Bullpen Report: April 11, 2018

If closer drama is what you’re looking for, you can find all you need in St. Louis, where the Cardinals are hosting the Brewers. For the second night in a row, the teams went into extra innings after both bullpens floundered in the ninth inning. In Tuesday night’s affair, Bud Norris was entrusted to keep the Cardinals knotted in a 1-1 tie, with Greg Holland apparently being given the night off. Norris yielded a two-out RBI single to Domingo Santana. That set the Brewers up with a save situation, and fantasy owners everywhere waited anxiously to see who would get the call.

It turned out to be Taylor Williams, who had struck out the side in the eighth inning in his second appearance of the season. However, he was removed after walking Tommy Pham and allowing a sacrifice bunt to Greg Garcia. A more familiar face, Jacob Barnes, came in to face Dexter Fowler, and he promptly unleashed two wild pitches that allowed Pham to tie the game.

There are no indications that Craig Counsell will take Barnes out of the closer mix, but he could get a breather due to a heavy recent workload. Counsell’s willingness to send Williams back out for the ninth with a one-run lead could be an indication that the 26-year-old rookie is now a part of the closer committee. For now, I’m leaving him out of the closer grid, but that could change soon.

Tuesday’s late-inning thrills weren’t limited to the Cardinals and Brewers. At AT&T Park, Hunter Strickland was one out away from his third save of the season, but a Paul Goldschmidt solo homer gave the Diamondbacks a 4-4 tie to take into the bottom of the ninth. With Brad Boxberger and Archie Bradley both apparently unavailable, Jorge De La Rosa came out to start the bottom half of the inning. He walked the bases full, and with one out, Andrew McCutchen stroked a walk-off single into shallow left center field.

Having had back-to-back games off, Boxberger should be back for the Diamondback’s next save opportunity. As for Strickland, the Goldschmidt homer was the first run he had allowed this season, and there is no reason to think he is on shaky ground as the Giants’ closer.

Alex Colome may not be in danger of losing his job either, but the rocky start to his 2018 season continued on Tuesday against the White Sox. He inherited a four-run lead from Ryan Weber in the ninth inning but also runners on first and second with one out. A three-run homer from Jose Abreu brought the Sox within a run, but Colome escaped with the save.

If Colome continues to struggle, one name to consider as a potential successor — along with Sergio Romo and Jose Alvarado — is Matt Andriese. The former starter pitched a scoreless eighth inning on Tuesday, and this was his second straight eighth-inning appearance.

Brad Ziegler dropped to 0-2 on Tuesday night by allowing a go-ahead, two-run double to Yoenis Cespedes, and even though only one run was earned, the Marlins’ closer was left with a 7.94 ERA. However, Ziegler’s job should be safe for awhile, and not just because Kyle Barraclough coughed up a pair of home runs in the eighth inning. Ziegler had allowed runs in only one of his previous four appearances, and he did not get much help this time around. Amed Rosario got on base with one out due to a throwing error by Brian Anderson. Then after Ziegler walked Michael Conforto, Cespedes hit a ball down the third base line that just eluded Anderson. According to Statcast, Cespedes’ batted ball had a 6 percent chance of becoming a hit.

As with the Rays’ situation, any speculation on the Marlins’ next closer should be done with the long term in mind. The 38-year-old has had success as a closer in the past, even with a low strikeout rate, and he is doing what he typically does well. Ziegler is sporting a 73.9 percent ground ball rate, and he has yet to allow a home run. Aside from Barraclough’s performance on Tuesday, both he and Drew Steckenrider have performed well in setup roles. At this early stage, it’s too hard to tell who might have the edge as a possible successor to Ziegler, should one be needed, but most fantasy owners have the luxury of being able to monitor the situation before having to make a move. In CBS leagues, which tend to have higher ownership rates, neither Barraclough nor Steckenrider are owned in as many as 30 percent of leagues. However, Barraclough is already owned in 54 percent of Fantrax leagues.

For the first time this season, Buck Showalter called on Darren O’Day to pitch the ninth inning, but he was not able to keep the Orioles in a 1-1 tie with the Blue Jays. Curtis Granderson’s solo home run proved to be decisive and gave O’Day his first loss of the season.

Craig Kimbrel‘s fastball velocity has been hovering around 96 mph over his first five appearances of 2018. Over a comparable span a year ago, Kimbrel’s average fastball velocity ranged between 97.4 and 98.2 mph. That drop helped the Red Sox’s closer to earn a spot on Jeff Zimmerman’s list of pitchers with the lowest year-to-year drops in velocity so far this season.

Quick hits: Don’t look for Felipe Rivero in the saves column anymore. He’s still the Pirates’ closer, but he has legally changed his name to Felipe Vázquez…Ryan Madson got a two-out save against the Braves, with Sean Doolittle apparently getting the night off…Zach Duke has been moved into the third spot in Twins’ portion of the closer grid. He has been pitching in high-leverage situations, setting up for Fernando Rodney in both of his save opportunities. On Tuesday night, Duke was brought in for the top of the eighth inning, even though the first two batters due up were righties (Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa).

Bullpen Report: April 11, 2018
TM Closer First Second DL/Minors
ARI Brad Boxberger Archie Bradley Yoshihisa Hirano
ATL Arodys Vizcaino A.J. Minter Jose Ramirez
BAL Brad Brach Darren O’Day Mychal Givens Zach Britton
BOS Craig Kimbrel Matt Barnes Joe Kelly
CHC Brandon Morrow Carl Edwards Jr. Pedro Strop
CWS Joakim Soria Nate Jones Danny Farquhar
CIN Raisel Iglesias Jared Hughes Kevin Quackenbush David Hernandez
CLE Cody Allen Andrew Miller Zach McAllister
COL Wade Davis Jake McGee Bryan Shaw
DET Shane Greene Alex Wilson Drew VerHagen
HOU Ken Giles Chris Devenski Brad Peacock
KC Kelvin Herrera Justin Grimm Brandon Maurer
LAA Keynan Middletonn Blake Parker Cam Bedrosian
LAD Kenley Jansen Josh Fields Scott Alexander
MIA Brad Ziegler Kyle Barraclough Drew Steckenrider
MIL Jacob Barnes Matt Albers Jeremy Jeffress Corey Knebel
MIN Fernando Rodney Addison Reed Zach Duke
NYM Jeurys Familia A.J. Ramos Hansel Robles Anthony Swarzak
NYY Aroldis Chapman David Robertson Dellin Betances
OAK Blake Treinen Ryan Buchter Chris Hatcher
PHI Hector Neris Luis Garcia Adam Morgan Pat Neshek
PIT Felipe Rivero George Kontos Michael Feliz
STL Greg Holland Bud Norris Dominic Leone
SD Brad Hand Craig Stammen Jordan Lyles Kirby Yates
SF Hunter Strickland Sam Dyson Tony Watson Mark Melancon
SEA Edwin Diaz Juan Nicasio Nick Vincent
TB Alex Colome Sergio Romo Chaz Roe
TEX Keone Kela Kevin Jepsen Chris Martin
TOR Roberto Osuna Ryan Tepera Seung Hwan Oh
WSH Sean Doolittle Ryan Madson Brandon Kintzler





Al Melchior has been writing about Fantasy baseball and sim games since 2000, and his work has appeared at CBSSports.com, BaseballHQ, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster and FanRagSports. He has also participated in Tout Wars' mixed auction league since 2013. You can follow Al on Twitter @almelchiorbb and find more of his work at almelchior.com.

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HappyFunBallmember
5 years ago

Seriously. Lose the blue. Then the table would be perfect 🙂 I don’t think stable closer situations need highlighting…

Edwinmember
5 years ago
Reply to  HappyFunBall

Agree and appreciate the consideration for us color-blind folks

Moonlight Graham
5 years ago
Reply to  Edwin

Don’t be colorblind. Colorblindness is a weakness.

Moatemember
5 years ago
Reply to  HappyFunBall

Counterpoint: Love this color scheme and feel it’s easier to read than previously.

(edited for spelling)

Moonlight Graham
5 years ago
Reply to  Moate

Counter-counterpoint: green-yellow-red makes more sense.

tb.25
5 years ago
Reply to  HappyFunBall

Loved the green from before. Miss it.

Ryan DCmember
5 years ago
Reply to  HappyFunBall

A slightly lighter shade of blue would be nice

Jackie T.
5 years ago
Reply to  Ryan DC

A Carolina blue. Nice and tranquil.

Jackie T.
5 years ago
Reply to  Jackie T.

Wow, ask and ye shall receive. Thanks.