Bullpen Report: August 22, 2018

After more than a month of not getting many swings and misses and getting dealt a pair of blown saves in the last two weeks, it seemed like Hector Rondon’s days as the Astros’ closer were numbered, particularly in light of the deadline deal that brought Roberto Osuna over from the Blue Jays. On Tuesday morning, A.J. Hinch announced that, indeed, Rondon was out as the team’s primary closer and that Osuna was in.

Hinch was quick to add, however, that Osuna could still occasionally pitch in situations prior to the ninth inning, and one of those occasions arose on Tuesday night. He called for Osuna to warm up in the seventh inning with the top of the Mariners’ order due up, and while the former Blue Jay was not used then, he did come out to pitch the eighth inning with a two-run lead. Osuna did get all three outs by way of strikeouts, but he also allowed three singles, the last of which drove in Denard Span to cut the lead down to 3-2. For at least one night, Rondon got to stay in his accustomed role, closing out the Mariners on nine pitches.

In Monday’s column, I had advised dropping Rondon in shallow formats, and given Hinch’s announcement, that is still a sound move. However, in standard and shallow formats, if you have room to stash Rondon, it may be worth hanging on to him for a little while longer. While has struggled for several weeks, it looks as if the Astros’ closer situation could be fluid.

It’s also worth noting that Tuesday night’s game marked the major league debut of Framber Valdez, who was recalled from Triple-A Fresno earlier in the day. Valdez worked the bulk of the innings for the Astros in what was a bullpen game for both teams. Over his 4.1 innings, the 24-year-old lefty allowed just one unearned run on two singles and a walk, and he struck out four Mariners. Valdez relied heavily on his curveball, throwing it 28 times (out of 67 total pitches) and getting five swinging strikes with it. He was credited with the win, and his performance may have earned him a start this Sunday at the Angels.

The Astros’ bevy of bullpen developments were just some of the items on a busy news day in Bullpenville. The Nationals, as expected, activated Kelvin Herrera on Tuesday, and Davey Martinez put him right to work. A five-run sixth inning put the Nationals ahead of the Phillies, 6-4, setting up a possible save situation. Tim Collins was summoned to take on left-handed pinch-hitter Nick Williams to start off the seventh, but once he walked him, the back end of the bullpen was called into action. Justin Miller took care of the rest of the inning, and then Koda Glover — now with a three-run lead — handled the eighth inning until he loaded the bases with a two-out walk to Justin Bour. Wander Suero came in and escaped the jam by striking out Roman Quinn.

Even though the Nationals expanded their lead to six runs in the bottom of the eighth, Martinez still went with Herrera in the top of the ninth. He responded with a 1-2-3 inning.

So while there appear to be new closers in Houston and Washington, it looks like there may be a change in the Bronx as well. While trying to close out a 2-1 win over the Marlins in the 12th inning, Aroldis Chapman walked Isaac Galloway and then after his first pitch to Rafael Ortega, he exited the game due to pain in his ailing left knee. Chapman is now scheduled to undergo an MRI, so it would seem that he will be unavailable, at least in the short term. With Chapman possibly facing an extended absence, it would make sense for owners to pursue his potential replacement. Based on usage patterns and performance, that would seem to be Dellin Betances, though David Robertson and Zach Britton would appear to be candidates as well.

Thanks to Kevin Gausman’s sterling eight innings of shutout ball, the Braves did not need a closer against the Pirates on Tuesday night, but if they did, A.J. Minter would still have been unavailable due to his back issues. He may feel well enough to pitch on Wednesday night, but if not, then the Braves may put him on the DL. Should Brian Snitker need a closer on Wednesday, he may need to turn to Jesse Biddle, as Dan Winkler and Brad Brach have had heavy recent workloads, but the latter two would be a better bet for saves over the longer term, should Minter go on the DL.

While Trevor Hildenberger appears to be Paul Molitor‘s favored closing option, Taylor Rogers is getting some reps in the role as well. Rogers notched his second save for the Twins in five days, as he pitched a perfect ninth inning against the White Sox in a 5-2 win. Molitor may have been loathe to use Hildenberger, who threw 29 pitches on Sunday. However, he did employ Trevor May in the eighth inning, marking the first time since Tommy John surgery that he had pitched on back-to-back days. He did not allow a run, though he did give up a leadoff single to Adam Engel and made an errant throw on Tim Anderson’s bunt after he fell trying to field it. May did get three swinging strikes in just 11 pitches, increasing his whiff rate to 19.4 percent.

The Cardinals activated Carlos Martinez, and in his first relief appearance since 2015, he was immediately thrust into a hold situation. He got the final out of the seventh inning in a 5-2 game against the Dodgers, and he came back to pitch a scoreless eighth inning, though he walked a pair of batters. Both Jordan Hicks and Dakota Hudson threw more than 30 pitches on Monday, so if not for that, Martinez probably would not have made his return in such a high leverage spot. Nonetheless, he was able to hand over a three-run lead to Bud Norris, who converted his 26th save.

Martinez’s outing ended with him getting hit by a 110-mph comebacker off the bat of Joc Pederson. His X-rays on his chest were negative.

Quick hits: Drew Steckenrider rebounded from a blown save on Saturday to pitch a scoreless top of the ninth inning in a 1-1 tie with the Yankees…Raisel Iglesias was called in for a multiple inning save, but in allowing an eighth-inning double to Ryan Braun, he allowed Keon Broxton (inherited from David Hernandez) to score the tying run. The Reds rallied with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and Iglesias was able to hold on to get his second win of the season…Brad Hand closed out a 6-3 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night. For those keeping score, since Hand was acquired by the Indians on July 19, both he and Cody Allen have five saves…Tony Watson took the loss for the Giants on Tuesday night against the Mets, allowing four runs in the eighth inning. Since the All-Star break, opponents have swung at 75.0 percent of his pitches in the strike zone, while he has allowed contact at an 85.7 percent rate on those pitches. Watson now has a 5.25 ERA in the second half to go along with a 17.7 percent strikeout rate…The Dodgers placed J.T. Chargois on the 10-day disabled list with nerve irritation in his right hand…The Phillies received Luis Avilan from the White Sox in exchange for minor league righty Felix Paulino.