Bullpen Report: April 27, 2022

The 2022 version of Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

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

•Raisel Iglesias, LAA: Back-to-back days; 3 of last 4 days; 9 pitches on Tuesday. | RosterResource

Ryan Tepera is a likely candidate for a save chance if Iglesias isn’t available on Wednesday.

•Emilio Pagán, MIN: 23 pitches on Tuesday. | RosterResource

Jhoan Duran a is a likely candidate for a save chance if Pagán isn’t available on Wednesday.

•Edwin Díaz, NYM: Back-to-back days; 14 pitches on Tuesday. | RosterResource

Trevor May struggled in a 28-pitch outing on Monday, which could be enough to keep him from getting a save chance if Díaz isn’t available on Wednesday. Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo might be the likeliest candidates.

•Aroldis Chapman, NYY: 24 pitches on Tuesday. | RosterResource

Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loáisiga are likely candidates for a save chance if Chapman isn’t available on Wednesday.

 

Injury News

•None

 

Outlier Saves

•None

 

Committee Clarity

•Jake Diekman and Matt Barnes, BOS | RosterResource

After taking a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth over the Blue Jays on Tuesday, Red Sox acting manager Will Venable opted for Hansel Robles to pitch the bottom half of the eighth. His next decision — whether to go with Diekman or Barnes for the save chance in the ninth — would be a crucial one.

While both pitchers have done historically well against lefty and righty batters, Diekman has been better against righties and Barnes has been better against lefties. So, despite three of the first four batters coming up for the Blue Jays being left-handed, Venable went with Diekman to start the ninth. Regardless, the Red Sox had a three-run lead and the veteran lefty should’ve been able to close things out. He was not.

Following back-to-back doubles, Diekman struck out the next two batters. It was decision time once again for Venable, who left Diekman in to face the tying run, George Springer, instead of calling on Barnes. Springer tied it with a two-run homer. Barnes entered and recorded the final out to send it to extra innings, but picked up the loss in a 10-inning walk-off defeat.

It will be interesting to know what was behind Venable’s reasoning, but manager Alex Cora, who has been away from the team since testing positive for COVID-19 last week, has indicated that he wanted Barnes to regain the closer’s job.  Handing him a fairly easy save chance — a three-run lead against the bottom of the Blue Jays’ order — seemed like it could’ve been a good way to give him some confidence and start easing him back into the role. Instead, the Red Sox’ closing situation remains on shaky ground.

•Anthony Bender, MIA | RosterResource

Since his last appearance six days ago, when he allowed a tie-breaking homer to Nolan Arenado in a loss to the Cardinals, Bender’s availability has been tentative due to hip soreness while his status as the team’s closer has also been unclear. Tanner Scott picked up his first save in a 9-7 win over the Braves on Saturday, but retired only one batter in a disastrous the following day. So, Bender getting a chance to close out a 5-2 win over the Nationals on Tuesday — he threw 7 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his 3rd save — means that he’s still squarely in the mix and possibly still the primary closer. Things could change, however, once Dylan Floro is activated from the Injured List.

The 31-year-old Floro, who has been sidelined with rotator cuff tendinitis, has had mixed results in his first two rehab appearances. After allowing two runs on one hit and a walk in 0.2 innings on April 23, he pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday. His fastball velocity reportedly maxed out at 91 MPH, which is below his 93.8 MPH average, from 2021. In all likelihood, he’ll make at least a few more appearances and possibly won’t return until he can pitch back-to-back days.

•Emilio Pagán, MIN | RosterResource

After pitching a scoreless inning in four of his first five appearances with the Twins and picking up saves in his last two games, Pagán seemed back on track after a late-season meltdown (18 ER, 9 HR allowed in last 17.1 IP) with the Padres in 2021. On Tuesday, he entered with a 3-1 lead over the Tigers, two runners on base and one out in the eighth inning. Considering that he threw 34 pitches in his last outing on Friday, a five-out save chance wasn’t out of the question. But, two pitches into the outing, the lead was gone after Pagán allowed a go-ahead, three-run homer to Javier Báez.

While the Twins came back to win — they’ve now won five in a row — Pagan’s blown save, not far removed from his end-of-last-season struggles, has likely thrown a bit of a wrench in the team’s late-inning plans. It might not necessarily be a bad thing, especially if hard-throwing Jhoan Duran takes the job and runs with it. But the Twins would likely prefer, at least for now, to have a reliable veteran pitching the ninth and not a 24-year-old rookie with six big league games under his belt.

 

Losing A Grip

•None

 

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.