Bullpen Report: April 30, 2019

• Shane Greene came on to start the ninth inning tonight in a 0-0 game and unfortunately was unable to finish the inning after allowing a lead off walk to Denard Span, a homer to C.J. Cron and a solo shot to Brad Miller. Buck Farmer relieved Greene in the ninth but Joe Jimenez and Alex Wilson both figure to be in line for saves if a change occurs in Detroit. After tonight’s outing, Green is supporting a 5.73 ERA and matching 6.00 FIP. He won’t carry a 20.0% HR/FB all season and a 65.2 LOB% either but his .310 BABIP doesn’t portray someone who’s been getting killed by luck, although his sequencing certainly has left a lot to be desired. We had Greene safe before tonight’s blow up so I won’t sound the alarms but it’s hard to carry an ERA touching 6 and feel comfortable. As mentioned, Joe Jimenez would be next in line. His strikeout rate could be on the up and up with a 11.7 SwStr% but only a 18% K% but overall he’s not quite as dominant as you might like to see with someone next in line.

• A day after Alex Colome received the loss, Chaz Roe came on for the save, up three runs in the ninth. Sergio Romo had thrown three innings in the previous two games so he was unavailable. Chaz Roe has been pitching better than Romo of late so a clean inning could have had him leap frog into the closer grid but he laid an egg this evening. After striking out the first batter, Roe hit JaCoby Jones with a pitch, allowed a single to Jeimer Candelario, and then hit Nick Castellanos with a pitch before being taken out for Jose Alvarado. Alvarado didn’t have much better luck, allowing two inherited runners to score on a Victor Martinez single. He then got James McCann to fly out before walking John Hicks. With the bases loaded and two outs in a 3-2 game, Alvarado got Dixon Machado to ground out to short for his first save.

If things went smoothly this inning, I might have placed Roe before Romo and Alvarado on the grid, but now I’m not so sure. Neither Romo or Roe have particularly good numbers this year and the Rays don’t seem to want to use the lefty Alvarado as a closer, for now. If anything tonight gives Alex Colome a longer leash with Alvarado creeping up in the mix. You don’t want to Alvarado allow the inherited runs like he did tonight, but on the year he has a 2.57 ERA, 1.97 FIP, and 1.94 SIERA with a 16/5 K/BB in 14 innings. He’s undoubtedly been the best pitcher in the Rays pen and considering how the others are hurting your ratios, he might be the best guy to own in the long run behind Colome.

• Holy Josh Hader! We are now well accustomed to his multi inning saves, which he did again for his fourth save of the year, but striking out eight in 2.2 innings is another level! After tonight’s outing in 18 innings this year Hader has an absurd 39 strikeouts against just 5 walks, supporting a cool 0.41 FIP. Corey Knebel should return to the mound soon which will push Josh Hader back to his familiar multi inning set up role. Jacob Barnes or Matt Albers should see the next save opportunity but everyone should pull up Hader’s FanGraphs page and take a moment to appreciate how dominant he’s been this year.

• Quick Hits: Chris Devenski finished off the eighth inning and Ken Giles came on for a traditional save in the ninth for his third of the year. Giles hasn’t allowed arun in his last seven appearances and might be a more consistent source of saves moving forward. No save situation in Florida as they scored an insurance run but Brad Ziegler threw a scoreless ninth lowering his ERA to 7.11. It’s still his job but he doesn’t have too many more blowups in him before Kyle Barraclough sees some saves. Sean Doolittle was unavailable having throw three days in a row and Brandon Kintzler came on for a clean ninth and his first save on the year. Brandon Morrow had thrown three times in four days so he was also unavailable and the Cubs went with Brian Duensing for the first out in the ninth and Steve Cishek for the last two as he picked up his first save as well. Carl Edwards Jr. still remains the best guy to own behind Morrow in Chicago. Adam Ottavino threw another scoreless inning with two strikeouts and continues his insane season with a 30/4 K/BB in just 16 innings. Damn.