Bullpen Report: July 30, 2018

Brad Brach’s most recent reign as the Orioles’ closer came to an end after just five days, as they traded him on Sunday to the Braves for $250,000 in international slot money. It is not yet clear what role Brach will fill with the Braves, though given how well A.J. Minter has settled into the closer’s role, he appears to be destined for work in the seventh and/or eighth innings.

With Brach and Zach Britton both gone, Mychal Givens would be the obvious heir apparent to the closer’s role in Baltimore, though his tenure could be shorter than Brach’s. Givens, too, has been the subject of trade rumors. Earlier in the month, he had been tied to the Indians, and more recently, he has been floated as a possibility for the Pirates.

The Orioles followed up a recent losing binge with a series of lopisded wins against the Rays, so save opportunities have been scarce, but Givens got in an inning of work on Sunday. He has been prone to allowing hard contact in recent appearances, and the trend continued again on Sunday, as he allowed two runs on a pair of singles, a sacrifice fly and a walk. If the trade rumors don’t scare fantasy owners away from claiming Givens, his 1.44 WHIP should do the trick. Givens may be due for some regression from a .352 BABIP, but a modest 21.2 percent poorly-hit rate (per xStats.org) suggests the hits will keep coming.

Many owners have been counting on getting saves from Roberto Osuna shortly upon his targeted Aug. 5 return from his 75-game suspension for domestic violence, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal has reported that the Blue Jays have put him on the trade market. Ryan Tepera has received two of the team’s last three save chances, and on Sunday, he was brought in to preserve a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning against the White Sox. John Gibbons‘ choice to go with Tepera in this situation looked like a vote of confidence, since he gave up four runs without getting an out on Saturday. However, Tyler Clippard threw 30 pitches in that same game on Saturday. Also, Tepera may have squandered some of that goodwill by allowing a Daniel Palka home run on Sunday.

Despite his recent struggles, Tepera has the potential to be an effective closer, especially if his wildness (38.5 percent Zone%) doesn’t get the best of him. Should Osuna be on the move, one has to figure that Clippard and maybe Jaime Garcia will also be in the discussion for saves.

Tepera would not have had the chance to pitch in the ninth inning on Sunday if it were not for an implosion by the White Sox’s two most likely candidates to succeed Joakim Soria as the team’s closer. Jace Fry started off the top of the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead but gave up a Teoscar Hernandez home run on his second pitch. The lefty was promptly lifted after plunking Kendrys Morales and allowing an Aledmys Diaz double. Jeanmar Gomez enabled the White Sox to take the lead and expand it to 7-3 by giving up two doubles and a single.

Rick Renteria had previously named Fry as a potential closer candidate, but his failure to close out Sunday’s win could mean that the White Sox’s manager will employ a committee approach until he finds a closer who demonstrates consistency. This is essentially the same path that led Soria to claim the closer’s role on a full-time basis.

The Mets’ closer situation looks a little less wide open, as Anthony Swarzak has been granted both of the team’s save opportunities that have arisen since Jeurys Familia was traded to Oakland on July 21. Swarzak has converted both opportunities, the latest coming in Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Pirates. He pitched a perfect frame with two strikeouts, and since Familia’s departure, Swarzak has thrown 3.1 scoreless innings on a single and no walks with six strikeouts.

Pedro Strop also solidified his standing as the Cubs’ fill-in closer during Brandon Morrow’s (biceps) absence. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in the Cubs’ 5-2 win over the Cardinals on Sunday night. Strop has received all four save opportunities for the Cubs since Morrow’s most recent placement on the DL, converting three of them. As for Morrow, he has yet to resume throwing (per MLB.com).

Quick hits: Craig Kimbrel and Brad Boxberger both bounced back from a recent poor performance with a strong outing on Sunday. Kimbrel recorded a scoreless inning against the Twins for his 33rd save, while Boxberger notched two strikeouts in a perfect inning against the Padres, tallying his 25th save…Both Kyle Barraclough and Drew Steckenrider threw more than 20 pitches on Saturday, but it was Steckenrider who got the call to pitch the ninth inning on Sunday with a 5-0 lead against the Nationals. Steckenrider, who is a candidate to close for the Marlins, should they trade Barraclough, threw a scoreless inning. He has a 1.33 ERA going back to May 22 and has allowed four extra-base hits (no home runs) during that span.