Bullpen Report: July 20, 2013
Hope y’all enjoyed the All-Star break, I know I did. Here are just a few bullpen notes from today:
Rafael Betancourt landed on the 15-day disabled list today after undergoing a last-minute appendectomy. The 38-year-old showed up to the stadium hoping to play through the pain, but his 10-year-old son wisely informed the Rockies’ medical staff that his father had been awfully sick the night before. After a quick evaluation the medical staff suspected the closer was suffering from appendicitis, resulting in the procedure. Betancourt could need two-to-three weeks of recovery time. The Rockies shelved Betancourt back in June for a groin strain causing the veteran to miss 25 games. So in just 28 appearances this season, Betancourt is 15-of-16 in save chances with a 3.16 ERA (1.20 WHIP) and a 22.2% K%. Not bad for fantasy purposes, but the red flags continue to ascend as his fastball velocity, K% and SwStr% have all dipped while his BB% spiked for the fourth consecutive year.
In his stead, Rex Brothers will assume ninth-inning duties for the Rockies. The southpaw is 4-of-5 in save opportunities this season and boasts a 1.11 ERA (3.14 FIP), a 1.16 WHIP and a 25.9 K%. Brothers is still available in over 70% of Yahoo! leagues, so open another window, add him, and come back to finish reading!
Mariano Rivera fanned two and induced a foul out off the bat of David Ortiz en route to his 31st save of the season. The future Hall-of-Famer needed just 16 pitches to seal the 5-3 victory over the Red Sox, which also happened to be the 639th (!!!) save of his career. Although Rivera continues to stack saves onto his career total, the 44-year-old’s whiff rate is down for the third consecutive year (22.9% K%) and his WHIP (1.20) is up for the fourth consecutive year. He remains a top-ten option at the closer position for the remainder of the season.
Aroldis Chapman notched his 23rd save of the season as the Reds clipped the Bucs, 5-4 in Cincinnati this evening. Andrew McCutchen lead off the top of the ninth frame with a single, then Pedro Alvarez reached via a throwing error by Zack Cozart, but Chapman induced a flyout and two consecutive strikeouts from the next three batters to get out of the jam. Tonight’s save was Chapmans fifth consecutive successful conversion to remain perfect in July and 23-of-26 on the season.
Quick Hitters: Fernando Rodney yielded a run in the bottom of the ninth frame, but snuck his way out of a jam to earn his 23rd save of the season in a 4-3 Rays victory over the Blue Jays. Bobby Parnell also surrendered a couple of runs on a Chase Utley homer, but was able to fight off the Phillies to grab his 18th save of the twenty-thirteen campaign. Greg Holland (24), Tom Wilhelmsen (21), Glen Perkins (23), Huston Street (16) and Kenley Jansen (11) each logged saves this evening. Holland has been pretty amazing this year, which is why we ranked him in the top ten of our updated consensus ranks. You can see them here.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.
With Blake Parker not doing so well of late, and Pedro Strop channeling Wild Thing out of the ‘pen, do you see Strop knocking Blake out of the heir slot to the Cubs closer role when Gregg goes?
James Russel is the heir to the Cubs closer role
I really do not see that, on the one hand he’s also being talked up as a trade piece…there’s the lefty component and the fact that he’s been handed the keys to the ninth before and well, didn’t keep it for a reason.
Manager Dale Sveum said last month that Blake Parker could replace Gregg, but on Saturday he pointed to newly acquired Pedro Strop, who came into the day with eight straight scoreless appearances since joining the Cubs from Baltimore.
“Obviously he’s one of the higher candidates because he’s pitched in high profile games already in the big leagues,” Sveum said. “He’s got the stuff, the velocity, the wipeout slider. Like I’ve said before, somebody has got to do it, so you have to give somebody a chance.
”Those are the kind of guys you want out there. He’s not scared and he has a good time when he’s on the mound. It’s just a nice asset to have.”
I think as long as Strop continues to pitch decently until Gregg gets traded, he would likely get the first crack, but his control could easily fail at any moment and cause Svuem to have Marmol flashbacks.
Agree. Just think it’s clear that Russell is not in the discussion.