(Belated) Bullpen Report: August 30, 2016
• Arodys Vizcaino has been sent back to the DL with shoulder inflammation and Shae Simmons has been recalled. Vizcaino was already moving back on the grid due to his performance and now he’s hurt again. Jim Johnson has been terrific of late with a 0.60 ERA since July 26th, throwing 15 innings with a 20/4 strikeout to walk ratio. everyone seemed to expect Vizcaino to reclaim the job, Johnson to start pitching poorly or for Johnson to be traded but that hasn’t happened and this situation is looking pretty green right now.
• The Diamondbacks ninth inning has been a bit of a mess of late but Dan Hudson locked down his second save of the year in spite of allowing an earned run. His ERA stands at a lovely 6.10 right now but he’s currently the closer and should continue to see save opportunities in the desert for now.
• Chasen Shreve recorded his first career save for the Yankees last night in extra innings. Dellin Betances threw two perfect innings but actually “blew” the save after he allowed Tyler Clippard’s inherited runner to score in the eighth.
• Andrew Miller and Cody Allen continue to seesaw with save opportunities with Miller getting his 12th save after getting the last five outs for Cleveland. Cody Allen threw a ton of pitches on Monday so he likely was unavailable and we will keep him as first in line in Cleveland, with recognition that it’s still a committee of two.
• Maybe we were a little quick to claim Edwin Diaz as the next best thing as he blew a save last night and has a 3.95 ERA since the month turned to August. However, in that time he still has 21 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched so the elite strikeouts are still there. On the year Diaz is supporting a 2.56/2.27/1.96 ERA/FIP/xFIP even with an inflated .400 BABIP. Plenty of reason to be excited but let’s keep watching in September to see if he’s still deserving of my earlier praise.
• Quick Hits: Another Orioles win and another scoreless frame for Zach Britton, notching his 39th save and lowering his ERA to 0.69. Mark Melancon saved his 37th game lowering his ERA to 1.30 on the season. Also, since 2013 across 274 innings, Melancon has a 1.74 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and a 2.24 FIP. He’s the elite of the non-elite strikeout guys and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Alex Colome (29), Jeurys Familia (43), Aroldis Chapman (31), Ken Giles (6) and Fernando Salas (6) all got saves as well.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
I just want to point out that the walkoff HR that Diaz allowed came on his 34th pitch of the night. The Mariners tried to use him for a 2 inning save, and he had already pitched a scoreless 8th. Yes, he’s a former starter, but the way he’s been used this year has been puzzling and a little inappropriate for a 22 year old rookie.
apparently it’s okay to use your shutdown closer as a long reliever now??
I think Salas is probably yellow. Who else do they have?
Salas’ underlying skills are pretty meh, but Scioscia seems like one of those managers who, for whatever reason, over-values closing “experience”, so I agree, Salas doesn’t seem to have much competition at the moment. Both Bedrosian and Street seem done for the season as well.
Salas is now a Met …
Wade Davis is on the comeback trail but Herrera has been lights out. Seems like it should be a yellow situation at least. Do you think Davis gets eased back in to the role, or has Herrera supplanted him as the ninth inning guy?
Liam Hendriks recently got a couple of 8th-inning holds for the A’s. Could he be next in line behind Madson (and Doolittle once he returns)? He’s probably better than Axford and Dull, and he’s been great following a rocky start. Anybody here follow the A’s bullpen who could perhaps add some insight?
The A’s grid situation hasn’t really made sense to me. Madson has been red all year but never really had his job challenged and hasn’t given up a run in over a month. I get that he isn’t elite but he certainly is a safe bet to keep his job, barring a complete meltdown. For what it’s worth, the A’s seem to really like Dull for some reason, but he’s all over the place; just when you think it’s safe…
Rougned says hello to Edwin Diaz.