Bullpen Report: April 25, 2018

Has the switch been flipped in St. Louis?

On Sunday, Mike Matheny brought Bud Norris in for the eighth inning with a 6-2 lead against the Reds. Greg Holland pitched the ninth, but by that point, the Cardinals had expanded their lead to seven runs. On Tuesday night, Matheny sent a clearer signal that he may be close to re-installing Holland as his closer. He called on Holland to pitch the top of the ninth inning in 5-5 game with the Mets, and he responded with a perfect inning.

Holland has now pitched a hitless, scoreless inning in each of his last three appearances. Norris had pitched just twice over the previous four days, so one could assume that Holland is now the Cardinals’ closer, especially since returning him to that role had been the plan all along.

Update: According to Joe Trezza of MLB.com, Norris was unavailable due to soreness. He has been moved back into the closer’s column in the grid.

What started out as a chance at a five-out save against the Rangers on Tuesday night ended up as Blake Treinen’s shortest outing of the season. His first pitch was lined sharply by Shin-Soo Choo off his right leg, leading to Treinen’s premature exit. After calling on Lou Trivino to finish out the eighth inning, Bob Melvin brought in Santiago Casilla, who had not pitched in six days, to preserve a 3-2 lead. The 15-year veteran did just that, setting the Rangers down in order.

Treinen was diagnosed with a bruised shin, and Melvin told reporters he could be ready to return for Friday’s series opener at Houston, if not immediately on Wednesday. Should the A’s need a fill-in closer on Wednesday — or beyond if Treinen is not able to pitch on Friday — Ryan Buchter would seem to have the best chance at getting the call, given that he has been Melvin’s favored choice as the eighth-inning setup reliever. Presumably, Buchter was unavailable to pitch on Tuesday, as he had appeared in each of the two previous games.

For the second night in a row, the Dodgers entered the top of the ninth inning in a situation that called for a closer, and Dave Roberts did not call on Kenley Jansen either time. Josh Fields came in for the save on Monday night, as Jansen had pitched on both Saturday and Sunday. Despite resting on Monday, Jansen sat on Tuesday, with Pedro Baez coming in with the Dodgers and Marlins knotted in a 2-2 tie. Baez quickly gave the lead to the Marlins, allowing a Brian Anderson single and a Cameron Maybin RBI double. According to The Athletic’s Pedro Moura, Jansen was ready to pitch the ninth inning, so it’s not clear why he didn’t.

Craig Counsell continued to keep fantasy owners on their toes by mixing up the Brewers’ late-inning pecking order yet again. With a three-run lead over the Royals heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, he opted to bring in occasional closer Matt Albers. After a nine-pitch frame, Albers came back out for the eighth inning, but was relieved by lefty Dan Jennings with Mike Moustakas coming up for the Royals. Counsell continued to play the matchups in the ninth inning, bringing Jennings back to get Lucas Duda out, and then handing the ball to Jeremy Jeffress to finish out the game.

Josh Hader was just two days removed from a 34-pitch outing, so it’s hardly surprising he did not play a role in securing the Brewers’ win, but Jacob Barnes sat despite not having pitched in three days. It appears Hader will usually (but not always) get the save opportunities when available, but otherwise, saves appear to be largely up for grabs, with only Taylor Williams and Oliver Drake seemingly out of the mix.

Raisel Iglesias blew his first save of the season on Tuesday night against the Braves and allowed his first run since April 1. The Reds’ closer made things difficult for himself by issuing two walks, including one to Johan Camargo that brought a run in. Still, if Scooter Gennett hadn’t let Ender Inciarte’s sharply hit ball get past him, Iglesias would have notched his fourth save. It is worth noting that Iglesias has walked six batters over his last five innings, throwing only 54 percent of his pitches for strikes over that stretch.

With Keynan Middleton having pitched on three straight days, it was Cam Bedrosian who got the save for the Angels on Tuesday night against the Astros. Blake Wood has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right elbow posterior impingement, so Bedrosian has been moved into the first backup slot on the Angels’ portion of the closer grid. Justin Anderson, who finished out the seventh inning on Tuesday and, in his major league debut, set up for Middleton in the eighth inning of Monday’s 2-0 win gets the second backup slot for now.

Quick hits: Roberto Osuna and Craig Kimbrel gave up their first runs of the season on Tuesday night. Osuna allowed RBI singles to Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt, helping the Red Sox to send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Kimbrel gave up Curtis Granderson’s walk-off home run…Matt Harvey made his first appearance since getting demoted to the Mets’ bullpen, allowing one run in two innings. It was his second career relief appearance.