Bullpen Report: August 13, 2012
• Derek Lowe picked up the traditional four inning save tonight for the Yankees. Yes, you read that correctly — four-inning save. In his debut for the Yankees, Lowe came on in relief of David Phelps in the sixth and dished four scoreless innings of two-hit ball while fanning four. For those youngsters out there, this was not Derek Lowe’s first career save. In fact, this was Lowe’s 86th career save and first regular season save since 2001 — almost 11 years to the day. It’s unlikely that Lowe will earn many more saves this year, but he could turn into an interesting rotation option for the Bronx Bombers should they need an extra arm.
• Dale Thayer notched his sixth save of the season tonight and first since Huston Street hit the disabled list on Saturday with a strained quad. Thayer faced the minimum and needed just 10 pitches to seal the deal. The right-hander is now 6-for-8 in save chances this season while posting a 3.51 ERA and a 3.33 K/BB. For those chasing saves, I’d hustle to the wire and grab Thayer, who is owned in just nine percent of Yahoo! leagues.
• For as much the Bullpen Report guys write about Andrew Bailey, you would think the guy has walked on water — or at least, logged a save this season, right? While I have no proof that Bailey can or can not walk on water, I know for sure that he has yet to close out a single game in 2012. Anyway, here is the last Andrew Bailey update you will get while the Red Sox reliever is still officially on the disabled list: After six successful rehab appearances, the Red Sox appear ready to “activate the right-hander from the disabled list on Tuesday in Baltimore.” There you have it. Bailey is a must add for those with shares of Alfredo Aceves, or those who are hoarding saves in general. The Bullpen Report legend is available in 55 percent of Yahoo! leagues
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Aroldis Chapman (CIN) vs. NYM
Chapman last saw action on Sunday, when he converted his 28th save on the year. The Cuban flamethrower is 28-for-32 in save chances this season and has saved 20 consecutive games since June 24th. With Mat Latos facing off against the Mets’ version of Chris Young tomorrow in Cincinnati, Chapman could get another opportunity to strengthen his CY Young candidacy.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
Do I add Gregerson or Thayer? I already grabbed Jim Henderson a few days ago so not sure how many iffy closers I should own.
Thayer