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:

	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	Justin Wilson	Carl Edwards Jr.
CWS	Tyler Clippard	Gregory Infante	Jake Petricka	Nate Jones
CIN	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
CLE	Cody Allen	Joe Smith	Bryan Shaw	Andrew Miller
COL	Greg Holland	Pat Neshek	Adam Ottavino
DET	Shane Greene	Alex Wilson	Bruce Rondon
HOU	Ken Giles	Chris Devenski	Luke Gregerson	Will Harris
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Joakim Soria	Brandon Maurer
LAA	Bud Norris	Blake Parker	Cam Bedrosian	Huston Street
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Tony Watson	Pedro Baez
MIA	Brad Ziegler	Junichi Tazawa	Drew Steckenrider	Kyle Barraclough
MIL	Corey Knebel	Anthony Swarzak	Jacob Barnes
MIN	Matt Belisle	Taylor Rogers	Trevor Hildenberger	Glen Perkins
NYM	A.J. Ramos	Paul Sewald	Jerry Blevins	Jeurys Familia
NYY	Aroldis Chapman	Dellin Betances	David Robertson
OAK	Blake Treinen	Ryan Dull	Santiago Casilla
PHI	Hector Neris	Luis Garcia	Jesen Therrien
PIT	Felipe Rivero	Juan Nicasio	Joaquin Benoit
STL	Trevor Rosenthal	Brett Cecil	Seung Hwan Oh
SD	Brad Hand	Kirby Yates	Phil Maton
SF	Sam Dyson	Hunter Strickland	Albert Suarez	Mark Melancon
SEA	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	Tony Zych	David Phelps
TB	Alex Colome	Tommy Hunter	Steve Cishek
TEX	Alex Claudio	Jose Leclerc	Keone Kela
TOR	Roberto Osuna	Ryan Tepera	Dominic Leone	Danny Barnes
WSH	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Madson	Brandon Kintzler	Koda Glover

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