Bullpen Report: April 27, 2019

Once again, owners of Anthony Swarzak may be sleepless due to his recent performances with Seattle. Swarzak incurred his second blown over his last three appearances coughing up a game tying home run to Shin-Soo Choo in the ninth inning. Of more importance, Swarzak’s allowed a run in three straight outings within this stretch. After throwing 38 pitches on Thursday, Roenis Elias threw two more innings last night. Elias did record two clean innings with two strikeouts garnering his second win in relief this season. He’s been a solid add in fantasy due to his ability to close out games of late with four saves since the start of April. With Swarzak scuffling of late, keep tabs on Connor Sadzeck.

Sadzeck’s been solid since being added to Seattle after Texas designated him for assignment to claim Kyle Dowdy. As for Sadzeck, a tweak to his mechanics seems to be fueling his success as detailed here by Evan Grant. So far, Sadzeck’s the only Mariners reliever without a meltdown metric as graded by Fangraphs and he owns a 0.96 ERA with a 0.64 WHIP. Of course, his xFIP of 3.93 warns of some regression to the mean, but, Sadzeck could work his way into high leverage as the right handed complement to Elias if Swarzak continues to cede runs in his outings. Stay tuned. As for Dowdy, he absorbed the loss for the Rangers allowing single, two walks and a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 11th last night.

In what’s been a tremendous start to the year for Kirby Yates, he held on for his major league leading 13th save in Washington. Yates needed to navigate through a Yan Gomes single with two outs, a pinch run stolen base by Michael A. Taylor, a Brian Dozier walk, then a Howie Kendrick walk before striking out Carter Kieboom to preserve the win. San Diego’s used Yates efficiently this season, but he did throw 28 pitches on Friday along with pitching in three of the last four days, so he could get Saturday off. Sean Doolittle takes the loss coughing up a home run to Hunter Renfroe in the top of the inning. Doolittle’s been used in a different manner being the sole reliable reliever in the Nationals bullpen. Even with the loss, Doolittle’s factored in the decision four times, with three wins, to go along with his three saves. However, with his injury issues in the past, Washington could wear him down as the season progresses.

A wild game in Chicago with the White Sox getting a win with a walk-off home run by Tim Anderson. This provided Alex Colome with his first win of the season. He worked around a walk in the top of the inning to keep the game tied. Kelvin Herrera served up a game tying home run to Ronny Rodriguez in the top of the eighth and also walked a batter with a strikeout during his 1.1 inning appearance. Tough night for Joe Jimenez. He entered in the bottom of the eighth striking out Jose Rondon, then returned for the ninth inning. After striking out both Ryan Cordell and Leury Garcia, Jimenez made a mistake against Anderson which resulted in the loss. One step up and two steps back for Jimenez.

Perhaps some intrigue gets shrouded in the one out save by Wade Davis. First, Davis gets his second save this week by retiring one batter and his fourth of the season after a slow start. But, Atlanta used Bryse Wilson in the ninth. He responded with a clean inning and a strikeout. Wilson only needed 13 pitches to navigate through Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado and Daniel Murphy. There’s no guarantee Wilson will stay in the bullpen or even with the Braves, but if he gets burn in high leverage for the Braves, he could thrive in the role. (Update: Wilson’s been optioned as the Braves activated Foltynewicz).

Save number eight for Cleveland’s Brad Hand working around a walk and recording all of his outs via strikeouts in Houston. Hand’s also worked in each of the last three days with two saves, so, if another chance arises on Saturday, he could get the day off. It’s possible Nick Wittgren could get the opportunity if provided on Saturday. Wittgren only needed 24 pitches to get through 1.1 scoreless innings giving up two hits with two strikeouts en route to his first hold last night.

Quick Hits: Ken Giles recorded his first win of the season after throwing a scoreless ninth inning allowing a hit with two strikeouts for the Blue Jays. He’s been solid this year with a 2.19 ERA, but his owners would appreciate a more manageable WHIP (1.46) going forward…Yusmeiro Petit absorbs the loss for Oakland yielding a double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and then a walk-off home run to Brandon Drury…Pat Neshek preserved the shutout win for Philadelphia working around two hits in the top of the ninth. Adam Morgan notched his seventh hold in this game as well…Josh James continues to struggle as a reliever allowing a two run home run to Francisco Lindor while striking out the side in his inning of work…Rack up another three inning save for the Diamondbacks. This time, Matt Andriese gets the call yielding three hits and a walk with three strikeouts en route to the save. Arizona’s deployed three relievers for a three inning save so far this season…Getting in work, Felipe Vazquez allowed a hit and a walk with a strikeout in a scoreless eighth inning for Pittsburgh…Both Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino notched holds for the Yankees, but, a two-run homer by Luke Voit in the top of the ninth, off of Mark Melancon, took a save chance away from Aroldis Chapman. Chapman walked one and struck out two during his outing preserving the win.