Bullpen Report: April 20, 2016
As Ben alluded to last evening, Bryan Price officially removed J.J. Hoover from the closer’s role in Cincinatti this afternoon in favor of a closer-by-committee. Names included in said committee include Tony Cingrani, Blake Wood and former closer J.J. Hoover. Both Cingrani and Wood struggled today at home against the Rockies, surrendering three earned runs on two hits and three walks in just an inning-and-a-third of work. With that said, J.J. Hoover has struggled a bit to start the season — he’s just 1-of-2 in save opportunities with an 11.13 FIP and a 0% K-BB% in 5.1 frames — but, there’s still a chance he earns another save opportunity soon given the others’ struggles and Price’s comments. I still believe it’s worth keeping an eye on Caleb Cotham. I’ll be leaving the chart as Ben set it last evening, so if you’re looking to pull some more of your hair out in an attempt to roster a Reds’ closer, I’d lean Cingrani, Hoover, Cotham then Wood.
The Phillies recalled right-handed reliever Andrew Bailey today from Triple-A Lehigh Valley when southpaw James Russell was designated for assignment. After a brief battle for the closer role in Spring Training, Bailey was assigned to the IronPigs in an effort to get more innings of work and show an improvement in velocity The righty responded by going 1-0, with a 1.80 ERA and a 10:2 :BB in five frames on the farm. Don’t expect Bailey to jump right into higher leverage situations, but he’s a name to consider immediately for speculative saves if you’re on the hunt. No immediate changes for Philadelphia this evening, but Bailey should be climbing the chart soon.
Twenty-five year-old Trevor Rosenthal secured the 100th save of his career this afternoon in a 5-3 Cardinals victory over the Cubs. And he did so in spectacular fashion — fanning Miguel Montero, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler consecutively on just 13 pitches. Rosenthal remains a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities at this early point in the season. He owns a 3.00 ERA (2.07 FIP) along with a 21.00 K/9 in six innings of work.
Kenley Jansen (6), Jonathan Papelbon (6), Francisco Rodriguez (4) and Steve Cishek (2) each earned saves tonight.
Quick Hits: Shawn Tolleson allowed one hit in an otherwise clean inning of work to notch his fifth save of the season for the Rangers. Sam Dyson and Jake Diekman also appeared in clean outings, earning their sixth and third holds of the season respectively. David Robertson worked the four-out save today, surrendering two hits en route to his sixth save of the season. Sean Doolittle or Ryan Madson? Madson or Doolittle? Tonight it was Doolittle picking up the save for the Athletics — his second of the season — in an inning of work while allowing a hit and recording one strikeout. I’m leaving this yellow with Madson in the driver’s seat as of now, but the roads are icy so proceed with caution.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
uh…..hoover lost the job…
He lost the official closer tag, yes. But his name was still floated as a member of the committee, which is why I left him on the chart. Also left it red because we don’t have a color for CbC.