Bullpen Report: August 19, 2019

When the Rockies opened their series against the Marlins on Friday night, it was business as usual for Scott Oberg, who tossed a scoreless inning to record his fifth save of the season. On Saturday, in response to feeling heaviness in his right arm, Oberg ultimately underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from the arm. He was placed on the IL on Sunday, and in all likelihood, he will not pitch again this season.

With Oberg out, the Rockies turned to recently deposed closer Wade Davis to finish off a game they were leading 4-3 heading into the top of the ninth inning. Davis faced three batters, but he did not retire any of them. He began by walking Jorge Alfaro and then had two runners in scoring position as a result of a Lewis Brinson double. Then Davis blew the save by allowing a Neil Walker single. Carlos Estévez took over from there, but he allowed the Marlins to tack on two more runs, which were both charged to Davis.

The Marlins found themselves with their first ninth-inning save situation since July 24, back when Sergio Romo was still their closer. Don Mattingly went with Ryne Stanek, who started off the bottom of the inning by walking Ian Desmond. That would come back to hurt the Marlins, as Desmond would advance to third base on an Isan Díaz fielding error with Tony Wolters reaching on the fielder’s choice. With runners on the corners and one out, the Rockies cut the Marlins’ lead to one run on Charlie Blackmon’s RBI single, and then Trevor Story extended the game into extra innings with a sacrifice fly.

Estévez came back out for the top of the 10th, and he rebounded with a scoreless inning. He wound up with the win, as the Rockies loaded the bases against Jeff Brigham and walked off on Garrett Hampson’s one-out single.

The closer’s role was already up for grabs once Oberg went on the IL, and Davis’ Sunday struggles only created more uncertainty. Estévez is a candidate for future save opportunities, and based on his recent usage in setup situations, Jairo Díaz would seem to be a candidate as well. Díaz, in particular, has been on a nice run, striking out 13 batters and issuing one walk over 8.1 innings in August while allowing two earned runs (plus two unearned runs).

The Cubs activated Craig Kimbrel from the IL on Sunday, and he went right to work in Sunday night’s Little League Classic against the Pirates in Williamsport, Pa. Kimbrel got eased back with a low-leverage appearance, pitching the bottom of the ninth inning with a 7-0 lead. He allowed the Pirates to get on the board on his first pitch, which Starling Marte drove over the left field wall for a home run. Four pitches later, Kimbrel would hit Cole Tucker, but he struck out Bryan Reynolds and Erik González before getting lifted for Pedro Strop.

Because the Indians had not needed a closer over the previous five days, Brad Hand also got to pitch with a large lead in the ninth inning, but his outing did not go as well as Kimbrel’s. Though the Indians held on for an 8-4 win over the Yankees, Hand allowed two runs on three hits and a hit batter. Over his last three appearances, the lefty has given up five runs on eight hits and two walks over three innings. While Hand did not allow a home run in any of those outings, he did allow a combination of nine flyballs and line drives, and the average exit velocity on those batted balls was a whopping 98.1 mph. Going back to July 23, Hand has compiled a modest 9.3 percent SwStr% over 8.2 innings. Over the past month, Nick Goody, Nick Wittgren and Tyler Clippard have all pitched well, so should Hand continue to slump, those potential successors would be worth monitoring.

For most of this season, Tony Watson has been among the most reliable relievers for saves-plus-holds leagues, but he would seem to be in serious danger of getting demoted to a lower-leverage role. In fact, that may already be happening, as Watson pitched the bottom of the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks with a 5-1 deficit on Sunday. He loaded the bases by way of a Jarrod Dyson single and walks to Josh Rojas and Nick Ahmed, and then he walked in a run with a free pass to Jake Lamb. Over his last four appearances, Watson has allowed 10 runs on 10 hits and six walks over 1.2 innings. In doing so, he has not been able to get many whiffs (7.3 percent SwStr%) or chases (22.5 percent O-Swing%).

Quick hits: Kirby Yates (35), Roberto Osuna (27), Taylor Rogers (19) and Mark Melancon (4) each recorded a save on Sunday…Carlos Martínez also notched a save — his 14th of the year — but he began the bottom of the ninth inning against the Reds by allowing three hits, including a Tucker Barnhart single that brought in two runs. Martínez hung on to retire the next three batters, preserving the 5-4 win. Kevin Gausman pitched the final two innings for the Reds, striking out all six batters he faced, and he completed an immaculate inning in the ninth. Over his last three appearances, Gausman has pitched five scoreless innings with one hit allowed. He has struck out nine batters over this stretch with a 28.4 percent SwStr%…Joe Jiménez had a chance to record his fourth save in 10 days on Sunday, but the Rays emerged victorious on Ji-Man Choi’s bases-loaded, two-RBI single against the Tigers’ closer…The Brewers demoted Freddy Peralta to Triple-A San Antonio on Sunday. Peralta picked up a save, two holds and 20 strikeouts in July, but in August, he had already allowed 10 runs in four innings.