Bullpen Report: April, 30th 2018

Bullpen Report – March, 30th 2018

With only eight wins on the season, the Orioles closer job has been pretty tough to speculate on so far this season. However, manager Buck Showalter did fantasy owners a big favor Sunday night by laying his cards on the table in their 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

With a three-run lead in the six, Showalter turned to Brad Brach in the seventh but he struggled yet again by allowing two earned on three hits and no walks. Brach has now allowed five earned runs in his last 3.1 innings pitched, raising his season ERA to 5.73. For the eighth inning, Mychal Givens was called upon and he delivered a 1,2,3 outing including a strikeout of Victor Martinez. Showalter would then turn to his closer in Darren O’Day for the ninth inning while up two runs. O’Day struck out two Tigers to notch his second save of the year. Sunday marks the third straight appearance for O’Day in the ninth inning. Clearly, he has become the number one choice as Brach pitched the seventh and Givens the eighth. Some will still speculate but for me, this battle is over for now. O’Day is the Orioles closer.

Two AL East teams faced off on Sunday in the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox and this one couldn’t have been more predictable. The Red Sox came away victorious, Craig Kimbrel struck out three, and Alex Colome gave up another earned run. Despite his struggles in the early going, Colome and his 6.00 ERA have been almost exclusively used in the ninth inning this year. So far 11 of his 13 appearances in 2018 have been in the ninth (1 in the 10th). With Sergio Romo struggling right beside him and Colome only allowing 2 earned runs in his last 7 innings, strangely it may still be his job to lose in Florida.

Quick Hits

As expected for the Nationals, Sean Doolittle pitched a solid ninth inning against the Diamondbacks, saving his fifth game of the season and helping the home team avoid the sweep. Entering play yesterday, Doolittle had only allowed six baserunners in his 12 innings all season. He gave up a hit in this one but was otherwise on top of his game yet again.

For those breezing through box scores this morning and seeing that Blaine Boyer picked up the save for Kanas City last night, don’t worry. This was a routine night off for Kelvin Herrera after pitching three nights in a row. Speaking of Herrera, his start to 2018 has been an incredible one. Herrera is five for five in saves opportunities, has 11 punch-outs and zero walks in his 9.2 innings of work so far.

Both Hunter Strickland and Brandon Morrow picked up their seventh saves of the year, going one, two, three in the ninth and not surrendering a baserunner.