Bullpen Report: July 31, 2017

Well the trade deadline has passed so let’s take a look and see how the bullpens were affected. Before I go on however, it’s worth leading you to Paul’s breakdown earlier this afternoon.  Tonight we will focus on the deadline recap and tomorrow we will turn our attention to deeper dives in those situations that are deserving.

• With the Mets selling we all figured Addison Reed would be on the way out and to Boston he goes. Reed won’t have many chance for saves unless Kimbrel gets hurt or throws three days in a row but he likely leapfrogs Matt Barnes and Joe Kelly as the main setup man in Boston. Reed’s been pretty terrific since last year in New York pitching to a 2.20/2.43/3.28 ERA/FIP/xFIP line in 126.2 innings. However, it’s worth noting in that time he’s posted a mediocre 39% GB%. Moving from Citi to Fenway Park and the American League might cause a few more fly balls to leave the yard. I don’t doubt Reed as the best option behind Kimbrel but consider him to be more of a decent fantasy option than ace reliever. The Red Sox figure to be one of the better teams in the AL moving forward so Reed should rack up those Holds but in save only leagues there isn’t much to see here.

As for the Mets side, recent acquisition A.J. Ramos will pick up the ninth inning duties with Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins behind him. Addison Reed’s control was stellar for the Mets but A.J. Ramos and his (lack of) control will probably have Mets fans remembering Armando Benitez. Overall they should be pleased with the results if that’s the case but his 4.5-5 BB/9 will likely cause fans to occasionally pull their hair out late in games.

• The Indians picked up Joe Smith from Toronto as they try to fend off the Royals. Smith won’t have a chance in passing the Andrew Miller/Cody Allen combo for saves but he could pass Bryan Shaw in his return to Cleveland. The last time Smith pitched for the Indians he had a strikeout percentage in the low 20s and this year it has jumped to 35.4%. Among qualified relievers that ranks 14th in the league. Joe Smith always had solid ERAs but he’s transformed from a useful reliever to a possibly dominant righty.

In Toronto, Joe Biagini makes his case to return to the grid although he pitched poorly this evening allowing three runs. Biagini wasn’t alone with Ryan Tepera, and Roberto Osuna also having  forgettable appearances today with Osuna getting the blown save and loss against the White Sox. The Jays could look to Aaron Loup, JP Howell and/or Dominic Leone to set up before Osuna as well but for now it’s Tepera and Biagini. It just wouldn’t be right to leave the Jays Joe-less.

• It wasn’t a deadline deal but the Tigers moved Justin Wilson to Chicago yesterday. Ben updated the grid for y’all last night so this is somewhat old news but worth mentioning. Shane Greene figures to get the first shot at saves in Detroit with Alex Wilson, Bruce Rondon, and Daniel Stumpf behind him. Bruce Rondon is the guy everyone wants to take the job as he throws hard (96.6 mph) and misses bats (12.1% swinging strike rate) but he also misses the zone a lot (5.84 BB/9) and has a 12.41 ERA. It’s a little misleading in only 16 appearances but due to his early struggles Greene, Alex Wilson and even Stumpf will likely be ahead of him in the pecking order. His ceiling is potentially the best of the bunch though so it’s worth keeping an eye on him, if he strings together several solid outings he could make a jump in the pen.

• In a somewhat surprising move, the Nationals acquired Brandon Kintzler from Minnesota. Sean Doolittle (who threw a scoreless ninth for his seventh save tonight) figures to hold onto the closer’s chair for now as he’s the best pitcher in the group but Kintzler should see some high leveraged innings in Washington. Even when he was getting saves Kintzler wasn’t particularly exciting with a 14.8% strikeout rate so this could significantly hurt his value. The Nationals haven’t committed to a closer and Ryan Madson could also still be at play. This might be a committee of sorts but I’m leaning Doolittle.

If deciding who’s closing in DC is interesting, figuring out who’s replacing Kintzler in Minnesota is a trickier puzzle. We had Taylor Rogers next in line on the grid but his underlying numbers are no better than Matt Belisle and he’s at least right handed. Tyler Duffey is also an option but this is looking like a mediocre salad at best. I’m sticking with Rogers/Belisle/Duffey but I would be lying if I said I had any confidence in the order. All three are worth a small claim if you’re in need for saves but make sure you can handle a drop in ratios as neither are particularly good or on a particularly good team.

• The Pennsylvania squads made a trade with Joaquin Benoit moving from Philly to Pittsburgh. With Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit gone, Hector Neris can finally breathe. Behind Neris we still have Luis Garcia and I’ve added Jesen Therrien to the grid. Therrien had a horrible second career outing tonight allowing three runs while only recording one out but he was excellent in AAA this year and the Phillies should give him a long look to see what he got. The back of the Phillies bullpen isn’t littered with compelling names but 

We will see how this plays out in Pittsburgh. Felipe Rivero is entrenched in the ninth and Juan Nicasio probably has a hold on the eighth for now but Joaquin Benoit could usurp Dan Hudson in the pecking order. For now we will keep the order as is but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Benoit return back to the grid.

• In non-trade news, Zach Britton was not dealt and looks to finish the year in Baltimore, hopefully not on the disabled list. Britton threw a scoreless ninth this evening and received the win, his first on the year. If teams were confident in Britton’s medical bill, it’s likely that he would have been dealt although with the Orioles being buyers of sorts at the deadline it’s also likely the asking price was deserving of a “lol” reply by interested GMs. Brad Hand also was not dealt and I’ve upgraded him to green in San Diego. He could get moved in the offseason as well but the Padres would only be hyurting his value to move him off of the ninth to end the year. He won’t get a bevy of save opportunities but should rank as one of the more elite closers for ratios and strikeouts to end the season.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
ARI	Fernando Rodney	Archie Bradley	Jorge de la Rosa
ATL	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino	Jose Ramirez
BAL	Zach Britton	Brad Brach	Mychal Givens
BOS	Craig Kimbrel	Addison Reed	Matt Barnes	Carson Smith
CHC	Wade Davis	Justin Wilson	Carl Edwards Jr.
CWS	Tyler Clippard	Gregory Infante	Jake Petricka	Nate Jones
CIN	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
CLE	Cody Allen	Andrew Miller	Bryan Shaw
COL	Greg Holland	Jake McGee	Adam Ottavino
DET	Shane Greene	Alex Wilson	Daniel Stumpf
HOU	Ken Giles	Chris Devenski	Will Harris
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Joakim Soria	Brandon Maurer
LAA	Bud Norris	Cam Bedrosian	Blake Parker	Huston Street
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Pedro Baez	Brandon Morrow
MIA	Brad Ziegler	Drew Steckenrider	Dustin McGowan	Kyle Barraclough
MIL	Corey Knebel	Anthony Swarzak	Jacob Barnes
MIN	Taylor Rogers	Matt Belisle	Tyler Duffey	Glen Perkins
NYM	A.J. Ramos	Paul Sewald	Jerry Blevins	Jeurys Familia
NYY	Aroldis Chapman	Dellin Betances	David Robertson
OAK	Blake Treinen	Ryan Dull	Santiago Casilla
PHI	Hector Neris	Luis Garcia	Jesen Therrien
PIT	Felipe Rivero	Juan Nicasio	Daniel Hudson
STL	Trevor Rosenthal	Brett Cecil	Seung Hwan Oh
SD	Brad Hand	Kirby Yates	Phil Maton	Carter Capps
SF	Sam Dyson	Hunter Strickland	George Kontos	Mark Melancon
SEA	Edwin Diaz	David Phelps	Nick Vincent
TB	Alex Colome	Tommy Hunter	Brad Boxberger
TEX	Alex Claudio	Jose Leclerc	Keone Kela
TOR	Roberto Osuna	Ryan Tepera	Joe Biagini	Danny Barnes
WSH	Sean Doolittle	Brandon Kintzler	Ryan Madson	Koda Glover

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]