Bullpen Report: April 7, 2019

Apologies for a brief and belated Bullpen Report but let’s jump right into Saturday’s games…

• Taylor Rogers pitched in the 8th inning last night with the top of the Phillies lineup up, and no real platoon split to speak of. Although he wasn’t particularly sharp he threw a scoreless inning handing it off to Parker in the 9th. The Twins put the game out of a saves reach in the top half of the inning so there was no save situation for Parker. While this situation was being used as a fairly strict platoon it looks like Rogers 8th and Parker in the 9th might be calcifying somewhat. I’ll keep the committee tag for now but Parker is affirming himself ahead for now.

• No save situation for the Royals last night but that was due to the pen blowing the lead before the 9th. Wily Peralta pitched in the 7th to clean up Kevin McCarthy’s mess but he wasn’t particularly effective himself and now carries a 15.00 ERA with only two strikeouts and four walks in three innings pitched this year. Brad Boxberger and Jake Diekman might be ahead of him in the committee at this point. Additionally, although Ian Kennedy has not been special this year, just exhibiting competence might be enough to run with this job at some point. I would bet on Kennedy’s end of season save total over the others in the Royals pen but I also don’t envision that number being particularly high or with ratios that help a team.

• Saturday Quick Hits: Edwin Diaz cleaned up the Mets bullpen mess again throwing a perfect ninth for his 4th save on the year. Jeurys Familia struggled in the 8th and the Mets are going to need him and the rest of the pen to be better than they have been thus far as Diaz won’t be able to throw 100 innings. Raisel Iglesias pitched 2.1 innings but lost the game in extras in the 10th. While he hasn’t been great, the bigger concern is his usage. I expect Iglesias to throw a lot of innings with good ratios but the Reds haven’t been using him traditionally which should lower his save totals a bit this year, unless his usage changes A lot of teams passed on Kirby Yates but he’s cemented himself as a relief ace on the Padres and now has 5 saves on the year. He should remain a top 10 option and maybe even better this year. The Giants won’t win too many games but they also won’t win too many games by a large amount. Will Smith came on to save his 3rd save of the year and unless he’s moved at the deadline, he is one of the better save options in a world of rebuilding teams and committees. Speaking of committees the Marlins have one with Sergio Romo getting 4 outs in the 8th and 9th and Adam Conley getting the last two outs for his first save. A.J. Minter gave up two runs in 0.2 innings and he’s still showing some growing pains as he returns from his shoulder injury. Arodys Vizcaino isn’t a pillar of health but so long as Minter is struggling, his job might be safer than we thought.

• Sunday Quick Hits: Tomorrow’s BR will have more detail but it’s worth noting a few appearances from today. Alex Wilson was horrendous in his previous appearance for the Brewers, so they decided to just bypass setup options with Hader getting the last 8 outs for his 5th save of the year. Jeremy Jeffress could return to the team soon but he will have to prove his effectiveness before he’s considered to even usurp any save opportunities from Hader. Hader’s dominance is nothing new but so far this year he has an insane 13/1 K/BB in 7.2 scoreless innings.

Something is going on in Philly. David Robertson has been struggling early on this season and he threw in the 8th inning getting two outs before handing the ball off to Adam Morgan for the final out of the inning. In the 9th, the Phillies turned to their old hand in Hector Neris who closed the door for his first save on the year. It’s hard to imagine Neris will take this job and run away with it, especially considering his poor performance to start the year and his past exploits as closer. However, he’s been perfect since then and I would consider this situation as code red with Neris, Robertson and Seranthony Dominguez in a committee. The Phillies will likely give Robertson a chance to regain the job but when looking at someone like Ian Kennedy or Hector Neris on the wire, it’s clear that Neris is both the better pitcher with the potential for more saves.