Bullpen Report: April 25, 2016
A few quick notes from Sunday:
• Jake McGee had a bad night allowing five earned in less than an inning. Every dog has it’s (bad) day and I don’t think McGee’s job is in danger but we’ll keep Colorado yellow for now. Miguel Castro who pitched himself into setup duty was put on the DL with an apparent non-serious shoulder injury. Chad Qualls and Boone Logan both move up a spot with McGee still ahead provided he doesn’t repeat last night’s performance.
• Craig Kimbrel gave up two in the ninth for his first blown save. A 5.00 ERA won’t stop him from complete job security. Meanwhile, in that same game Ken Giles gave up more hits, runs, and walks inflating his ERA to 8.31. He still has 12 strikeouts against just three walks in 8.2 innings this year and his 2.77 xFIP suggests clearer skies ahead but if he doesn’t turn it around soon he might temporarily out of such high leverage innings. Cody Allen had a clean save last night, helping ease his owner’s concerns after a few rough outings in April.
And on to Monday!
• Joaquin Benoit hit the DL and should be out for a few weeks. Nick Vincent has been outstanding in 8.1 innings throwing 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk and should see higher leveraged innings along with Tony Zych.
• Alex Colome only needed one out to get his fourth save on the year. Erasmo Ramirez and Xavier Cedeno provided the bridge to Colome and I’ve changed the grid below with them added in place of Steven Geltz and Enny Romero (who got the final out of the seventh this inning). Apologies on a lot of changes in the Rays pen but they mix and match and the back end of the pen has been quite good as well. This might all be for naught when Brad Boxberger returns but Colome’s job is safe and I’m changing them to yellow, mostly to signify Boxberger’s presence.
• Caleb Cotham threw a scoreless inning but it was in the bottom of the eighth with the Reds down two runs. At this rate, just a scoreless inning might put you ahead for saves in Cincinnati but I’m going to swap him and Cingrani at the moment.
• Quick Hits: Craig Kimbrel put the rough outing last night behind him, throwing a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for save number five. David Robertson (8) got out of a little jam when Troy Tulowitzki ran into a grounder for the final out. Dellin Betances allowed his first run of the year and Andrew Miller (5) taunted him, throwing another scoreless inning. On the year Miller and Betances have combined for 19 innings pitched with one earned run 38 strikeouts and only two walks. Jeurys Familia had a shut down inning for his sixth save. Kevin Jepsen threw a perfect ninth receiving the win after the Twins scored in the ninth and with Trevor May getting action in the fifth and sixth inning, Jepsen’s hold on the ninth in Perkins’ absence remains strong.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
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
Yimi Garcia is on the DL.
Good point. And that slot was pretty clearly Pedro Baez’s even before the injury.
David Phelps is the clear high-leverage setup man in Miami. Entered a clean 8th today, leading 3-2. Entered a clean 8th yesterday, leading 5-4.
From recent usage Phelps has the 8th & Barraclough has the 7th.
And neither is on this chart..
And the best arm in Rangers bullpen so far has been Jake Diekman and he is not listed either.
What are the chances Colome hangs onto the closer role even with Boxberger coming back? Same question goes for when Chapman comes back from his suspension, is he automatically thrust into the closer’s role?
Is Hector Neris close to cracking the grid? He has been phenomenal thus far.
He’s definitely been fantastic, but his last hold was on the 12th, so I wonder how much the Phillies view him as a late-inning guy or possible closer.
For the Mariners, as good as Zych might be, Joel Peralta got the 8th last night in front of Cishek. It’s only been one game, but that makes it seem like he’d get a closing shot first.
For the Rays, doesn’t Erasmo Ramirez start too? I think they love his versatility in a swingman-type role, so he might get starts in the future too if something happens to their rotation. Of course, Snell might get starts as well. But I’m guessing Cedeno would get a shot first if something happened to Colome.