Bullpen Report: July 16, 2018

The final day of games before this year’s All-Star break was a busy one for bullpens…and for fantasy owners looking to make a surge in the saves category in the second half.

St. Louis was one site where there was intrigue, as brand-new interim manager Mike Shildt had a save situation to handle in his very first game as the Cardinals’ skipper. It seemed he would have had Bud Norris at his disposal, as his appearance in the final inning of the Cardinals’ 8-2 loss to the Reds on Saturday was his first in a week. That’s why it was especially curious that Shildt went with Jordan Hicks for the save on Sunday. For his part, Hicks continued his recent struggles, allowing a run on two hits, but it was enough for a 6-4 Cardinals win and the rookie’s second save of the season. It was Hicks’ fourth straight appearance in which he had allowed at least one run.

However, Norris was reportedly unavailable, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch indicated that the Cardinals’ closer had “some soreness, or concern with his arm.” Hicks could be a worthwhile stash for saves, given Norris’ health issues, but bear in mind that he has not been tempting hitters to go after bad pitches over his four-game slump (24.2 percent O-Swing%).

One of the odder occurrences on Sunday was Fernando Rodney’s entry into the Twins’ first-half finale against the Rays in the fifth inning. To make it stranger yet, the Twins were down by three runs. Rodney did his job, though, getting Carlos Gomez and Mallex Smith out while stranding two runners left by starter Fernando Romero. The Twins rallied two innings later, so it looked like a master stroke on the part of Paul Molitor. After the game, Molitor revealed that the move was not done for strategic purposes at all. He decided to use Rodney early, because he had to make a flight to Miami for an immigration hearing on Monday morning.

While Molitor was not intending to send any signals with his move, out of necessity, he did wind up using setup reliever Trevor Hildenberger for a save chance in the ninth inning, even though he was charged with two runs in the eighth inning. With two outs, Hildenberger allowed the Rays to tie the game on a Joey Wendle single. The Twins prevailed in the 10th on Brian Dozier’s walk-off grand slam, but Hildenberger got saddled with his first blown save of the season.

Should Rodney get dealt prior to the July 31 trade deadline, Hildenberger would seem to be Molitor’s most likely choice as a successor to close. For the most part, Hildenberger has been reliable, as he has allowed runs in only two of his last 23 appearances. Unfortunately, opponents combined to score eight runs against him in those two games.

Part of the reason Hildenberger had a save situation on Sunday was because Sergio Romo blew his chance to keep the Rays in the lead in the eighth inning. Handed a bases-loaded, one-out situation, Romo walked in the tying run and then gave up an Eddie Rosario RBI single. Sunday’s performance was an outlier for Romo, who had allowed one run and a .470 OPS over his previous 14 innings. Still, his days of closing may be numbered, as he could be traded in the coming days. While Kevin Cash had finally settled on a more traditional closer arrangement with Romo, it would not be surprising to see him move to a saves-sharing situation with Diego Castillo and Jose Alvarado, were Romo to get dealt.

Zach Britton has been the subject of trade talks, but since Mychal Givens and Brad Brach could get dealt, too, the Orioles could soon have a wide-open saves situation. Paul Fry is a potential successor to watch. While he has allowed four runs in nine innings (all against the Twins on July 8) since his June 29 debut, only one run was earned. The lefty has struck out 10 batters, has yet to allow a walk or a home run, and boasts a 44.4 percent O-Swing%. On Sunday against the Rangers, Fry pitched 1.2 no-hit innings, setting Britton up for his fourth save.

Jeurys Familia is yet another closer who could be traded soon, but Anthony Swarzak is not doing much to enhance his chances of succeeding him. Entering Sunday’s game against the Nationals with a 1-1 tie, Swarzak began by walking Juan Soto and Anthony Rendon. He was lifted for Tim Peterson, who allowed both inherited runners to score. That left Swarzak with a total of six runs allowed in 1.2 July innings. Robert Gsellman, who saved Friday’s game for the Mets, has been a bit more reliable lately and may be a better speculative target.

Unlike Rodney, Romo, Britton and Familia, Corey Knebel is not likely to go anywhere in a trade, but could he be in danger of getting demoted from the closer role? It’s premature to panic, but Knebel blew a save in the Brewers’ 7-6 loss to the Pirates on Sunday, and it was his third difficult outing of his last five. Since July 4, Knebel has allowed four runs in 4.2 innings, while compiling a 75.6 percent Z-Swing% and a 6.3 percent swinging strike rate. Prior to this five-appearance stretch, Knebel was freezing batters far more frequently (65.4 percent Z-Swing%) and getting more whiffs, too (13.0 percent swinging strike rate).

Quick hits: Cody Allen had a strong bounceback performance on Sunday, getting a save and two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning against the Yankees. He was preceded by Carlos Carrasco, who pitched a perfect eighth inning while making his first relief appearance since Aug. 5, 2014. Carrasco also vultured a win, improving to 11-5…The Braves have yet to get into a save situation since placing Arodys Vizcaino on the DL on Saturday. However, they did have a five-run lead entering the eighth inning on Sunday against the Diamondbacks, and Dan Winkler pitched the eighth. He yielded Jon Jay‘s solo homer, which cut the lead to four, and A.J. Minter pitched a perfect ninth inning…Heath Hembree set up for Craig Kimbrel in the Red Sox’s 5-2 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday. It remains to be seen if Joe Kelly was unavailable or merely bypassed due to poor recent performance…Ryan Tepera (elbow) was activated from the DL on Sunday, and he subsequently tossed a scoreless eighth inning with a three-run deficit against the Red Sox. He was initially supposed to go on a Double-A rehab assignment, but reported to the Blue Jays instead due to the heavy recent workload shouldered by several of their relievers…With Wade Davis and Adam Ottavino having pitched in each of the Rockies’ three previous games, Bud Black turned to Scott Oberg to get the final out of the eighth inning and all three outs in the ninth inning in a tie game with the Mariners. Oberg retired all four batters and was credited with the win, thanks to Trevor Story’s walk-off homer off Nick Vincent…Alex Claudio was placed on the DL with a left ankle sprain on Saturday…Dave Roberts told NBC Los Angeles that Kenley Jansen would receive four days of rest after getting a one-inning save against the Angels on Sunday. This would rule out Jansen pitching in the All-Star Game.