Bullpen Report: August 20, 2017

Another busy weekend for bullpen activity around the major leagues. We’ll start with a few notes from Saturday:

• Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced on Saturday that Aroldis Chapman was removed from the closer role. Dellin Betances got save later that night, striking out two in a perfect inning. It’s been well documented that something doesn’t look right with Chapman this season, especially lately, and thankfully for the Yankees Betances is more than capable of filling in for the remainder of the season if need be. Despite struggling with command more than usual this season, Betances has an outstanding 40.5 percent strikeout rate, and he’s allowed just one home run this year in 47 innings. He’s been an superb reliever in his career, and this year doesn’t look very different except for the uptick in walks. Girardi didn’t “officially” name Betances the closer just yet (in fact, he said that David Robertson was also in the mix), but Betances should be the heavy favorite. Chapman pitched in the sixth and seventh on Sunday, allowing one walk and striking out two.

• Greg Holland allowed three runs on two hits (including a home run) and a walk. Over his last five appearances spanning 4.1 innings, he’s surrendered nine earned runs on eight hits, two homers, and five walks with just four strikeouts. Still, Holland has 35 saves and just three blown saves along with an impressive 3.22 ERA and 3.36 FIP, although his 4.09 xFIP is disconcerting. Holland has done well at limiting home runs this season, but he’s fallen back to earth somewhat after being one of the game’s very best closers early in the season.

• Like Holland, it’s been a rough go for Edwin Diaz as of late. He notched his 27th save on Saturday, but he allowed a solo home run to Logan Morrison. Diaz has allowed six earned runs on six walks, two hits, and a home run over his last four appearances spanning 3.1 innings. In seven appearances since August 6, Diaz has a 27.3 percent walk rate. When he’s right, he’s is one of the most electric relievers in baseball. But when he’s off, he can really scuffle. The projections still like Diaz as a well-above-average reliever moving forward, but his 3.74 ERA/4.44 FIP/4.16 xFIP in 53 innings so far this year should be classified as disappointing and troubling.

Now for Sunday’s news:

• Bud Norris was the latest reliever used in a ninth-inning save opportunity for Mike Scioscia’s Angels. He allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out two to notch the save. The ninth inning has been a revolving door for the Halos lately, as they’ve tried Cam Bedrosian, Yusmeiro Petit, and Keynan Middleton with little consistency and varying degrees of success. This bullpen should mostly be avoided from a fantasy perspective for now until things settle down. Even when a reliever (like Norris today) has successfully converted a save in the ninth, the Angels have gone another direction shortly thereafter. For now, Norris looks as though he could be the favorite (simply because he converted the Angels’ most recent save chance), but there’s no telling what Scioscia will do next. Blake Parker remains an intriguing option should he ever get the chance to close, and Norris, Bedrosian, Petit, and Middleton remain firmly in the mix. These are actually very meaningful games for the Angels, so they must desperately want to bring some calm to this unstable situation. For what it’s worth, Norris pitched the eighth and Parker pitched the ninth on Saturday with Angels leading by four.

• Roberto Osuna deserved a better fate, but was charged with a blown save and a loss when he allowed three runs in the bottom of the 10th to the Cubs. He struck out two batters, but both reached base because the ball wasn’t handled cleanly by the catcher, and allowed two hits.

• Mark Melancon allowed two hits and struck out two in seventh inning with the Giants leading by a run. Melancon recently admitted that he’s playing through pain, and that he’s considering surgery to repair a muscle injury in his throwing forearm that has lingered since 2012 and forced him to the disabled list twice already this season. As such, Bruce Bochy has indicated that he might not use Melancon in the ninth, and definitely will not pitch him on back-to-back days. This is bad news for Melancon and his owners, but good news for those in the Sam Dyson camp. Look for Melancon to be given every opportunity to regain his ninth-inning role at some point, but that may not happen until next season.

Other closer activity: Blake Treinen recorded a six-out save. He notched three strikeouts and allowed one hit. Wade Davis pitched the top of the ninth in tie game. He walked two and collected one strikeout. Zach Britton pitched the top of the ninth with the Orioles trailing by one. He walked a batter. Alex Colome recorded his 36th save, allowing one hit and striking out one. Brad Ziegler notched a save, surrendering a hit and picking up a strikeout. Kelvin Herrera allowed one run on two hits in non-save situation. Kimbrel struck out two in non-save situation. Alex Claudio appeared in the top of the ninth with one out and nobody on, down by three. He recored a strikeout and a groundout. Hector Neris recorded a four-out save. He struck out two, allowed two hits, and hit a batter. Sean Doolittle struck out the side in a perfect ninth to secure his 14th save. Juan Minaya entered in the bottom of the ninth with the White Sox leading by three, a runner on first, and no outs. He walked one and allowed a two-run homer, but ultimately secured the save.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]