Bullpen Report: August 8, 2017
• Roberto Osuna has had a rough end of July into early August having allowed 9 earned runs in his previous five appearances but he threw a perfect ninth for his 29th save tonight. A slew of bad outings raised Osuna’s ERA which now stands at 3.40 but he still supports a 1.44/2.54 FIP/xFIP and a 2.04 SIERA proving he remains an elite option. Osuna has been an above average closer since he came onto the scene at age 20 and a few years later at age 22 he’s one of the best. He upped his Swinging Strike rate to 18.8% this year which ranks second among all qualified relievers, only trailing Craig Kimbrel and those swings and misses has led Osuna to a career high 35.4% K%. Given his ridiculously young age we expected Osuna could take the leap this year and he’s done exactly that. The Blue Jays might not offer the same amount of opportunities moving forward as a Kimbrel or Kenley Jansen but in 2018 and beyond, that’s the company he will keep.
• Speaking of Craig Kimbrel, he pulled a Kimbrel tonight throwing a perfect ninth while striking out the side. Kimbrel now has 90 strikeouts against 8 walks in 48.2 innings pitched. Kimbrel has a 1.48 ERA on the year and one could say he’s been unlucky. His K/9 stands at 16.64 and his K% at 49.2%. With a hot end of season Kimbrel could finish the year striking out over half the batters his faces, insane.
• Greg Holland blew his third save, giving up four runs in the ninth off of a Yan Gomes homer. Holland has been more of the good than the great variety of late but his job is safe and with the Rockies in the race, he should continue to get save opportunities.
• A.J. Ramos gave up a solo shot to Robinson Chiniros but struck out two batters for his 21st save on the year and his first on the Mets. Ramos’ control will always prevent him from being a particularly reliable option but there’s a good chance he receives most, if not all, the remaining save chances in Queens and figures to battle Jeurys Familia for the job next spring. It’s actually possible that Familia returns in August or September but it’s doubtful that he’s thrown right into the closer’s gig.
Other noteworthy bullpen activity:
- No save opportunity but Brad Hand pitched around two walks, striking out a pair for a scoreless ninth. Saves might be hard to come by moving forward in San Diego but he’s the guy there and if you need ratios more than saves he’ might be more valuable than similarly rated guys like Greg Holland.
- Felipe Rivero was back in action, throwing a scoreless ninth for his 10th save for Pittsburgh.
- Hector Neris has been productive of late, putting up zeros and getting both wins and saves. Those vulture wins are more random than skill but he closed another game for the Phillies tonight, his 12th of the season.
- David Phelps went to the DL with an elbow impingement and should miss a few weeks. Tony Zych has been added to the grid in his place.
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
Why the yellow for BAL, DET, and LAA? Aren’t those situations pretty entrenched? I know it’s only been a short time for Greene but he is their guy. Britton isn’t hurt or traded. And Norris has weather multiple storms to keep the job.
If you’ve been a Norris owner the last couple weeks, you’re probably seeing red…
Well, Greene only has three saves since being made the closer. If tomorrow he went, say, 0.1 IP, 4 ER, I don’t think his grasp on the closer role is so solid that Ausmus wouldn’t at least CONSIDER giving someone else the save chance. Britton was initially shaky coming off the DL, so I assume that’s why he’s yellow. If the Orioles fall further back from the wild card, we can’t totally rule out a waiver claim trade being worked out somehow. And Norris has been undeniably shaky lately. We know ERA isn’t the true indicator of pitcher talent as it can often be due to bad luck, but a bad ERA can still easily unseat a closer. Norris’ recent numbers:
ERA over the past week: 7.71
ERA over the past 2 weeks: 14.73 (WHIP: 2.45)
ERA over the past month: 12.91 ERA (WHIP: 2.35)
There’s no real reason the Angels are tied to having him as their closer for the rest of the season. I might actually personally turn him to red. All of this said, I think the colors are just meant to be GENERAL indicators of how safe each closer is. The difference between green and yellow or yellow and red is intentionally hazy, subjective, and undefined. They’re more a general guide than an exact science.