Bullpen Report: June 13th, 2012
• Ryan Cook earned his first handshake of the year Tuesday night as the Athletics defeated the Rockies, 8-5. Cook came on in the ninth and surrendered a hit, a free pass and whiffed two en route to the save. The righty has allowed just two earned runs in 27 appearances, good enough for a 0.67 ERA (2.83 FIP). Despite a 5.33 BB/9, Cook maintains a spectacular 0.89 WHIP thanks to a 0.91 BAA. Although these ratios may be unsustainable due to a .191 BABIP and 91.7 LOB%, Mike Axisa suggests Cook may not regress as far as some may assume since he’s a fly ball pitcher in a huge ballpark. Grab Cook where you can, as he seems to be the current head of skipper Bob Melvin’s closer-by-committee.
• The once murky closer situation in Wrigleyville may be clearing up just a bit. Although the usage of the Cubs’ bullpen may not have played out exactly like the manager planned last night, Dale Sveum used Casey Coleman, James Russell and Carlos Marmol in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings respectively, before calling upon Shawn Camp to nail down the ninth. Camp did just that — earning his first save of the season while facing the minimum three batters. Despite the fact that Sveum may use Russell in situations, Camp could continue to get save chances for the North Siders.
• Yankees’ reliever David Robertson will be activated form the disabled list in time for Friday’s bout with the Washington Nationals. Robertson, who assumed the ninth inning duties when Mariano Rivera tore the ACL in his right knee, has been shelved since May 15th with a left oblique strain. However, manager Joe Girardi maintains that Robertson will return to his former eighth inning duties to allow veteran Rafael Soriano to man the ninth. Since taking over closer’s role, Soriano has nailed down 11-of-12 opportunities.
• Aroldis Chapman served up a two-out long ball to Jose Lopez of the Indians while earning his seventh save in nine chances. Chapman continues to prove he is human after all, yielding his fourth earned run in his three most recent outings. Sean Marshall owners shouldn’t get giddy quite yet as Chapman continues to miss bats (17.4 SwStr%) and maintains an elite 15.97 K/9. It’s going to take a few more implosions or a potential injury (sorry for the jinx) to see Marshall regain the ninth.
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here is a matchup you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Francisco Rodriguez vs. KC
A late addition to the bullpen report: John Axford blew the save this evening and has allowed six earned runs in his last four appearances. Although Rodriguez isn’t exactly the elite reliever he once was, he appears to be next-in-line should Axford get Thursday off to collect his thoughts.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
In addition to contributing to the RotoGraphs blog, you can find Alan at his own site, TheFantasyFix.com and follow his nonsense on Twitter @TheFantasyFix.