Bullpen Report: August 19, 2018

Largely by default, Koda Glover was thrust into the Nationals’ closer role when the team put Ryan Madson (back) on the 10-day disabled list this past Tuesday. It has not gone swimmingly. Just before Madson was placed on the DL. Glover took a loss against the Cardinals on Monday, giving up a walk-off home run to Paul DeJong, and while he got the save in Thursday’s series finale, he allowed the tying run to get into scoring position.

On Saturday night, Glover was called on to keep the Nationals in a tie with the Marlins in the top of the 10th inning, but after getting into trouble again, there was no escape this time. Back-to-back one-out singles put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and after a force out and an intentional walk, Isaac Galloway brought home two runs on a bloop single into center field. Since the Nationals failed to rally in the bottom of the inning, Glover was left with his second loss in six days.

As I discussed in Friday’s edition of this report, setup reliever Justin Miller has had his own difficulties, making him a poor speculation candidate for saves. Those struggles continued into Saturday night’s contest, as he gave up J.T. Riddle’s solo home run. While the Nationals’ bullpen is currently a mess, help is on the way, as Kelvin Herrera (shoulder) may be activated from the DL on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Saturday’s sim game went well for Herrera, and better yet, he did not experience any pain in his shoulder.

The Marlins’ bullpen is in disarray, too, and it’s not clear who might be able to restore order. In his first save opportunity since Kyle Barraclough’s demotion from the closer’s role, Drew Steckenrider blew the one-run lead afforded him by Riddle’s blast. Countering with a leadoff homer of his own, Adam Eaton tied the game up at 5-5. The only other baserunner that Steckenrider allowed was Matt Wieters, who reached on a single, and he did manage to get through a difficult part of the order — namely pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds, Trea Turner and Juan Soto — without incident.

Maybe that will earn Steckenrider another save opportunity, as Adam Conley and Tayron Guerrero have been erratic, the former’s 1.2 innings of scoreless setup work on Saturday notwithstanding. Brett Graves pulled off the save in the bottom of the 10th in his first career opportunity, so perhaps he will start to see more high-leverage situations. After posting an 8.10 ERA through his first eight appearances, the Rule 5 pick has now held the opposition scoreless in his last three outings covering four innings.

It may not make Steckenrider feel better, but even Edwin Diaz blew a save on Saturday night. The Mariners’ closer snapped a string of 28 consecutive saves when he yielded Max Muncy‘s solo homer in the ninth inning, which erased a 4-3 lead against the Dodgers. Seattle prevailed in the 10th inning, though, thanks to Adam Warren‘s inning of scoreless relief and Dylan Floro’s bases-loaded balk.

Fortunately for the Dodgers, Kenley Jansen could be back soon. He is scheduled to have a series of tests done on Monday, so more will be known about his timetable early this week.

Ninth-inning drama has been rare for A.J. Minter lately, but he, too, had a rough Saturday night. He was one out away from closing out a 3-0 win for the Braves over the Rockies, but Trevor Story doubled and David Dahl singled, and then Ian Desmond drove them both in with a double. After Gerardo Parra tied the game with an RBI single, Minter was lifted for Luke Jackson.

Adam Ottavino kept the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, tossing an inning without an earned run for the fourth time in his last five appearances. Then after the Rockies scored twice more against Jackson in the top of the 10th, Wade Davis closed the door with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning. Davis is getting in a groove, having allowed only a single and a walk over his last four innings.

Quick hits: The Giants activated Hunter Strickland on Saturday, and he made his return by pitching the seventh inning against the Reds with a 6-0 deficit. He allowed the Reds to expand their lead to seven runs on an Eugenio Suarez RBI single. As mentioned by Greg Jewett in Saturday’s Bullpen Report, Will Smith will continue to close, and Strickland will eventually see some setup work…In securing a 3-1 win over the White Sox, Wily Peralta is now 8 for 8 in save opportunities for the Royals. Initially, Peralta looked like a poor bet to be effective as a closer, walking eight batters over his first 10.1 innings this season. He cut that total in half over his last 10.1 innings….Even though Kirby Yates had not pitched in three days, Andy Green stuck with Craig Stammen for the top of the ninth inning in a tie game against the Diamondbacks after he had pitched a perfect eighth inning. Stammen set down the Diamondbacks in order again, and Christian Villanueva’s walk-off single against Yoshihisa Hirano left him with the win…Matt Barnes threw just 15 pitches on Friday, which was his first appearance in five days, but he was passed over to pitch the eighth inning with a three-run lead against the Rays on Saturday night. Instead, it was Ryan Brasier who set up for Craig Kimbrel, and he threw a perfect inning in the process…Joe Jimenez started off the eighth inning against the Twins with a four-run lead, but a Mitch Garver homer cut the advantage in half. He was ultimately replaced by Shane Greene, who got the final out in the inning, as well as all three outs in the final frame. Jimenez has now allowed eight runs on eight hits (including three home runs) and five walks over his last seven innings.