• Andrew Miller left last night’s game and his knee tendinitis seems to be acting up again, causing a quick return to the DL. Joe Smith moves up a notch to the next-in-line and Bryan Shaw makes another return to the grid.  As far as saves go, this isn’t a major move as Cody Allen has been receiving most, if not all, of the save opportunities of late. However, there aren’t many setup men better than Andrew Miller so it’s naturally a big loss for those in holds leagues, duh. As we all saw in October, Cleveland used Miller quite a bit in the playoffs and with a five game lead in the division they have no reason to rush him back. There is no real timetable on Miller’s return but I wouldn’t rely on him pitching significant innings the rest of the year as the Indians prepare for him to be at his best in October again.

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• After getting the save in yesterday’s outing, Juan Minaya followed it up with another save today for the White Sox in the first half of a double header against the Twins. Minaya has converted the last three save opportunities he’s been handed and certainly looks to be the closer.  Minaya’s triple slash line of 4.50/4.57/4.26 doesn’t look too fancy but his 3.59 SIERA and 30.5% K% paints a more palatable picture. Not many saves to be expected for the rest of the season here, but I’m upgrading Minaya to yellow.

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• With Tyler Clippard moving to Houston the White Sox bullpen is a bit of a mess. Juan Minaya, Jake Petricka and Gregory Infante could all see the ninth but I’m going to roll out Juan Minaya to start. As of now we haven’t quite heard enough out of White Sox camp to make an exact call but Minaya is probably the best of the bunch. In 27.1 innings pitched Minaya has a 6.61/4.31/3.94 ERA/FIP/xFIP line but also has a 3.26 SIERA and a 31.9% K% and 10.6% BB%. You would like to see fewer walks but beggars can’t quite be choosers. Petricka and Infante aren’t particularly exciting or even usable for that matter in fantasy and I would look to grab Minaya first.

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• Roberto Osuna has had a rough end of July into early August having allowed 9 earned runs in his previous five appearances but he threw a perfect ninth for his 29th save tonight. A slew of bad outings raised Osuna’s ERA which now stands at 3.40 but he still supports a 1.44/2.54 FIP/xFIP and a 2.04 SIERA proving he remains an elite option. Osuna has been an above average closer since he came onto the scene at age 20 and a few years later at age 22 he’s one of the best. He upped his Swinging Strike rate to 18.8% this year which ranks second among all qualified relievers, only trailing Craig Kimbrel and those swings and misses has led Osuna to a career high 35.4% K%. Given his ridiculously young age we expected Osuna could take the leap this year and he’s done exactly that. The Blue Jays might not offer the same amount of opportunities moving forward as a Kimbrel or Kenley Jansen but in 2018 and beyond, that’s the company he will keep.

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As usual, not a full slate of games on Monday but a few things to note…

• After throwing two scoreless innings last night, Trevor Hildenberger was back again tonight getting the first two outs in the seventh inning. Ryan Pressley threw a scoreless eighth, handing the ball off to Matt Belisle. Belisle converted his first opportunity last night and continued operating as the Twins closer tonight as he secured his second save of the year and it sure looks like Belisle is the man to own for saves in Minnesota. He’s not a sexy name but he hasn’t allowed an earned run since June and in his last 22.2 innings, he’s only allowed the one earned run with 19 strikeouts against 5 walks. Hildenberger is still the exciting name to own and probably the best option in the pen but given the recent usage, I’m putting moving this situation to yellow.

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• Pitching in the top of the ninth inning in a tie game, Wade Davis allowed homers to Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez and ended up taking his first loss for the Cubs. It’s tough to blame any pitcher for allowing long balls to those two (Goldy had two more in the game) but he’s been a little off of late, for him. Davis hasn’t been blowing games but since July, he has thrown eight innings with four earned runs and a 9/7 K/BB. After tonight’s game, Davis has a 9.1% HR/FB which is below average but he’s always been pretty terrific at home run suppression. He’s missing bats as well which is a good sign but his 11.6% BB% would represent a career high. I’m certainly picking nits here as Davis still qualifies as a fantastic option for saves but if I was making a deadline move I would be slightly weary to pay top dollar for Davis over others in his tier.

Of more concern however might be Carl Edwards Jr. who walked the only batters he faced in the eighth. Those guys happened to be Goldschmidt and Martinez, so again, it’s tough to blame the pitcher here but control has been an issue of his of late. After tonight’s outing, Edwards still supports a fantastic 13.19 K/9 but it’s paired with a 5.86 BB/9 which is a little troublesome. If Edwards can’t find the strike zone and keeps allowing free passes at that rate, an untimely homer or two could do some damage to your ratios and with Justin Wilson in Chicago, he’s likely not the guy to own if something were to happen to Davis.

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Well the trade deadline has passed so let’s take a look and see how the bullpens were affected. Before I go on however, it’s worth leading you to Paul’s breakdown earlier this afternoon.  Tonight we will focus on the deadline recap and tomorrow we will turn our attention to deeper dives in those situations that are deserving.

• With the Mets selling we all figured Addison Reed would be on the way out and to Boston he goes. Reed won’t have many chance for saves unless Kimbrel gets hurt or throws three days in a row but he likely leapfrogs Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly as the main setup man in Boston. Reed’s been pretty terrific since last year in New York pitching to a 2.20/2.43/3.28 ERA/FIP/xFIP line in 126.2 innings. However, it’s worth noting in that time he’s posted a mediocre 39% GB%. Moving from Citi to Fenway Park and the American League might cause a few more fly balls to leave the yard. I don’t doubt Reed as the best option behind Kimbrel but consider him to be more of a decent fantasy option than ace reliever. The Red Sox figure to be one of the better teams in the AL moving forward so Reed should rack up those Holds but in save only leagues there isn’t much to see here.

As for the Mets side, recent acquisition A.J. Ramos will pick up the ninth inning duties with Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins behind him. Addison Reed’s control was stellar for the Mets but A.J. Ramos and his (lack of) control will probably have Mets fans remembering Armando Benitez. Overall they should be pleased with the results if that’s the case but his 4.5-5 BB/9 will likely cause fans to occasionally pull their hair out late in games. Read the rest of this entry »

• Let the trades begin! In case you haven’t heard the news, the Yankees and the White Sox conducted a trade with fairly significant bullpen implications. Travis Sawchik has a great post about the trade here but the White Sox are sending Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and Todd Frazier to the Yankees with prospects Blake Rutherford, Tito Polo, Ian Clarkin and veteran arm Tyler Clippard moving to Chicago. With Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances already in store, it’s unlikely that Robertson or Kahnle see the ninth but they sure make for a formidable pen in New York.

If you were a Robertson owner hoping to see saves in Washington, I’m sorry. If you were a Kahnle owner licking your chops for Robertson to be moved, I’m sorry. Of more interest than the Yankees situation since Chapman and Betances already have the fort down is the current one in Chicago. I initially thought that Clippard would get the first shot but with a 4.95/4.97/4.82 pitching line and a contract into next year, it’s unlikely he will be able to prove enough as an interim closer to get anything of value in a trade. Anthony Swarzak however is a different case. He has been excellent with a 2.45/2.29/3.48 line and since he is a free agent next year, it’s likely the White Sox want to pump up his value. I expect him to get the first save chances and also expect him to be in trade rumors until the deadline. With all of that said, this situation is still red.

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• Rough night for Craig Kimbrel as he only struck out one in a perfect inning for his 21st save. I’m a bit late to the game but I watched Fastball this weekend on Netflix which featured Craig Kimbrel and his heater quite a bit. While he was on the Braves when the film came out, he’s throwing even harder now (98.2 average mph on his fastball) and maybe even pitching better than ever, which says a lot. In 33.2 innings pitched this year, Kimbrel has 61 strikeouts against only five walks leading to a 1.07/0.43/1.12 ERA/FIP/xFIP pitching line. If you’re wondering if maybe SIERA is picking up something FIP is missing, well that’s at a cool 0.94. Kimbrel has broken advanced pitching metrics this year, again.

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• Bud Norris was placed on the DL with knee inflammation and he’s been replaced on the grid somewhat by Cam Bedrosian. Bedrosian threw a scoreless frame on Saturday and also threw a perfect seventh this evening getting the Hold against the Yankees. There was no save situation but David Hernandez pitched in the ninth with Keynan Middleton also seeing some high leverage innings throwing a perfect eighth. It’s tough to gauge where the saves lie currently in Anaheim but I’m going to put Cam in the closer’s chair as he’s their best currently healthy reliever (when he’s healthy). I’d partially consider this a platoon of sorts until it gets sorted out which won’t get any less confusing as Huston Street is set to return at some point this week. I could see Street leapfrogging the competition if they do poorly but given his lack of success and health concerns of his own in recent years I think Street will be eased into the bullpen.

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