Bullpen Report: June 14, 2016
I was mistaken yesterday in thinking this version of the Bullpen Report would come out early the next morning. Sorry if this caused any confusion, but this is good news for those night owls who will get the BR earlier than expected.
The Nationals have placed Jonathan Papelbon on the 15-day DL with an intercostal strain, and have activated Matt Belisle from the DL. It appears he suffered the injury warming up during Sunday’s game where he earned the save, but gave up a home run to Maikel Franco. Baker said he likes Shawn Kelley, but has to be careful with his workload because of two Tommy John surgeries. So far, he has pitched the best out of the National relievers and seems like the best choice to close. In tonight’s game, the Nationals did not have a lead late in the game, but were tied with the Cubs in the 9th inning. After giving up only a double and no runs in the 8th inning on 11 pitches, Baker decided to stick with Sammy Solis in the 9th inning. He had only used Oliver Perez up until that point, so it appeared most of the bullpen was available. Solis walked Addison Russell on a close ball four, David Ross sacrificed him to second, and then he gave up a run-scoring double to Albert Almora, which gave the Cubs the lead. It will be worth monitoring to see what role Solis will have moving forward. After this appearance, his ERA went from 1.71 to 4.50, yet his FIP dropped from 3.02 to 2.62. Go figure. On the Cubs end, Hector Rondon got charged with the blown save after being asked to get a five out save. He gave up an inherited run in the 8th, but then earned the win after the Cubs took the lead and he retired the side in order in the 9th.
Tony Watson seems to be back on track after pitching the 9th today with a 4-0 lead, and not allowing a run for his 4th straight appearance. He had hit a road bump of July 4th and 5th giving up a total of 6 runs in 1.1 innings. Since then, he has had 5 Ks over 4 innings with 1 BB and 1 hit allowed. I know this is not a significant sample size to draw sweeping conclusions, but still encouraging for an integral part of the Pirates pen.
A few middle relievers had some struggles tonight, so let’s see what happened. First up, in Tampa Bay, Seattle had a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. Nick Vincent, who entered the game with a 2.28 ERA (2.61 FIP), gave up a three-run homer to Evan Longoria, making that his fourth blown save of the year. Mike Montgomery relieved Vincent in a tie ballgame, and proceeded to give up a run on two walks and hit. Vincent’s ERA went up to 3.18 (3.12 FIP) after the outing. Onto Baltimore where despite earning his 7th hold, Mychal Givens struggled for the second straight outing giving up a double and a walk in 0.1 of an inning. Zach Britton came in for the five-out save and gave up the inherited run, but managed to close out Boston for his 20th save. Finally, in Kansas City, Bryan Shaw entered the game with a 2-1 lead and blew that hold after giving up a two-run homer to Salvador Perez. Not as if Shaw has been lights out this year, but as Cleveland’s next in line, this was a really rough blown save for him. For the season he has a 5.68 ERA (5.72 FIP), and has allowed 2.49 HR/9.
Quick Notes: Tony Cingrani was unavailable this evening, so the Reds called Blake Wood to close the game. He immediately loaded the bases, then struck out the next batter and induced a game-ending double play. Fun with Reds closers. Astros bullpen was perfect as Tony Sipp (8) and Ken Giles (11) earned holds, and Will Harris (4) got the save, with each striking out a batter. Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis were unavailable for the Royals, so Joakim Soria pitched 1.2 innings to earn his third win of the season. Alex Colome got his 19th save of the season tonight, as well.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Something got scrambled in the Solis writeup. HIs season ERA is 1.71 and ERA for the game was 4.50 (2 IP, 1 ER).