Bullpen Report: April 2, 2019

Whilst fantasy owners attempt to chase the next save in the Seattle bullpen, April Fool’s, a pitcher not many talked about received the chance on Monday night. Roenis Elias notched his first major league save, he did record one in Triple-A last year in Pawtucket, throwing a clean inning against the Angels. Los Angeles did use pinch hitter Zack Cozart, removing one of the two left-handed hitters Elias could face, yet, he navigated the inning inducing a pop-out to third base, a fly ball to right field and a lineout to center by Kole Calhoun. Since transitioning to the bullpen, Elias improved his fastball velocity to 94 MPH and joins the burgeoning committee approach for the Mariners.

For reference, Brandon Brennan pitched the eighth inning allowing a hit and striking out one, Zac Rosscup walked one in two-thirds of an inning in the seventh and Chasen Bradford, who recorded the last save for Seattle, pitched an inning between the sixth and seventh innings. There will not be a test, but, quizzical faces trying to discern how this bullpen evolves. Add in the pending arrival of Anthony Swarzak, who could be activated prior to Tuesday night’s game.

With injuries ravaging the Yankees roster, a healthy Aroldis Chapman will be tantamount in anchoring the bullpen. Chapman worked a clean ninth inning en route to his first save of the season with a strikeout. His fastball did touch 97 MPH, a slight increase compared to his debut last week. Adam Ottavino pitched the eighth working around two walks. Zack Britton pitched the seventh, allowing a hit and striking out one while Chad Green pitched a clean sixth preserving a win by Domingo German. Note the order going forward until Dellin Betances returns.

A wild game ensued in Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon with the Cardinals and Pirates bullpen trading leads. Keone Kela entered a bases loaded, no out situation and did walk Paul Goldschmidt with the bases loaded. Then he settled in getting a short fly ball to center by Paul DeJong, then struck out both Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina. Felipe Vazquez entered the game after Nick Burdi allowed the game tying run on a double by Tyler O’Neill. Vazquez struck out Matt Carpenter, who then got ejected, and allowed an unearned run in the ninth after an Erik Gonzalez error to start the inning. A wild pitch and a double by Jose Martinez tied the game again.

As for the Cardinals, Andrew Miller does not look healthy. He faced two hitters resulting in a walk and a hit batter, before departing the game. Shoulder injuries can be tricky, so track his performance going forward. Jordan Hicks garnered the win in relief pitching two innings giving up a walk and striking out two in a nice rebound effort. John Gant recorded the save allowing only a walk in the 11th inning. Both bullpens will benefit with Tuesday being an off day.

With an ode to Clint Eastwood, the rest of the night can be broken down into three categories, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good: Working without his best stuff, Josh Hader notched his third save yielding only a double to Curt Casali and striking out one. Alex Wilson gets the win pitching 1.2 innings giving up a hit with two strikeouts. This sets up either Junior Guerra or Jacob Barnes to potentially close on Tuesday night with Hader likely to sit. Brad Hand recorded his second save navigating around a hit-by-pitch to Welington Castillo and striking out two. He’s the lone bright spot in this bullpen. Things went according to plan for Houston’s win last night. Ryan Pressly retired four consecutive batters including one strikeout for the hold and Roberto Osuna closed out his first save of 2019 with a clean ninth, striking out one. Will Smith notched his second save walking one and striking out two against the Dodgers.

Will the Rays bullpen be frustrating at times, absolutely. But, Ryan Yarbrough picked up where he left off last year getting a win working 4.1 innings after the opener. Yarbrough allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out three. Owners of Jose Alvarado will not be happy to see him pitch the eighth inning with a six run lead, but as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times opined:

“Manager Kevin Cash insisted he wasn’t naming Jose Alvarado as closer because he would be used in the highest-leverage situations, and that was evident Monday when he summoned the hard-throwing lefty in the eighth to face Colorado’s lefties, which he did. Why Alvarado was in a 7-1 game is a different question, a product of Adam Kolarek being unavailable and Cash deciding to split the final two innings so not to overly tax Alvarado or Diego Castillo, who worked the ninth.”

The Bad: Yes, the Cardinals game received the highlights above, but the Indians and White Sox bullpens struggled on Monday. Chicago’s Jace Fry only recorded one out but allowed a hit and a walk, which both eventually scored. Dylan Covey let both of the inherited runners from Fry score, and added gas to the fire giving up a hit, two runs (one earned) and two walks without retiring a hitter. Caleb Frare entered the fray letting one of the three inherited runners to score. All told, the White Sox bullpen allowed four runs in the bottom of the eighth leading to Hand’s save. As for Cleveland, Adam Cimber, Oliver Perez and Jon Edwards combined allowed two earned runs on two hits and a walk taking a win away from Mike Clevinger. This shaky bridge will apply pressure to Hand all season.

Not sure if it’s mental or expectation, but Raisel Iglesias does not look comfortable. Iglesias incurred the loss on Monday giving up two hits, both two out doubles, in the top of the ninth of a tied game. He also issued a free pass to Travis Shaw. Through his first 2.1 innings this year, Iglesias owns a 7.71 ERA with a 2.57 WHIP. There’s plenty of time for him to rebound, but if he’s used like Mychal Givens of Baltimore, will he get enough saves given his price point this preseason?

The Ugly: Starting with the Orioles generated three saves so far this year and Mychal Givens remains without one, less than optimal. Richard Bleier survived the save chance on Monday, but, also allowed two hits and an earned run to lower his ERA to 20.25 on the year. Not a typo. For the Drew Steckenrider truthers, he entered a tied game in the top of the ninth in Miami, and promptly served up three hits, a walk and four earned runs with two strikeouts culminating with a Pete Alonso home run. Free agent acquisition Joe Kelly’s off to a rough start with the Dodgers. He allowed four hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts over 1.2 innings on Monday against the Giants.

Quick Hits: Jeurys Familia garnered the win in relief courtesy of Steckenrider’s transgressions. Edwin Diaz also pitched the ninth in a non-save outing giving up two hits and a walk while striking out the side. Arodys Vizcaino allowed one hit and struck out one during his outing. Atlanta also could get a boost in high leverage soon. A. J. Minter could return by Thursday if his throwing session at Triple-A goes well this afternoon.