• It’s not earth-shattering news that fantasy owners have been somewhat concerned about Cody Allen thus far. The 26-year-old’s 6.16 ERA isn’t helping anyone’s bottom line. While the ERA might hurt, the righty’s 3.41 SIERA thus far in 2015 isn’t awful, however, it’s still a full run higher than his breakout 2014. While his strikeout rate remains north of 30%, he is walking batters at a Carlos Marmol-esque 14% this year. Fanning the flames of bullpen unrest, Allen has been used in non-save situations his last few outings, most recently pitching the eighth with the team down 4-3 a couple nights ago against the Rangers. While it might seem that something is afoot, the team has not publicly acknowledged any change and there is little-to-no-scuttlebutt from beat writers. It is probably worth noting that the Indians haven’t had a save opportunity since last Saturday. It went to Allen and he successfully converted it.

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• Fernando Rodney does not look good right now. “Captain Crooked Hat” gave up three runs on three hits and a walk to blow what should have been an easy save and force extra innings (The Mariners later took the lead off Brad Boxberger — lucky them). Some might argue Rodney should have escaped if not for a Robinson Cano errant double play throw, but it’s not like Cano put all those runners on to start. Rodney now owns a 4.57 xFIP, but, hey, at least it’s better than his 6.98 ERA. While Rodney’s walk rate is hovering at the cusp of acceptable (10%), that his whiff rate has dropped precipitously (down to 21%) is a big problem. His HardHit% is a bit elevated at 23%, but he’s been around those marks the last few years. Aside from the batted ball profile, owners might want to hang their hat on the fact his velocity is the same as last year and his SwStr% is still a fairly healthy 11%. Maybe there’s a rebound in store, but he’s going to need to turn it around fairly soon as the leash is getting shorter.

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• Well, we suspected that A.J. Ramos was the odds on favorite for saves in Miami, and he got the first crack at the ninth inning in the post-Steve Cishek era. It went swimmingly, with Ramos fanning two of the three batters he faced in a perfect final frame. Ben covered these guys in depth last night, but Ramos’ 2.78 2015 xFIP paints the picture of a guy who can certainly take the ninth inning and run with it. The one possible chink his armor Read the rest of this entry »

The other night was just another typical evening for Clay Buchholz. Five earned runs, including four early, caused frustrated fantasy owners to see 7.11 ERA, 1.74 WHIP in the box score. A quick Twitter search for Buchholz shows the bandwagon (if there was one) has emptied fast. Mass media is feeding the frenzy, especially with the Red Sox performing so poorly over the first few weeks of the season. Buchholz continues to say things about not getting breaks, such as “…ground balls when you want to get them hit at guys for double plays. It seems like the ball is finding a lot more holes right now.” But is he lying?

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• Recently reinstated closer Brett Cecil threw tonight, but unfortunately for fantasy owners, he didn’t pick up a save in a four-run game. However, the outing provided an interesting data point with respect to Cecil’s velocity. Two nights ago, Cecil sat between 93-94 mph — a far cry from the mid-80’s mark he was posting early in the season, and even a tick above last year’s average. Read the rest of this entry »

• Mark Melancon’s velocity dip is beginning to become a national story. One night after imploding in excruciating fashion, baseball columns and podcasts alike were abuzz with discussions of the righty’s nearly 5 mph dip. Of course, this isn’t new news to Bullpen Report readers, but there’s nothing like copious run allowance to bring ugly peripherals to the surface. Earlier this afternoon, manager Clint Hurdle said that he was sticking with Melancon, although the wormburner wasn’t available to take to the mound tonight.

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• Couple interesting developments after Ben clicked “publish” last night. Adam Ottavino (aka, one of my sleeper “not a closer but maybe a closer” candidates heading into 2015) picked up save number one. It wasn’t dull, either, with “number zero” whiffing all three Giants hitters he faced. Maybe I can get #KOttavino trending. The righty now holds a ridiculous 0.23 SIERA in an admittedly small sample size, and looks even more polished than last season. After the game, Walt Weiss saved fantasy owners the headache, too, naming Ottavino his ninth inning man. I’m going to yellow light him until he notches a few more, but he absolutely needs to be owned across the board. If you want more gratuitous information overload about the Northeastern University grad, check out Eno’s in-depth piece here.

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• Man your FAAB stations! Well, if you have rolling waivers and Joakim Soria was available before today. Detroit closer Joe Nathan was sent to the DL with a right flexor strain. That the 40-year-old Tommy John veteran is experiencing issues related to elbow ligaments seems to be a big problem. Even if it is purely a mild strain with no UCL involvement, it seems unlikely Nathan will require the minimum 15-day absence. In walks Joakim Soria, the Tigers’ new closer. Read the rest of this entry »

• I had planned on bringing out the Bullpen Report for its nightly debut already today, but the vast majority of my time was involved in massive closer grid updates to cover all of the DLs/demotions of the last few days (sidenote: if you see someone listed on the big league roster below, but throwing meatballs in Triple-A, please leave a comment). But, whoa, A.J. Preller just downloaded his latest copy of Out of the Park Baseball 16 and needed to make some big splashes after importing his already crazy offseason from OOTP15 (more sidenotes: OOTP is like another level of crack if you like this site).

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• Last time we saw you, Marcus Stroman’s ACL was still intact. That is no longer than case, and the Jays suddenly have a big need to fill holes in their rotation. Why is this news in the Bullpen Report? Well, a favorite sleeper of ours, Aaron Sanchez, seems significantly more likely to open 2015 in the rotation than a week ago. The good news for the Jays? Brett Cecil is back throwing after some minor shoulder inflammation. If all goes well, he may see game action by the end of this week, which would almost assure he’ll open the season as Toronto’s ninth inning man barring setbacks. Keep an eye out for velocity readings from side sessions and game situations. If Cecil’s fastball is sitting around 92-93 mph and touching 94-95, it’ll be a welcome sign his minor shoulder issues were just that. As primarily a fastball-curve guy, he’ll need the juice to succeed. If the velocity is down, it could just be early season dead arm, but given the shoulder, it might be enough to knock him down my rankings.

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