking his pants off. I was wrong.

After blowing a save against the Marlins on Monday night, Hunter Strickland then lost a fight with a door. The Giants’ closer punched said door and broke his right hand. He underwent surgery on his right pinky finger on Tuesday and is expected to be out for six-to-eight weeks. Bruce Bochy wasted little time in anointing Sam Dyson as his new primary closer, and promptly used him to nail down a save against the Marlins on Tuesday night. With Tony Watson apparently off after pitching on consecutive days, Will Smith pitched the eighth inning and stayed in to begin the ninth with lefties J.B. Shuck and Derek Dietrich due up, but after walking pinch hitter Yadiel Rivera and striking out Dietrich, he gave way to Dyson. The sinkerballer, who happens to have a 64.8 percent ground ball rate, got Brian Anderson to hit into a game-ending double play.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to put a good spin on Gary Sanchez rolling into late June as the seventh-ranked catcher in Roto value (per ESPN’s Player Rater), but while his season has been disappointing, it has its bright side. For one thing, at least he is having a better fantasy season than Willson Contreras. For another, he leads all catchers in runs (35) and is second in home runs (13) and RBI (39).

It’s clearly Sanchez’s .194 batting average that is holding him back, and now that he is mired in a 6 for 62 slump, it’s heading in the wrong direction. He is a bit off last season’s home run pace and his strikeout rate has risen slightly from 22.9 percent in 2017 to 24.6 percent so far in 2018, but his real problem is what he is doing on balls in play.
Read the rest of this entry »

Wade Davis has been among the wildest relievers of 2018, but for the first two months of the season, it scarcely seemed to matter. He rolled into June having blown only two of his 20 save opportunities, and he sported a 2.35 ERA. Even at Coors Field, Davis had overcome his wildness, holding opponents to a .276 wOBA with only two extra-base hits (one homer and one double) allowed over 9.2 innings.

The Rockies’ closer has been largely successful, despite a 33.6 percent Zone% that is the second-lowest among qualified relievers, because he has been extremely stingy with hard contact over most of the season. Through May 31, Davis was allowing an average exit velocity of just 88.4 mph on flyballs and line drives (per Baseball Savant). Since then, that average is sitting at 94.4 mph.
Read the rest of this entry »

In the nine days since Jeurys Familia was shelved with a sore right shoulder, the Mets have had just one save situation. They did not have one on Saturday against the Diamondbacks, but in holding a 5-1 lead over the final three innings, they were close to having one. Mickey Callaway went with the same late-inning combination that he used in the save situation against the Yankees on June 1o: Robert Gsellman providing the bridge from the starter in the seventh and eighth innings to Anthony Swarzak in the ninth.

Both pitchers performed admirably in Familia’s absence, but they are now expected to return to their prior roles, as the Mets are planning on activating their closer on Sunday. Familia is expected to move immediately back into the closer’s role.
Read the rest of this entry »

For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Marlins helped themselves with a sacrifice fly off Hunter Strickland. On Wednesday night, it was Brian Anderson’s deep fly to center field that brought in Miguel Rojas to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Then on Thursday, Strickland was brought in with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. Three batters into the frame, he engaged in a nine-pitch battle with Lewis Brinson that concluded with a flyball to the warning track. That drive scored Starlin Castro and tied the game up. In fairness to Strickland, Castro had reached on a Joe Panik error, and the night before, he had inherited two runners from Reyes Moronta.

With Mark Melancon back, it may seem like Strickland has less margin for error, but the Giants’ former closer is far from the most immediate threat to the incumbent’s job security. Tony Watson has been spectacular lately, not allowing a run over his last 8.1 innings while striking out 13 batters and yielding only a single and a walk. Sam Dyson stumbled a bit in the Marlins series, allowing three runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings, but prior to that, he had allowed one run over a 13.1-inning span with 17 strikeouts and four walks.
Read the rest of this entry »

After a difficult latter half of May, Felipe Vazquez seemed to get himself in the clear with some effective performances to begin this month. Vazquez’ first three games in June resulted in 3.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. That brief string of encouraging outings was snapped on Wednesday, as he nearly frittered away the three-run lead the Pirates gave him to start off the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks. Jon Jay’s two-out, bases-loaded single cut the lead to one run, and the tying run — represented by Deven Marrero — was just 90 feet from home. After an intentional walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Vazquez escaped the inning by striking out Jake Lamb.
Read the rest of this entry »

Gabe Kapler has cast a wide net for the Phillies’ closer committee, using four different relievers to start off a final inning in a save situation since removing Hector Neris as the full-time closer. Neris, who has been a part of that mix, flubbed the one high-leverage situation he has had over the last three weeks. Luis Garcia has been entrusted with several high-stakes situations lately, but it may be hard for Kapler to trust him as a setup reliever, much less as a closer, going forward. Garcia has allowed six runs over his last three innings, and in each of the Phillies’ last two games, he has bequeathed a save opportunity onto a teammate after making a mess in the ninth inning.

On Sunday, Garcia gave way to Tommy Hunter after allowing a single and a double against the Brewers, but he got into more serious trouble in Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. Garcia started off the ninth inning with a comfortable 5-1 lead, but he allowed four consecutive singles before handing a bases-loaded, no-out save situation over to Seranthony Dominguez. The Rockies continued to go station-to-station against Dominguez, as Chris Iannetta singled in Gerardo Parra to cut the lead to 5-3. DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly shaved off another run, but Dominguez retired Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado for his third save.
Read the rest of this entry »

Fantasy owners tend to give good hitters on bad teams short shrift, and that was certainly the case for Justin Bour this spring. Even though he was coming off a breakout season in which he batted .289 with 25 home runs and 83 RBI in 429 plate appearances, Bour fell to the late rounds in many leagues, lagging behind the less accomplished Greg Bird and Josh Bell in ADP.

Two-and-a-half months into the season, the Marlins first baseman seems to be validating owners’ fears. He ranks 29th in a largely-disappointing pool of first basemen in terms of Roto value (per ESPN’s Player Rater). Bour is batting just .242, and despite posting a .375 OBP, he has scored just 24 runs. With 10 home runs and 27 RBI in 253 plate appearances, he is well behind last season’s pace for both stats. It’s little wonder he is widely available in 12-team mixed leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Zach Britton Day! The Orioles are planning to activate their once-and-future closer on Monday, though not surprisingly, he will likely be eased into the closer’s role. It’s also not a shock that, according to a report from the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles may deal Britton, along with Brad Brach and Darren O’Day, prior to the trade deadline. If all three are dealt, perhaps current setup relievers Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier could get save chances later in the season. The Sun report also cites Tanner Scott as having received more work in high-leverage situations prior to his getting optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday, so he could be a late-season candidate for saves or holds as well.
Read the rest of this entry »