Bullpen Report: June 12, 2013
Kenley Jansen proves he deserves the ninth inning and Papa Grande proves why he didn’t have a job on Opening Day. Your Bullpen Report starts now!
• After being named the closer yesterday, Kenley Jansen was given a save opportunity last night and unsurprisingly converted the save, his third of the season. Jansen pitched a perfect ninth while striking out two batters and as the full-time closer in Los Angeles, this is something we should get used to seeing. Jansen has been a dominant reliever for a while now and it will be business as usual just with the extra bonus of saves, delighting Jansen owners everywhere. Jansen’s actually posting the lowest strikeout rate of his career but 12.55 K/9 is certainly nothing to sneeze at and it’s come with the best walk rate of his career (1.64 BB/9). Considering Jansen’s still striking batters out an an elite rate, increased control at the expense of a few strikeouts is a trade he, the Dodgers and his fantasy owners would make any day.
• Papa Grande (aka Jose Valverde) blew a save this afternoon against the Royals on a two-out, 0-2 pitch to Lorenzo Cain who tied the game on a two-run homer. Valverde’s numbers are basically right where we would expect them to be which isn’t necessarily a good thing. On the year Valverde now has a 4.14 ERA and 5.89 FIP. Valverde has been the victim of some bad fortune with the long ball (21.7% Hr/FB%) but his xFIP (4.03) basically mimics his ERA which means to say that we can’t really expect Valverde to pitch any better than he has. No change has been made but Valverde might be danger of losing his job and either way, Joaquin Benoit’s stock certainly rises with each poor Valverde outing. However, any change that could take place may not come internally as the Tigers could look outside the organization for some relief help and we’ll be sure to update you with any trade rumors on this space.
• Greg Holland picked up the vulture relief win today and now has a 1.23 FIP and 13.88 K/9 to go with two wins and 13 saves in 15 tries. I talked about him on Monday and there isn’t much to add except to stress the fact that Holland is one of the best relievers, both in real life, fantasy and the land in between.
• Luke Gregerson entered the ninth inning today to close out the game but wasn’t able to finish, giving up a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Nick Vincent recorded the final out for the first save of his career but he shouldn’t be considered as an option in anything but the deepest NL-only leagues. Gregerson should still receive save opportunities in San Diego while Huston Street is on the DL, but teams in need of saves could take a peak at Dale Thayer who struck out both batters he faced today in the eighth.
• After blowing the save in his last appearance on Monday, Andrew Bailey came back today and pitched around a leadoff single for his seventh save of the season. As we all know, Bailey’s health will always remain a question he’s been effective this year with a 2.21 ERA and 3.46 FIP. Bailey’s shown an elite strikeout rate (12.84 K/9) thanks to an ability to miss bats (12.9% SwStr%) and although you would like to see more control Bailey’s 3.98 BB/9 is a little skewed due to walking three batters in his poor outing last time out. If/when something happens to cause Bailey to miss time this year, Junichi Tazawa will fill in for saves but until then, consider Bailey a solid closing option on one of the better teams in baseball.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
When he's not focusing on every team's bullpen situation, Ben can be found blogging at Ben's Baseball Bias and on Twitter @BensBias
Now I have Jansen papelbon chapman holland n Henderson as my closers. Need Henderson to get to pre injury status
Need? You seem to be fine with what you have there already!
In a 15-teamer who has the most value as a speculative add, J. Peralta, Thayer, or any of the firsts in green?
Or seconds*
I might take Benoit over Peralta or Thayer, but those are good speculatives as well.
I should also add Carter Capps as Wilhelmsen is struggling big time.
Benoit is spoken for at the moment. So you think Peralta > Thayer > CCapps?
Again, thanks so much.
I would not say that Valverde has been unlucky on the home runs. He has lost the ability to throw his split fastball effectively. Today’s ninth inning shot was an 85 mph splitter that hung out over the plate. Basically, he’s throwing batting practice when he locates the splitter in the strike zone.
I broke down the data on his season and his splitter here
Great stuff, thanks for that link.
You might actually say that Valverde has been lucky to have his ERA as low as it is. Most of Detroit’s starters have ERAs that are pretty inflated versus their xFIP, I assume due to crappy defense.
Who is the better speculative add for saves, Benoit or Krod? Krod is on waivers and Benoit is a FA.
Gregerson is killing me, I feel like he is pulling a Mitchell Boggs. One of best set up men in baseball is struggling now that he finally has a chance to close.
Any chance Pestano holds onto the job or is Perez definitely taking over immediately when he comes back? People have been waiting for him to take over and he hasn’t done much this year.
Thanks!
I think Perez gets the job back, if for no other reason than to potentially build up his trade value should the Indians decide to sell.
I would add K-Rod, he has the job right now it seems and Roenicke has indicated that he might keep it if he keeps pitching well.
K-Rod is currently closing games, so by default I’d have to put him above Benoit. However, Benoit is a better pitcher and should help you more if he’s not closing games.
It’s probably just bad variance with Gregerson but managers also have a quick leash with these things somtimes.
I don’t think Pestano is the pitcher he once was, with his velo way down and think Perez will take over once he comes back. It may take a game or two, but he’ll get it.
I dropped Gregerson last night for K-Rod. No other good options in my league and maybe I get lucky and K-Rod holds onto the job for another month or so.
Woke up this morning to learn that Tom Wilhelmsen destroyed my ratios for the week and blew a save in the process. How long of a leash does he have after his latest implosion? Has the league “figured him out?”
There is certainly a concern here and I’ll promise to look into it for tonight’s BR.
In the meantime, I’d grab Capps.
Putz is available and appears to be coming off the DL. What is the chance he gets the closer jib back in Arizona>>>????
Considering that Heath Bell gave up a couple homers in a non-save situation last night and David Hernandez blew the lead the night before, I’d say it’s fairly high. He’ll probably have to prove his health and effectiveness at the MLB level, but he’s worth taking a flier on if you’re in need.
Do italicized names indicate anything specific?
They just signal the closer. Brandon League is italicized because I messed up the formatting, it should be Kenley!