Bullpen Report: July 29, 2018

It was reported by Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram on Saturday that five teams were on hand scouting Keone Kela when the Rangers faced off against the Astros. The five teams included the Giants, Indians, Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox. While Kela didn’t get a chance to pitch himself, fellow relievers of interest on the trade market – Jake Diekman and Jose Leclerc – both notched scoreless frames, resulting their 13th and 14th holds respectively. Depending on who’s moved there could be multiple options that take over the closer role from Kela in the coming days. If Leclerc remains on the team he’d be the likely candidate, but in the event all three relievers depart, Chris Martin – who’s starting a rehab assignment this Sunday – could be someone for fantasy owners to keep their eye on.

Staying with the possible trade candidates theme, Shane Greene – who’s been heavily linked to the Dodgers and Cubs among others – rebounded from his last appearance to convert his 21st save against the Indians. The next in line – Joe Jimenez – also rebounded from giving up 3 ER in a third of an inning to notch his 14th hold. Jimenez has been an obvious stash candidate for a while now, and will no doubt have the Tigers closer role upon Greene’s departure – if it does occur.

Marlins relievers Brad Ziegler, Drew Steckenrider, and Kyle Barraclough have all garnered interest from various clubs thus far, and all three pitched yesterday. Ziegler came in against Michael Taylor with two outs in the seventh inning to help preserve a one-run lead and was successful (groundout). That makes seven-straight appearances without allowing a run for the right-hander. He’s posted a 1.15 ERA in June and 0.75 ERA in July. While his xFIP paints a different picture (3.31/3.73), his league-leading 74% GB will help keep him in high-leverage situations no matter where he goes. Steckenrider notched his third-straight scoreless appearance after another clean inning against the Nationals, but he only has one strikeout over his last four outings overall (3.1 IP). He still has a K/9 over 10 and a double-digit SwStr% for the fourth-straight month – so the recent strikeout shortage isn’t a worrisome trend. Kyle Barraclough on the other hand, has had a rough go of it recently. He blew his second-straight save opportunity after allowing an earned run to tie the game at one in the ninth. He started the inning hitting Bryce Harper and allowing a single to Ryan Zimmerman. After that he was able to generate a ground-out to second base, but unfortunately gave up the game-tying knock to Daniel Murphy one hitter later. He would escape the rest of the frame, but things have gone horribly for Barraclough over his last few appearances. He’s now allowed runs in three of-his-last four, resulting in 7 ER over his last 3.2 IP. This was his second-straight day of work, but he hasn’t looked right since giving up those 5 ER on July 22nd to the Rays. With that said, we’ll likely see Barraclough remain in the closer role for the Marlins, at least until he’s moved if at all. Adam Conley is also a player of interest in this bullpen, and he rebounded from allowing 3 ER against the Nationals on Thursday, to getting two outs in three hitters faced (one walk). He had gone seven-straight scoreless appearances prior to last Thursday, so things seem to be staying on track.

Ryan Pressly made his Astros debut against the Rangers on Saturday and allowed a home run to Rougned Odor to begin his tenure. He was able to get three-straight outs – including a strikeout – right after. He was used in the seventh inning of a game the Astros were down, but it doesn’t mean he won’t get high-leverage looks going forward. He remains behind Collin McHugh in the Astros chart. In other Houston news, Hector Rondon had an appearance to forget – allowing a total of 4 ER in the ninth inning to put the game out of reach. Rougned Odor swatted a double after Rondon got Shin-Soo Choo to ground-out to open the frame. The double was followed by a single and a run scoring fielders choice before Joey Gallo unleashed on a 2-0, 97 mph fastball that was placed right down the middle. This was only the second time Rondon gave up a run in his last 10 appearances. His K% and SwStr% is getting better as the season goes on and his skills remain stellar. Between him, Pressly, and McHugh, Houston has three of the top-25 RP in baseball in terms of K%.

Quick Hits:
After Adam Ottavino notched his fourth save yesterday, Wade Davis came on and converted his 29th save after a clean ninth inning – striking out one.

After not pitching for a week, Aroldis Chapman converted his 27th save after posting a scoreless inning against the Royals. He gave up a hit and walk but was able to generate two strikeouts. He was also back up to the upper-90’s regularly, hitting 100 mph on multiple occasions as well.

Zack Britton walked two and allowed an earned run in his second appearance as a Yankee. Dellin Betances twirled his fifth-straight scoreless appearance in the same game.

Dakota Hudson, Jordan Hicks, and Bud Norris combined for 3 IP of scoreless ball – allowing one hit and one walk – including 3 K in 3 IP. Since allowing 7 ER in four appearances between June 7th and June 15th, Hicks has now settled down and hurled five-straight scoreless innings. Hudson had an impressive debut, striking out two in a clean inning. As of now he won’t be added to the sheet, but that could be a short-term thing. He can be a useful arm down the stretch in fantasy.

Jared Hughes earned his seventh save in an unconventional way as the Reds beat the Phillies 6-2. He came in during a 4-2 game with one out in the eighth and proceeded to force an inning-ending double-play. The Reds would tack on a couple more runs later that inning, so the Reds decided to keep Hughes out there instead of bringing out Iglesias. Hughes is still the preferred handcuff to Iglesias in the unlikely scenario he’s traded.

Kyle Crick struck out the side in his inning of work to earn his ninth hold of the year. Edgar Santana worked the seventh inning, yielding one hit with one strikeout to earn his 14 hold. Felipe Vazquez would’ve come out for the save chance, but the Pirates tacked on two more runs against Robert Gsellman in the eighth inning to create a non-save situation. Gsellman had gone three-straight appearances without allowing a run — five-of-six overall — prior to yesterday.

Tyler Clippard allowed two earned runs against the White Sox in the seventh inning on Saturday. He continues to struggle. Ryan Tepera didn’t have better luck as well. He allowed 4 ER and didn’t record an out as he suffered his sixth blown save of the season. He had gone 3.1 scoreless innings since coming back from the disabled list July 15th, but with Roberto Osuna on his way back there’s really not a strong case to keep him rostered.

On the other end of that game, Jace Fry upped his scoreless streak to 3.2 IP (five appearances). Juan Minaya rebounded from allowing 3 ER to the Angels on Thursday to post a scoreless frame of his own.

Kelvin Herrera suffered his second loss of the season after allowing an unearned run to the Marlins in the ninth inning on Saturday. All four hitters reached base, with three notching singles – including J.T. Realmuto’s to end it – and one getting on via catchers interference. Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler combined for 2 IP of two-hit baseball with 1 K and 1 BB. Madson is now up to seven scoreless turns.

Kirby Yate’s scoreless streak of five appearances came to an end after he gave up a double and a single prior to logging his two outs against the Diamondbacks in a non-save situation. Craig Stammen logged a scoreless inning prior to Yates appearance, with Phil Maton struggling with his command, allowing 2 ER and getting only one out. To be fair, both of those runs came after he was lifted from the game. Maton has now allowed runs in two of-his-last four.

Archie Bradley earned his third win of the year after spinning a scoreless seventh inning against the Padres. It was his third-straight scoreless appearance after getting beaten up for six runs by the Rockies two Friday’s ago. Yoshihisa Hirano also notched his 23rd hold of the season after pitching a scoreless eighth inning. He allowed one hit and struck out one.