Bullpen Report: June 2, 2015
• Steve Cishek has been demoted to the minors to work on his mechanics. Specifically, he’ll be moving to Double-A Jacksonville where the Marlins are “hoping pitching coordinator Charlie Corbell (Cishek’s minor-league pitching coach) can help him find his groove.” The Marlins are trying to get Cishek back on track but considering the way A.J. Ramos is pitching, I wouldn’t bet on Cishek returning to the ninth inning quite yet. Ramos allowed three base runners in today’s outing but struck out two en route to a scoreless inning for his fifth save of the year.
• Tyler Clippard recorded his eighth save of the year, throwing a perfect ninth inning with two Ks. With Sean Doolittle back on the DL, expect Clippard to be closing for the rest of the year in Oakland. If the A’s decide to sell, Clippard could be on the move but so long as he’s in Oakland he will be seeing saves. As the amateur draft approaches, we are not too far from open trade season and we’ll do our best at the BR to keep track of the rumors and how save situations might be affected.
• Rough night for the back of the Reds pen. Jumbo Diaz blew the lead in the eighth allowing two earned runs while Tony Cingrani received the loss, allowing the winning run to score in the ninth. The other options behind Aroldis Chapman aren’t too appealing but J.J. Hoover and Ryan Mattheus could jump a slot or two in the pecking order.
• Quick Hits: Drew Storen was perfect in the ninth for his 17th save and John Axford secured his 10th save for the Rockies. Koji Uehara earned his 11th save of the season, putting some injury concerns behind him. Jonathan Papelbon earned his first win of the year after throwing a perfect ninth with two strikeouts. Papelbon carries a hefty price tag, but he should be involved in trade rumors over the next couple of months. Papelbon has actually pitched fantastic all season long with a 1.29 ERA and 2.29 FIP, which will certainly make him more appealing as a late inning option on a contending team.
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
Toronto almost a full calendar month between save chances. The most recent “let’s push our lead to 4 runs late” courtesy of a catcher stealing home. Absurd…