Bullpen Report: August 21, 2017

• After getting the save in yesterday’s outing, Juan Minaya followed it up with another save today for the White Sox in the first half of a double header against the Twins. Minaya has converted the last three save opportunities he’s been handed and certainly looks to be the closer.  Minaya’s triple slash line of 4.50/4.57/4.26 doesn’t look too fancy but his 3.59 SIERA and 30.5% K% paints a more palatable picture. Not many saves to be expected for the rest of the season here, but I’m upgrading Minaya to yellow.

• Curtis Granderson gave the Dodgers a lead after hitting a Grand Slam but the bullpen blew the lead after Tony Watson and Pedro Baez struggled in the eighth inning. Tony Watson has received higher leverage innings since coming to LA but he’s struggled during his time there as well, allowing five earned in 5.1 innings pitched. As a non-dominant lefty I don’t see him high on the totem pole if something were to happen to Kenley Jansen. Pedro Baez had a worse bad night, allowing four baserunners while only recording one out but was fortunate to only be responsible for one run crossing the plate. I’m keeping Baez on the grid but moving Brandon Morrow to the next-in-line for now as he threw 1.1 scoreless, lowering his ERA to 2.32. Baez is besting Morrow in ERA this year with a 1.90 mark but he’s been far less dominant than Morrow who has a 2.76 SIERA and a very strong 23.9% K-BB%.

• Edwin Diaz pitched around one hit to throw a scoreless ninth for his 28th save of the year. Diaz has been struggling mightily of late with 9 walks and 6 earned runs in his last 7 appearances across 6.1 innings. Tonight’s outing won’t make this situation a green but it’s a step in the right direction, especially considering Diaz didn’t issue a walk which is his only particular  weakness. Even with a worse SwStr% than last year (18.5% to 15.6%) Diaz still has elite swing and miss stuff but his 12.7 BB% up from a 6.9% mark last year has really prevented him from repeating as an elite relieve this year.

Other Bullpen Activity:

• Joakim Soria was placed on the DL and ex-Padres Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter should see the majority of higher leverage innings ahead of Kelvin Herrera moving forward.
• Zach Britton only needed to see one batter to knock down his 11th save. Britton remains somewhat of an injury risk but he’s the sole closer in Baltimore and I’ve upgraded this situation to green. Mychal Givens and Brad Brach will continue to get holds ahead of Britton.
• Fernando Rodney was spotted a two run lead to start the 10th and although he allowed one runner to score he still  launched his 28th arrow.
• Cody Allen picked up his first win on the season, a 1-6 win/loss record isn’t pretty but it’s nicer than 0-6.

 
Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
ARI	Fernando Rodney	Archie Bradley	David Hernandez
ATL	Arodys Vizcaino	Jim Johnson	Jose Ramirez
BAL	Zach Britton	Mychal Givens	Brad Brach
BOS	Craig Kimbrel	Addison Reed	Matt Barnes	Carson Smith
CHC	Wade Davis	Pedro Strop	Carl Edwards Jr.
CWS	Juan Minaya	Gregory Infante	Jake Petricka	Nate Jones
CIN	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
CLE	Cody Allen	Andrew Miller	Joe Smith
COL	Greg Holland	Pat Neshek	Adam Ottavino
DET	Shane Greene	Alex Wilson	Joe Jimenez
HOU	Ken Giles	Chris Devenski	Luke Gregerson	Will Harris
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Brandon Maurer	Ryan Buchter	Joakim Soria
LAA	Bud Norris	Cam Bedrosian	Blake Parker	Huston Street
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Brandon Morrow	Pedro Baez
MIA	Brad Ziegler	Kyle Barraclough	Junichi Tazawa
MIL	Corey Knebel	Anthony Swarzak	Jacob Barnes
MIN	Matt Belisle	Trevor Hildenberger	Glen Perkins
NYM	A.J. Ramos	Paul Sewald	Jerry Blevins	Jeurys Familia
NYY	Dellin Betances	David Robertson	Aroldis Chapman
OAK	Blake Treinen	Ryan Dull	Santiago Casilla
PHI	Hector Neris	Luis Garcia	Jesen Therrien
PIT	Felipe Rivero	Juan Nicasio	Joaquin Benoit
STL	Seung Hwan Oh	Tyler Lyons	Matt Bowman	Trevor Rosenthal
SD	Brad Hand	Kirby Yates	Phil Maton
SF	Sam Dyson	Hunter Strickland	Mark Melancon
SEA	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	Tony Zych	David Phelps
TB	Alex Colome	Tommy Hunter	Steve Cishek
TEX	Alex Claudio	Jose Leclerc	Matt Bush	Keone Kela
TOR	Roberto Osuna	Ryan Tepera	Dominic Leone
WSH	Sean Doolittle	Brandon Kintzler	Matt Albers	Ryan Madson

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