Bullpen Report: April 30, 2016
Zach Britton left a tied game with a lower body injury and took the loss. Britton struck out the first two batters he faced, and then left the game after Adam Eaton bunted towards him. Vance Worley came in to replace Britton and gave up the inherited run with two walks and a single. We don’t know the severity of Britton’s injury yet, but certainly monitor that situation moving forward. A potential replacement if he were to be shelved for any time would probably be Darren O’Day, who earned his first blown save of the season. O’Day pitched the 8th gave up three hits including a three-run homer by Todd Frazier.
AJ Ramos was unavailable, so David Phelps earned his second career save by pitching a scoreless inning against Milwaukee. Phelps has been a strong presence in the pen striking 16 over 14 innings with 1.29 ERA (2.51 FIP). Only concern are those 7 walks, but it looks like Phelps might have found a home in the bullpen. Not expecting him to steal too many saves from Ramos, though he definitely shows some value in SV/HLD leagues.
Jeurys Familia earned the save, but the Mets bullpen almost blew a three run lead. Henderson started strong striking out the first two hitters in the seventh. Terry Collins called on Addison Reed to get them out of a jam after Jim Henderson gave up a double and a walk, and Reed delivered striking out Angel Pagan. Reed then started his normal inning, the 8th, and allowed the first three runners on. Hansel Robles then came in and gave up 2 runs on two sacrifice flies. Jerry Blevins would then relieve Robles to get out of the inning. Familia closed it out allowing only a single. All these pitchers mentioned earned a hold except for Familia, so in short, tonight was a good night to have the Mets bullpen in SV/HLD leagues.
Quick Hits: Ryan Madson loaded the bases, but forced Evan Gattis to hit into a double-play to earn his 8th save. John Axford earned his fifth hold pitching a clean 1.1 innings. Francisco Rodriguez got his sixth save for his third straight scoreless outing. Jeanmar Gomez gave up two hits, but also went scoreless to get his 8th save. Andrew Bailey earned the win for Philadelphia and has looked sharp in his three appearances. That could be huge for a Phillies team whose bullpen struggled initially. Brad Ziegler entered a tied game and received a loss after giving up three runs on four hits and a walk. Jake McGee converted the save for his 5th of the year. Brett Cecil came into a tied game and gave up a run on three hits, including a Curt Casali walk-off. That is Cecil’s fifth loss. Pirates bullpen held Cincinnati scoreless, and Mark Melancon struck out the only batter he faced for the save (7).
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
“Hansel Robles then came in and gave up 2 runs on two sacrifice flies.”
For the Mets – Giants game: that somewhat undersells the Giants LOUD hits… The two sacrifice flies combined over 750 feet of travel. Easily could’ve been a different ballgame.
Crawford’s was barely a fly, it was to the warning track and it was practically a line drive. It was very lucky to be caught.