Bullpen Report: April 11, 2019
• No save for Jose Leclerc who was ineffective in allowing a hit and a walk while only getting one out in the 9th. Kyle Bird relieved him to get the last two outs and his 1st save of the year. Al mentioned Leclerc’s struggles yesterday and we should consider this a situation worth monitoring early on. Saves are hard to come by and if something is up with Leclerc, look for Chris Martin and Shawn Kelley to get some saves. It’s still very early and the Rangers are committed to Leclerc ($14.75M worth) but it’s certainly a concerning start.
• In Eric Longenhagen’s prospect notes yesterday, he noted how Jeremy Jeffress gave up four hits in his rehab appearance and was sitting at 87-91 while touching 92. If he’s going to be effective, he will need to show improvement on the velo as he was at 95 mph last year. Josh Hader owners should be monitoring this closely. If Jeffress is back to his normal velo he could be getting lower leverage saves for the Brewers but if his injury lingers, it will still be Hader time, at least until they look for a bullpen upgrade in the summer.
• 8 wins for the Tigers this season, with Shane Greene getting a save in each one. Although Greene doesn’t have a particularly bad strikeout rate this year, he still only has 7 strikeouts to his 8 saves which isn’t a ratio that he’s likely to hold all year although I’m here to watch him try.
• No save situation for the Rays yesterday but Jalen Beeks went three innings for his first save of the year. We removed the committee tag for the Rays making Jose Alvarado the sole closer in TB but as far as main closers go he could see a lesser percentage of saves with Diego Castillo or some of their long relievers like Beeks closing out games with multi-inning saves.
• Kirby Yates found himself in a tough situation with runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 9th but still managed to get out of the inning unscathed for his 7th save. Early returns on Yates have been fantasitc with high save totals and a 1.13/1.60/2.99 ERA/FIP/xFIP on a 12/3 K/BB ratio. The Padres should be a competitive team all year and Yates owners will be happy with his yield throughout the season.
• We have mentioned how the Reds haven’t used Raisel Iglesias 100% traditional thus far this season but last night he was a regular old closer, getting the save in the 9th inning while striking out the side. Iglesias’ control has eluded him a bit with a 4.76 BB/9 and 12.0% BB% but his whiffs have been where we would expect and he should settle into a solid closer for a Reds team that is likely better than their 3-8 record.
Setting up Iglesias was Amir Garrett who struck out a pair while getting 4 outs. On the season Garrett has throw 5.2 innings with a 8/1 K/BB and could be one of the better multi-inning set up options in fantasy if he can keep up his improved control.
• Adam Conley threw a perfect 7th for his 2nd hold of the year last night, handing the ball off to Drew Steckenrider in the 8th who blew the one-run lead when Jose Iglesias and Jesse Winker hit homers. Steckenrider is in the mix for saves in Miami but his 9.00/8.94/6.14 ERA/FIP/xFIP are leaving a lot to be desired. Adam Conley could start seeing the 8th instead of the 7th moving forward.
• No save situation for the Mets last night but they still went with Jeurys Familia –> Edwin Diaz to close the game. Familia allowed 2 hits a walk and a run and has been a bit shaky to star the season. The Mets don’t have many great options outside of Familia right now, so he should get ample opportunity to sort himself out. Although Edwin Diaz allowed a home run to Mitch Garver in the 9th he still struck out the side and remains a top closer in both real life and fantasy.
• Trevor May pitched in garbage time, throwing a scoreless 9th, maintaining his pristine 0.00 ERA. Although he’s been effective his usage still suggests Taylor Rogers and Blake Parker ahead of him for saves. Parker is skating on some thin ice
• In spite of Josh James 4 ER blowup without recording an out the Astros still hung on for the win against the Yankees with Hector Rondon and Ryan Pressly getting the last 6 outs. Rondon got the first 2 outs of the 8th with Ryan Pressly getting the last and finishing out the 9th for his first save of the year. Pressly was one of the more dominant relievers last year on both the Twins and Astros and that has continued this year with a 35% K% against no walks and a 61.5% GB%. Roberto Osuna is still the closer but had the night off after three days of work but Pressly is cementing himself as a premiere back up who should see a few save opportunities when Osuna isn’t available. With all of the committees and bad pens this year, someone like Pressly would be more valuable then several “closers.”
• Felipe Vazquez closed his 3rd door lsat night getting the last 5 outs and keeping his perfect 0.00 ERA. I was going to suggest Vazquez could be a great mid-season acquisition for a team but the Pirates are 6-4 and we have them projected to be 81-81, only a few games back of the Cardinals. In such a close division he’s likely to stay on board and so far is off to his best year yet.
• We don’t have a committee tag in Seattle, but Anthony Swarzak came on in the 8th to get the biggest outs of the game. In the 9th, Roenis Elias was called upon for his 2nd save of the year. I won’t make this a committee but have added Elias to the grid.
• With Cody Allen getting the night off, Hansel Robles got the save chance. Ty Buttrey also got the night off but we still have Buttrey above Robles in the pecking order. However, if Buttrey struggles Robles is proving in the early going that he can fill in.
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
Vazquez is also extended affordably through 2023, it never made sense to view him as a trade piece.
Why not? Just because his contract lasts a long time doesn’t mean he’s not a reliever who inherently has a volatile long-term outlook. If the pirates end up rebuilding at any point, I suspect he would be one of the major pieces they’d try to move.
That would make their return likely a legitimate piece. Even a team like the Rays could bid for Vazquez, knowing he’s still a solid long term investment.
Brad Hand was extended and traded half a year later
Leclerc also hit 2 batters in the 9th, so possibly more concerning that even noted in your piece.
And just FWIW, he didn’t enter in a save situation (though he created one for Bird).
This is a great point that I missed. He never had great control but missed bats, now he’s bad at both?
Why isn’t Robles considered more a #2 guy behind Allen?
Buttrey feels like the future closer in waiting given last year but Robles could leap frog. We’ll have to monitor moving forward how they are used.
Buttrey has so far gotten the 8th when all the Angels’ RP’s were available, which indicates that he’d get the save if only Allen got the night off.
RE: Rays – that is the 2nd 3 inning save in 3 days for them. The game yesterday was a 9-1 game but I thought the April 8th one was interesting because that was still a relatively close game at 5-1. In fact, it was a 4-1 game when Wood came in to start the 7th. Then on April 9th they brought Alvarado in in the 8th inning of a an 8-3 game with the bases loaded. I think the Rays are going to be interesting and truly have discarded the traditional bullpen hierarchy. I suspect Alvarado gets the lion’s share of the saves, but I bet they have 5 or 6 guys get multiple saves this year including a fair number of 3 inning saves.
RE: Mets – I think the reason they brought DIaz in is because they had pulled many of the starters (Cano, Alonso, Nimmo in the 7th and then JD Davis when Diaz came in) when it looked like a 9-1 laugher going into the 8th. Then the Twins piled on 4 runs in the 8th and I don’t think Callaway wanted to have to explain why he lost the game with everyone sitting on the bench. . . .
Thanks for the great content!
Looking for skills over potential saves, although both would be great: Do you prefer Chris Martin (or any other current 2nd or 3rd options) over Ian Kennedy?
I’d look to Kelley before Martin
Yeah I picked up KElley over Martin in my deep league… Kelly has been better this year and has a much better track record, so it seems like a no-brainer to me.
Buttrey was warming in the pen in the 8th inning last night. So it would seem he was available. It’s interesting then that the save opp went to Robles and not Buttrey….
That is interesting. As noted in the comment above we’ll have to more carefully monitor their usage:
https://www.fangraphs.com/teams/angels/player-usage/pitcher-usage
So far it’s hard to glean one over the other so I’m still giving the nod to Buttrey to be closer in waiting but things can change.
It’s possible Buttrey was in-case-of-emergency-only warming up though
Not sure why Rosscup is in Seattle’s row at all, never mind 2nd. He hasn’t gotten a hold since 4/1 and Elias seems pretty clearly 2nd in line by usage, probably with Festa 3rd, but Festa or Rosscup is probably a toss-up and either can be slotted in there.
Yeah it’s kind of a mess. Hard to invest much in any of those guys. Armstrong could take the job when he comes back, same with Strickland- but that won’t be for awhile. There’s always the possibility that they trade for someone too because of their hot start and lack of a clear top relief pitcher.