Bullpen Report: April 22, 2023

The 2023 version of the Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

We will always include a link to the full Closer Depth Chart at the bottom of the Bullpen Report each day. It’s also accessible from the RosterResource drop-down menu and from any RosterResource page. Please let us know what you think.

1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
2. Injury News
3. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
4. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
5. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save).

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.

Notable Workloads

•José Leclerc, TEX: 24 pitches on Friday. | RosterResource

Co-closer Will Smith will be available on Saturday if Leclerc isn’t.

•David Bednar, PIT: Three of the last four days; 7 pitches on Friday; 12 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Colin Holderman pitched both Thursday and Friday on 39 combined pitches, so he might not be available as well. That’d leave Dauri Moreta as the likely closer if Bednar is unavailable.

•José Alvarado, PHI: Three of the last four days; 15 pitches on Friday. | RosterResource

Alvarado didn’t pitch Thursday, so he might be available for a back-to-back on Saturday. If he’s out, though, Craig Kimbrel, Seranthony Domínguez or Gregory Soto could get the ninth. Yesterday, Jason Martin 마틴ez wrote about how Alvarado could be pulling away with the closer’s job, making it less of a committee than it has been, and his save on Friday is another piece of evidence there.

Injury News

•None

Outlier Saves

•Jason Foley, DET | RosterResource

Alex Lange pitched in game one of the Tigers’ doubleheader against the Guardians on Tuesday, earning the win, which left Foley as the top closing option for game two with Lange unavailable. Foley followed Eduardo Rodríguez’s eight-inning gem with a rock solid performance of his own, retiring the Guardians in order on two grounders and a strikeout.

Foley’s first career save was a nice exclamation point to a great start to his season, as he’s allowed just one run in his first eight innings with eight strikeouts against three walks.

Committee Clarity

•Jeurys Familia, OAK | RosterResource

This isn’t really Committee Clarity as much as it is our weekly glimpse into Who The Heck The A’s Closer Even Is. Familia closed out the A’s fourth win of the season on Friday, which was just their second save of the season (Dany Jiménez, now on the 60-day IL with a strained shoulder, had the other). Trevor May is on the IL with anxiety and Zach Jackson has tantalizing stuff but walks too many (even more than Familia so far), so it looks to be Familia’s job alone right now. His 5.40 ERA through 10 games is further proven out by a dismal 8:4 BB:K ratio, though it’s worth noting four of his walks and four of his eight runs allowed came in one horrible outing against the Mets.

Losing A Grip

•Reynaldo López, CHW | RosterResource

López has been the White Sox’s go-to closer with Liam Hendriks on the IL with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (congrats to Liam on being cancer-free!) and at times he’s shown why he’s worthy of a late-inning role, with 15 strikeouts of 39 batters faced (38.5%) entering play on Friday. But he’d also allowed a couple homers and five walks, and he added two more homers to his ledger on Friday. His outing went homer-single-homer, blowing a two-run lead and the game against the Rays. This spiked López’s ERA to 9.35 and might necessitate a change in the ninth until Hendriks is back. Jimmy Lambert has pitched well, and Kendall Graveman’s 4.70 ERA in the early going is inflated by allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning in his second appearance of the year.