Bullpen Report: April 15, 2017
Santiago Casilla, who we have listed as the A’s closer, relieved Liam Hendriks in the 7th inning with runners on the corners and one out with a two-run lead.
Casilla got Jose Altuve to ground into a force out, on which a run scored, then struck out Carlos Correa after falling behind in the count, 3-0, and allowing two steals to Altuve.
Casilla came back out for the top of the 8th, at which time the A’s still had a 5-4 lead, and he issued a lead-off walk, a stolen base, another walk, and a sacrifice bunt. He was then replaced by Sean Doolittle, with runners on second and third and one out for Nori Aoki.
Doolittle’s first pitch was a fastball in the dirt that got away from the catcher. The tying run scored and the go-ahead run moved up to third with one out. Aoki then gave the Astros the lead with a sacrifice fly to center field, and both runs were charged to Casilla. Doolittle then allowed a single and a home run by George Springer.
Before Casilla and Doolittle entered the game, the score was 5-3, Oakland. When they left, it was 8-5, Houston.
Long story short: stay away from the volatile A’s bullpen until things settle down.
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Joaquin Benoit retired Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, and Ryan Zimmerman in order to successfully convert his first save opportunity as a Phillie. The team’s new closer has a 2.15 ERA in 171 2/3 innings dating back to 2014.
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Roberto Osuna (neck/upper back) had his first save opportunity in what was his second appearance of the season. Unfortunately for Osuna, he blew a one-run lead as Baltimore manufactured a run via a lead-off single, a stolen base, and a couple of fly balls. Despite the blown save, Osuna picked up the win thanks to a walk-off in the bottom of the inning. Osuna’s return stabilizes the Blue Jays ‘pen, and we shouldn’t expect too many more blown saves for the young closer if he can stay healthy.
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Ken Giles pitched the 8th inning for the Astros with a three-run lead, and Luke Gregerson pitched the 9th with a four-run lead. Despite today’s role reversal, Giles remains the team’s primary option in the 9th, with Gregerson and Will Harris serving as set-up men.
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Pedro Strop entered a tie game with two outs in the 7th and a runner on first, and things went downhill quickly. He issued a free pass to Starling Marte, then gave up a go-ahead home run to Andrew McCutchen. He retired David Freese to escape further damage, but Strop has now allowed five walks and four earned runs in four innings of work this season for the Cubs.
Koji Uehara pitched a clean 8th inning for the Cubs, allowing just one hit and picking up a strikeout. The 42-year-old has not allowed a run this season and has a 1.35 FIP and 3.00 xFIP in 5 2/3 innings pitched.
Wade Davis struck out the side in a perfect 9th inning with the Cubs trailing by two runs.
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Joe Kelly was listed on our chart as one of the set-up men for Craig Kimbrel, but Matt Barnes appears to have entered the conversation for that role, if not taken it outright, at least until Carson Smith or Tyler Thornburg return. Barnes pitched a scoreless 8th inning in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Pirates (the Red Sox were trailing 3-1 when Barnes came in to pitch, however) and he pitched another scoreless 8th on Saturday against the Rays. This time, Barnes was tasked with holding onto a 2-1 lead, and he was able to do so despite allowing two walks. He notched his second hold of the season.
Craig Kimbrel was dominant in a one-two-three 9th, striking out two. It was his fourth save of the season and his 23rd consecutive without a blown save.
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Neither Dellin Betances nor Aroldis Chapman appeared in the Yankees’ 3-2 win against the Rays. Adam Warren picked up a hold in the 8th, and Tyler Clippard notched his first save of the year despite allowing two hits, a walk, and a home run. Chapman was unavailable after pitching three days in a row, and Betances had pitched two days in a row so the Yankees presumably wanted to rest him.
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Kudos to Ervin Santana and Tyler Chatwood, who bypassed the need for bullpens by tossing complete game shutouts against the White Sox and Giants, respectively.
Late Updates:
10:50 p.m. EST
Fernando Salas melted down for the Mets against the Marlins. After retiring the first two batters he faced in the 8th inning with a two-run lead, he issued a four-pitch walk, a game-tying, two-run home run to Christian Yelich, and a home run to Giancarlo Stanton. The Mets bullpen is still recovering from having to eat 11 1/3 innings in Thursday’s 16-inning marathon win against the Marlins.
1:02 a.m. EST
Down by a run, the Diamondbacks brought in Fernando Rodney with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 8th inning. He allowed a ground-rule double to Corey Seager, hit Justin Turner with a pitch, and served up a three-run homer to Yasiel Puig. He then walked Adrian Gonzalez before finally getting the third out of the inning.
It was a disastrous outing for the D-Backs closer, who now has a 12.46 ERA on the young season. While Rodney’s job does not appear to be in immediate jeopardy, the Diamondbacks bullpen as a whole is one to monitor moving forward.
Manager Torey Lovullo has suggested that Archie Bradley, who has been dominant in mostly low-leverage innings out of the bullpen so far this season, may see bigger spots in the future.
Lovullo recently said, “We may change the inning based on what he’s doing…We know he’s had some quality outings and we want that to continue. It’s just going to be in any format possible to help us win a moment.”
Stay tuned.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Ben Kaspick is the host Locked On Giants, a daily San Francisco Giants podcast on the Locked On Podcast Network. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenKaspick.
Any thoughts towards Lorenzen getting the save opp today?
Today was weird with Finnegan only going one inning. I actually didn’t notice that Iglesias pitched the 5th and 6th or else I would have made a note. Figured it was just a day off for Iglesias and Lorenzen got the save opp. in his stead. I would expect Iglesias to continue to get the ninth, but the Reds appear willing to mix things up in a rather unorthodox way. Definitely something to monitor, but again, Finnegan only lasting one inning made things weird today for the Reds.
uhhh…
this comment was generated by mistake, and I can’t figure out how to delete it!