Bullpen Report: April 27, 2017

Happy Thursday, folks. Just a quick couple of notes out of the bullpens this evening.

Take a deep breath before this one. Bud Norris notched his fourth save of the week and is now 4-of-5 in save chances while manning the closer’s role for the Angels this season. In 12.2 total frames on the bump, Norris owns a 3:1 K:BB with a 2.84 ERA (2.03 FIP). The spike in cutter usage/effectiveness seems to be at the root of the 32-year-old’s rebirth as a relief arm. As it stands, we have the Angels situation as “yellow,” but as the days pass and saves continue to be converted, it’s hard to say that Cam Bedrosian is a lock to earn his ninth-inning role back when reinstated from the disabled list. If you’re scrambling for saves, you’re grabbing Norris (if you haven’t done so already) where you can as he’s available in more than 65% of Y! Leagues at the time of this writing.

In the second half of the Cardinals/Blue Jays double header, Mike Matheny opted for right-handed flamethrower Trevor Rosenthal to face the bottom third of Toronto’s order with a save on the line. Although neither Oh or Rosenthal hadn’t pitched since Sunday, Oh dished a clean inning of work during the first half of the doubleheader which is likely why we didn’t see him the second time around today. Rosenthal needed just 13 pitches to strike out two and induce a groundout to first base en route to his second save of the season while recording the third-fastest pitch of the year at 101.7 in doing so. The Cardinals have yet to allow Trevor Rosenthal to pitch on back-to-back days since suffering the lat strain during Spring Training. And for that reason, I’m not so sure he’s ready — or if the Cardinals would be willing — to lock him into his former role just yet. Seung Hwan Oh isn’t exactly off to the best start — 5-of-6 in save chances with a 7.59 K/9 and a 5.25 FIP — so you’re adding Rosenthal where possible as he’s available in over 70% of Y! formats. Green tonight, but thinking this may be moving towards a yellow situation.

Cody Allen surrendered three consecutive singles to Astros bats to start the top of the ninth, but managed to escape unscathed for his fifth save of the year. Allen is 5-for-5 in save opportunities with an 18.0 K/9 and a 1.00 ERA (-0.69 FIP) in nine innings of work. Velocity looks good and he’s inducing swings-and-misses at a ridiculous 23.1% clip prior to tonight’s outing. Green, green, green.

The Mariners’ ninth-inning sensation, Edwin Diaz, locked down his third successful save conversion in four opportunities with an 11-pitch (nine strikes, three swings-and-misses) effort. Allowing free passes have been an early season hiccup for the 23-year-old, but this evening he managed to finish off the Tigers without allowing a walk — just the fourth time in eight games he’s failed to surrender the free pass. Green.

Hector Neris needed just seven pitches to pick up his third save for the Phillies en route to a 3-2 victory over the Marlins. Still yellow-ish in Philly for the time being, however, Neris is still available in close to 50% of Y! Leagues which shouldn’t be the case.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]