Bullpen Report: August 1, 2018

As the trade deadline approached, it seemed as if about half of the relievers on non-contending teams were rumored to get traded. There was just not enough demand to meet the supply, so many of those relievers are staying put for the time being. Just among current closers, here’s who did not get moved: Shane Greene, Raisel Iglesias, Kyle Barraclough, Fernando Rodney, Sergio Romo, Kirby Yates, Mychal Givens and Blake Parker. Some of these relievers could still get dealt if they can pass through waivers, so if you’ve been stashing the likes of Joe Jimenez, Jared Hughes or Drew Steckenrider, don’t drop them just yet.

The one team that made a move since we published Tuesday’s Bullpen Report that impacted their closer situation was the Rangers. After having dealt Keone Kela to the Pirates, they sent Jake Diekman to the Diamondbacks, removing their primary eighth and ninth inning options from the roster. With the Rangers playing the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, at least Diekman was able to travel to his new team in style.

????-??: ???????? ????ℎ???? ?? ?ℎ??? ?????
???????????: ???? ????ℎ???? ?? ?ℎ??? ?????
…
????? ???, @JakeDiekman! ?????? ?? ???????? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ????. pic.twitter.com/MuBmzCaFd0

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 1, 2018

Jeff Banister declined to name a closer, citing Jose Leclerc, Alex Claudio and Cory Gearrin as relievers who could get save opportunities. He also mentioned Chris Martin, whom the Rangers activated on Tuesday. Both recent usage patterns and quality of performance would suggest that Leclerc has the upper hand on seizing the closer’s role. He had been pitching just ahead of Diekman and Kela in potential save situations, and he pitched the eighth inning with a three-run lead as recently as Monday. Leclerc’s ability to miss bats (35.2 percent K%, 15.5 percent SwStr%) and induce soft contact (26.8 percent rate) make him the most likely candidate to close. With that profile, he should be a successful closer as well.

As for the Diamondbacks, we did not get a chance on Tuesday night to see how they will employ Diekman, as they cruised to a 6-0 lead against the Rangers before reaching the game’s final three innings. Zack Godley was masterful over seven scoreless innings, and T.J. McFarland made it a combined shutout by blanking the Rangers over the final two frames. In doing so, McFarland extended his scoreless innings streak to 15.1 innings. The sinkerballer has allowed only two extra-base hits over that span, and both were doubles.

The other notable trade involving a reliever was Brandon Kintzler getting sent by the Nationals to the Cubs. In her report for MLB.com, beat writer Carrie Muskat referred to Kintzler as “another option at closer” while Brandon Morrow (biceps) is out, but the same can be said of Pedro Strop, Carl Edwards Jr., Steve Cishek and Justin Wilson. In fact, Strop has monopolized all of the save chances since Morrow was placed on the DL, so in all likelihood, Kintzler will continue to be solely an option for holds leagues.

Potentially lost among the excitement of the trade deadline were some interesting developments for the Brewers and Indians. The Brewers beat the Dodgers, 1-0, but despite being available, Corey Knebel did not enter the game at any point after Wade Miley departed. Joakim Soria pitched the eighth inning, and then Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth inning for the save. Brewers beat writer Todd Rosiak got the following explanation from Craig Counsell after the game.

Counsell also said Soria pitched the eighth because he had been warming up in the seventh. Jeffress got the ninth because of the matchup with righties coming up. Knebel would have been called upon had there been at least a couple lefties due up.

— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) August 1, 2018

So this is new. Both Jeffress and Knebel have had some struggles over the past month, but Jeffress had continued to be solid against righties. Knebel had allowed seven runs over his last 10 innings and yielded a hit in all but one of the 10 appearances he made during that stretch, but his difficulties were especially acute against right-handed batters. He allowed righties to post a .532 wOBA over those 10 innings.

I’m not quite ready to denote this as a closer committee in the grid below, though that sure does sound like what Counsell was describing. Let’s see if the Brewers’ manager sticks with this approach for the next save opportunity — or at least the next one that is devoid of left-handed hitters.

On the other hand, I went ahead and made Cody Allen and Brad Hand co-closers in the grid after Allen got the save against the Twins on Tuesday night. Hand had received the Indians’ previous save on July 25 against the Pirates, but he threw 1.1 scoreless innings in setting up for Allen in Tuesday’s outing. It remains to be seen if Terry Francona will favor one reliever over the other in save situations, or if he will chose their roles on a game-by-game basis depending on matchups.

Quick hits: Felipe Vazquez recorded his 24th save on Tuesday night, but he allowed the Cubs to pull within a run on an Addison Russell RBI double. After having built a string of 16 consecutive scoreless appearances covering 15.2 innings, Vazquez has allowed a run in two of his last four outings…In getting the save in the Royals’ 4-2 win over the White Sox on Tuesday night, Wily Peralta is a perfect 6 for 6 in his save chances this season. This is in spite of a 18.3 percent walk rate and an 8.6 percent soft contact rate…The Marlins activated Tayron Guerrero (back) on Tuesday, and he will work in a setup role going forward…Chasen Shreve pitched a scoreless inning in his Cardinals’ debut against the Rockies. He continued to live up to his name, boosting his O-Swing% to 35.7 percent and getting swings on seven of his 17 pitches outside of the strike zone…Cody Carroll, also formerly of the Yankees’ organization, was called up by the Orioles on Tuesday. Carroll came to the Orioles as part of the return for Zach Britton. Should he appear in a game, it will be his major league debut. Carroll appeared in two games for Triple-A Norfolk, and with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he posted a 2.38 ERA with a 32.2 percent strikeout rate and nine saves.