Bullpen Report: July 30, 2021

NEW FEATURE ALERT! We have added an upgraded version of RosterResource’s Closer Depth Chart to FanGraphs. Read more about it here.

We will always include a link to the full Closer Depth Chart at the bottom of the Bullpen Report each day. It’s also accessible from the RosterResource drop-down menu and from any RosterResource page. Please let us know what you think.

  1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
  2. Trades: Trades that occurred on Thursday, with an explanation of the new closing situation for teams involved.
  3. Injury News
  4. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
  5. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
  6. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save).

Notable Workloads

José Cisnero, DET: Three of last four days; 21 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Co-closers Gregory Soto and Michael Fulmer should both be available on Friday.

Kyle Finnegan, WSN: Four of last five days; 12 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

The one day in the past five that Finnegan didn’t pitch was Wednesday, so he may well be available on Friday. If not, Wander Suero and Tanner Rainey are the likeliest fill-ins.

Trades

•SEA acquires Diego Castillo from TBR for RP JT Chargois, INF/OF Austin Shenton | RosterResource

The Rays giving up Castillo, who isn’t even arbitration-eligible yet, is something of a shocker, though you can never discount the possibility of anyone being dealt out of St. Pete. Castillo’s been nails all year, with a 2.72 ERA/2.34 xERA, and a third of his opponents have been set down on strikes. This season has added to an excellent career track record for the sinker/slider pitcher, whose career ERA sits at 2.99 with 26 saves along the way (14 this year). Castillo may not be the closer—even when recently-traded Kendall Graveman was pitching excellently, he was never the sole option for Seattle—but he’ll at minimum form a lethal back-end duo with Paul Sewald. Drew Steckenrider and Anthony Misiewicz will help to fill out a solid back end.

Trading Castillo is a risky proposition for a team that already has 11(!!!) relievers on the Injured List, but at least some of those players will be back this season, and a few quite soon (Nick Anderson is on a rehab assignment, and injuries to Collin McHugh, J.P. Feyereisen, Ryan Thompson and Pete Fairbanks are viewed as fairly minor). Chargois isn’t nothing, either: he’s allowed just ten earned runs in 30 innings this year and he’s struck out almost five times as many hitters as he’s walked. Chargois has thrown more and more sliders in each successive year he’s been in the majors, and the Rays may well have him throw it more. For now, the Rays will probably rely on some combination of Andrew Kittredge, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Matt Wisler  to earn saves, with Chargois factoring in as well. As reinforcements arrive from the IL (Fairbanks, Feyereisen and Anderson especially) they’ll be ninth inning factors. And after all, this is the Rays—there could be another trade or two to come.

•TOR acquires Brad Hand from WSN for C Riley Adams | RosterResource

It’s been an up-and-down season for Hand, and ultimately one that’s well below his career norms. Hand’s 3.59 ERA isn’t bad, but it’s his highest since becoming a full-time reliever, and his 4.48 xERA is even worse. Hand’s strikeout rate has plummeted by 10% since last year while his walk rate has nearly doubled, and his .232 BABIP allowed could mean that he’ll be even worse at run prevention the rest of the way. Manager Charlie Montoyo hasn’t committed to a single closer, so it looks like Hand will split duties with Jordan Romano.

On the other side of the deal, this trade—along with Daniel Hudson being traded to the Padres—seems to solidify Kyle Finnegan’s standing as the Nationals’ closer. Finnegan earned his first save of the season after Hand was traded on Thursday, and he should remain the guy going forward. Finnegan has struck out 25% of opponents this year, and while his walk rate is high (12%) he rarely allows home runs and gets a good amount of grounders, which helps run prevention greatly.

Injury News

•None

Outlier Saves

•None

Committee Clarity

•None

Losing A Grip

•None

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.





3 Comments
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bluerum29
2 years ago

You wrote about Castillo being traded to Seattle, but still have him in Tampa in the grid.

bluerum29
2 years ago
Reply to  Jon Becker

Looking forward to that new report.