Bullpen Report: August 14, 2012
• Hiroki Kuroda threw a shutout tonight for the Yankees, so there was no save situation but that doesn’t mean the Yankees won’t find their way into every news item as Mariano Rivera continued his rehab, throwing his first long-toss session. The Yankees maintain that Mo won’t pitch in 2011, but for those in deep keeper leagues his progress is nice to see and expect the Sandman to be closing games for the Yankees in 2013.
• You can argue the merits of paying any closer (except maybe the one mentioned above) $50 million over four years , but for fantasy purposes, Jonathan Papelbon remains one of the better, more consistent closers in the games. Papelbon saved his 26th game of the year tonight for the Phillies and holds a solid 3.01 xFIP supported by a solid 10.69 K/9. Charlie Manual’s usage of Papelbon in tie games may cause you to scratch (or bang) your head but Papelbon remains a top closer.
• Addison Reed pitched an inning and a third tonight to convert his 23rd save of the year against the White Sox. Reed’s high preseason expectations, at least strikeout wise based off of his minor league numbers (12.9 K/9), and underwhelming 4.03 xFIP might leave owners wanting more this year, but the bottom line is he’s been solid and has a lock on the job. With the White Sox leading the AL Central, Reed figures to get his fair share of save opportunities and if your league’s trading deadline hasn’t passed and you need saves, Reed isn’t a bad guy to target, as he also has some upside.
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: Kanley Jansen (LAD) @ PIT
With the Dodgers (as of this writing) only 0.5 games ahead of the Giants for the NL West lead and the Pirates holding a 1.5 game lead on the second wild card spot, this could be a competitive and close game with playoff implications. Kenley Jansen is well rested having only pitched once in the last four days, and should have a chance for a save with Clayton Kershaw on the bump tomorrow.
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
OAKnow “closer by committee”. Any chance Doolittle locks that down?
While it’s often hard for a lefty to win the job outright on a ‘closer by committee’, there is often a strong chance that they will receive a few save opportunities if their is a tough lefty or two in the ninth inning.
However, small sample size alert and all, Doolittle has been better against righties this year, as mentioned here: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/updated-minor-league-pitching-conversion-projects/
If that’s the case he may not see lefty save opportunities in the way that Jeremy Affeldt receives in San Francisco, but with an ability to get righties out, Doolittle may get a chance but at this point I think it’s Balfour’s job to lose.