Bullpen Report: August 10, 2015
• It was known that Koji Uehara wasn’t made of steal steel but it’s unexpected and unfortunate to see him fracture his wrist ending his season. The Red Sox expect Uehara to make a complete recovery, which would mean he will be the closer starting next year. However, while some Red Sox fans might have forgotten about 2015, fantasy owners are still on the grind. Junichi Tazawa should fill in for Uehara in the meantime. Normally I would make this situation yellow or even green as he’s an obvious replacement but he’s had a few bumps recently and John Farrell said that they wanted to limit Tazawa’s innings. Still, expect Tazawa to be the closer with Alexi Ogando and Jean Machi around in those situations where Tazawa is limited.
UPDATE: Ignore everything I just said as I missed the news that Jean Machi was named closer. This goes along with limits on Tazawa’s innings. Jean Machi had a nice run in SF but he’s been bad this year, put on waivers by the Giants and then claimed by Boston.He’s remained unimpressive on the Sox but saves are saves. Definitely pick up Machi even though tamper your expectations as he hasn’t had the same results he did in 2013 and 2014.
• Edward Mujica was the man in charge of the ninth but allowing three runs without recording an out is a good way to lose your job. Bob Melvin was noncommittal in keeping Mujica as his closer or naming a replacement. I would still hold onto Mujica (over say a reliever not near saves or a 6th OF) as this situation is red hot in fickleness and he can retake or hold the job but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Fernando Rodriguez get the next chance. If possible, I would try to have both on the roster to see how it shakes out with the non-Mujica options taking precedent. Even if Mujica holds for the time being one bad outing would move him back in the pecking order.
• Quick Hits from the weekend: Roberto Osuna closed out the Jays sweep of the Yankees with his 10th save of the year. The Jays are looking smart not wasting resources and/or cash on a closer upgrade. Jake McGee received the save for the Rays and he’ll continue to receive a few opportunities here and there behind Boxberger. Tommy Kahnle nailed down his second save for the Rockies and I’ve upgraded him to yellow. Kevin Siegrist and Jonathan Broxton were both underwhelming blowing a save in the ninth in lieu of Trevor Rosenthal. Both have closing experience but I would keep expect Siegrist to receive the next opportunity whenever Rosie has a day off, with Cishek not far behind. Carson Smith nailed down his 12th save and helped keep Fernando Rodney’s arrows at bay
• Jeurys Familia continued his strong season, closing his 31st save tonight, only needing 11 pitches for a perfect ninth. Familia has had a little bit of good fortune this year but with a K/9 over 9 and a GB% approaching 60%, he has the goods to succeed for the rest of this year and in the future on the next great Mets squad.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
Not sure why you have Tazawa as the closer for Boston. John Farrell named Machi the closer earlier today.
Yep, Machi goes from not in the chart to closer. Bullpen usage is tough to predict but the report has not been kind to those using it to speculate. Weekly transaction and I’ve ended up grabbing Fernando with no role and now Tazawa, Motte was green until the day he was replaced and before that Strop was listed first chair for almost a week and didn’t smell a close. Love fan graphs but I’m looking for another opinion to consult for my reliever needs from here on.
In Fangraphs’ defense, Machi is terrible and unless you closely followed the Red Sox, you would have no idea that Ferrell has apparently lost his mind.
Agreed. Machi goes from released by the Giants (who don’t exactly have an elite bullpen) to Closing within a month basically?
Farrell must think Tazawa is mentally weak or something, because he has passed over him for Saves ever since he took over as manager.
Maybe the Sox are intentionally trying to lose?
Machi’s issue this year is with his slider. Maybe Boston originally claimed him thinking they see a fixable issue since his velocity has been consistent and is now confident enough to stick him in the 9th.
Or maybe they just want a cheap closer.
Just to put a source on this:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/10/red-sox-put-closer-koji-uehara-disabled-list/VZT1TPeVMLD7OgFyGIVUGK/story.html
Boston is basically listed backwards.
At least u guys know Koji isn’t made of steal.
Yea, steel is harder to tamper.
Very minor homonym correction: steel, not steal. Just out of curiosity, why do you think Fernando Rodriguez would get the first save chance over Pomeranz? Pomeranz has previously been named the set-up man (https://twitter.com/JoeStiglichCSN/status/626182763599630336). Fernando has definitely been the better pitcher this season, but I think we can safely say that managers don’t always go solely by just the best pitcher when they reach for new closers. Plus Pomeranz got the most recent set-up man job (http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350808111), and when Fernando was recently given a chance to set up Mujica, he blew the hold (http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?id=350806111).
Agreed, I think Pomeranz gets the first shot based on recent usage to replace Mujica. Obviously it’s nearly impossible until we actually see game usage of these guys, but Pomeranz seems higher on the depth chart than Rodriguez. Only thing I could see working against Pomeranz is the A’s trying to limit his arbitration value by not allowing him to accumulate Saves when they are a cellar dweller.
You still have Addison Reed as DL/Minors, but he has appeared in three games this month…
Nice, this gives me a chance to post this again:
https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/627089494534135808
Apparently, Andrew McKirahan could get some saves for the Atlanta Braves moving forward.
What’s the likelihood of Doolittle being reinserted into the closer role, assuming his rehab stint is successful? I’m rostering him in my DL spot in the hopes he’s back around the start of the playoffs.
High. No doubt he gets the Closer role back, bigger question is if his velocity can rebound enough for him to be effective enough to hold the job and gain fantasy relevance.