Bullpen Report: April 29, 2015
Alright fake baseball folks, this is the late-inning pinch-hit version of the Bullpen Report.
Adam Ottavino landed on the 15-day disabled list three days ago with what the Colorado Rockies referred to as “triceps inflammation.” But on Tuesday, results of an MRI conducted on Ottavino’s pitching arm indicated that the inflammation actually appeared to be closer to his lower arm in the vicinity of his elbow. Ugh. There will be no further speculation or diagnosis by the team until they return from their road trip and the right-hander gets a chance to meet with team doctors on Monday, but Ottavino admitted that “he was worried.”
In his stead, John Axford will likely continue to carry the ninth-inning torch. He’s a perfect 3-for-3 in save chances on the season with a perfect 0.00 ERA (1.94 FIP), a 1.00 WHIP and a 20% K%-BB% in five trips to the bump. At the time of this writing, John Axford is available in 53% of Yahoo! leagues. This number should be on the rise, so if he’s still on your wire, be sure to grab him while you can. Some may not have the option, but if you can slot Ottavino into a DL slot until an official announcement is made from the team’s doctors, I’d do so. In deeper formats and those that reward for holds or solds (saves + holds), Rafael Betancourt and Boone Logan should get a bump in value as well — and I’d be adding them in that order. Strictly looking for holds? Don’t forget about Brooks Brown who owns six on the season and is owned in just 1% of Y! leagues.
Trevor Rosenthal surrendered a hit and a walk in the ninth-inning against the Phillies this evening, but escaped without surrendering a run and notched his eighth save of the year. The Cardinals’ closer fanned two in the final frame to raise his K/9 to 13.03/9 and also reduced his ERA to 0.93 on the young season. Cody Allen worked around a couple of hits and an error to pick up his fourth save of the year in five chances. Allen allowed an unearned run, but whiffed one and induced a pair of fly outs on 14 pitches to seal the 7-5 Indians victory over the Royals.
Quick Hitters: Joakim Soria earned his ninth save of the year to move himself into a tie for the league lead with Jeurys Familia of the Metropolitans. Soria worked around a leadoff walk and a two-out single off the bat of Joe Mauer to escape the inning unscathed and secure the Tigers’ victory. Ernesto Frieri induced a game-ending double play off the bat of Alex Rodriguez in extra-innings to notch his second save for the Rays. The Rays used Brad Boxberger in the 10th inning, but he wasn’t exactly sharp. Despite the clean frame, Boxberger allowed a hit and a couple of free passes before getting out of the inning. Fernando Rodney retired the final three Rangers on 13 pitches to pick up his seventh save in eight chances.
Koji Uehara struck out each of the three Blue Jays he faced in the top of the ninth for his fourth save in ‘15.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
Nothing on Kimbrel’s implosion?
wasn’t really his fault-a passed ball, an error and a wp= implosion?
And he has a bad game, occasionally like everyone else.