Bullpen Report: August 3, 2015
• Carter Capps (and his jump throws) has been one of the best, if not the best, relievers in the majors on a per inning basis this year. But, as Darren mentioned last night, Capps had a MRI on his elbow and he’s now been placed on the DL. There is no major damage to the elbow and it’s expected that Capps will resume throwing soon and he could return around when his DL stint is over in two weeks. While that’s good news after a MRI, you obviously never like to hear about pitchers having elbow issues. I’ve moved Mike Dunn to the next-in-line and added Bryan Morris to the chart. A.J. Ramos has been shakier of late but with Capps going down, Ramos’ job should still be quite strong.
• Entering the bottom of the ninth with one out and nobody on, Santiago Casilla got a quick out but then proceeded to blow the game allowing a base hit to Chris Johnson and a two-run, game tying homer to A.J. Pierzinsky. First the Giants trade Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to the Twins for Pierzinsky and now he blows their lead, dude just kills them I guess. As for Casilla, this was his fifth blown save on the year. Judging by ERA, Casilla’s been better than Sergio Romo but both he and and Hunter Strickland have been more dominant this season. Sergio Romo has often struggled against left-handed hitters and that’s continued this season (.493 wOBA against) but Casilla has struggled in that area as well (.412 wOBA against). I’d hate to be so fickle with the closer grid, but I’m moving it to yellow. Casilla has had his ups and downs and one save won’t force Bochy to make a change, but you would rather be to quick over too slow to snagging Casilla’s handcuff off the wire. Hunter Strickland is probably the more likely long term answer at closer but if Casilla were to post a string of less than stellar outings, I’d expect Romo to see the first save opportunity with Javier Lopez continuing to see high leverage opportunities against lefties, even in the ninth.
• Quick Hits: David Robertson allowed the go ahead run in a tie game in the top of the ninth against the Rays and in the bottom half, Brad Boxberger was called on and recorded his 27th save. Dan Hudson has a disaster of a ninth inning in a non-save situation and Brad Ziegler had to come on to finish the mess, getting the last two outs for his 19th save. Arodys Vizcaino received his second vulture win of the year. Vizcaino will be given every chance to succeed as the new Braves closer so I’m upgrading them to yellow.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
Appreciate this updated chart and I check it all the time. However, I know it’s impossible to keep your hand on the pulse of every team constantly. But, in case you read replys or others are in holds leagues….in Minnesota, Trevor May is quiet clearly the 8th inning guy, then Jepsen.
The list isn’t exclusive to whom is the 8th inning guys. Its who would take over if the closer was hurt/benched etc. May would not be that guy.
I get that is for who would take over next, but in most cases that next opportunity is given to the guy in the 8th inning role, and with the better stuff. In this case, Trevor May has both, and the Twins prefer him to be in the pen as a Wade Davis lite. He most certainly WOULD be the next in line if Perkins were to come down with an injury…..which, I would not be surprised if he had one the way he has pitched since the break.
I really wasn’t complaining, I was simply trying to help out and add insight from hometown followers perspective from watching the games, reading local papers/blogs, and hearing team interviews. And, all of those indicate that May would be the next guy AND the setup man.
And now I’m making this response comment to you for the third time:
I’ve seen both Jepsen and May in other closer charts, but Jepsen listed as the setup guy, like here. Do you happen to have a source on Jepsen getting the 7th and May getting the 8th? May could be extremely useful in the 8th with that SP/RP eligibility in holds leagues.