Bullpen Report: August 8, 2019

Apologies for a belated Bullpen Report but away we go…

• Ken Giles has not been cleared to pitch in back to back days but he got the call last night and secured his 15th save of the season. However, it wasn’t pretty with Giles allowing three hits including a two-run shot by Mike Zunino. Giles struck out a pair and had his fastball at over 96 mph which is both good but also a tick below where he was earlier this year. That’s not surprising given his elbow issues. If fully healthy Giles is a great source of strikeouts and saves but it’s unlikely he has a particularly high usage here on out and should concede a few save chances to Derek Law, putting them both in a committee.

• Happy trails to Greg Holland who was released by the Diamondbacks. He has already been released from our closer grid which includes a committee of Archie Bradley, Yoshihisa Hirano, and Yoan Lopez although depending how the next save opportunity goes, we can start shedding the committee tag. Nothing has been said yet but Bradley is definitely ahead of the committee and if he gets the save next it could be him alone in the chair. Greg Holland will likely find another home this year but it’s unlikely that he’s a major factor in saves.

• The Mariners turned to Anthony Bass again for the save last night and he converted his second chance on the year.  Bass is only here because the Mariners have traded their entire bullpen this year but he’s definitely their closer and should continue to see all opportunities for the remainder of the season. Of course that’s provided he doesn’t blow up but Bass has been somewhat effective this year with a 4.02 SIERA. If Bass was giving you gobbles of strikeouts and looked promising you would already know about him, that’s not the case with his 9.7% SwStr% and 13.6% K-BB% but saves are saves and he should get another handful before the season ends.

• The Cardinals called on Andrew Miller to start the 9th inning with Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager to star the inning. He got Bellinger to ground out but then hit Seager with a pitch. That brought in Carlos Martinez who allowed a single to Will Smith and then struck out Edwin Rios for the second out. With men on first and second and two out, Martinez allowed a walk-off single to Russell Martin who knocked in both runners. Martinez has been a pretty effective closer for the Cardinals, but with Andrew Miller taking the tough lefty out, it’s possible he could see a save chance or two if the lefty is up later in the inning. Although I don’t think Martinez should be too concerned about losing his job, he’s not the best righty in the pen which goes to Giovanny Gallegos who has straight up dominated this year. After striking out a pair in the 7th yesterday, Gallegos has a 2.05/2.40/3.08/2.40 ERA/FIP/xFIP/SIERA line with a 32.5% K-BB% which ranks 6th among qualified relievers. Whether or not he sniffs a save, Gallegos is certainly worth owning.