Bullpen Report: June 2, 2017
Before getting on with the business of breaking down Friday’s bullpen developments, there was one closer situation worth checking in on from Thursday’s short slate of games. The Angels brought a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning against the Twins, and manager Mike Scioscia entrusted it to Jose Alvarez, rather than Bud Norris. The Twins had Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario coming up — in other words, a pair of lefties sandwiching a switch hitter who is batting .218 against southpaws. As it turned out, Alvarez blew the save and was tagged with the loss, as he stuck around long enough to give up a single to Jason Castro (another lefty) that scored Polanco and Rosario.
Norris came in after the Castro single to face Brian Dozier, so this had the look of a closer platoon. However, Scioscia told reporters he did not bring Norris in to start the ninth inning because of his lingering knee soreness. While Huston Street has had a setback in his rehab stint, experiencing tightness in his right triceps, Cam Bedrosian is expected back next week. Not only are Norris’ days as the Angels’ closer possibly numbered, but it doesn’t appear he will be a reliable source of saves between now and when Bedrosian returns.
As for Friday’s closer action, the only blown saves belonged to Corey Knebel and Jim Johnson. There should be no real concern here, as both closers have been awfully good. It’s actually a bit surprising how good Johnson has been. Heading into Friday, he was throwing strikes at a career-high 67.9 percent rate, getting called strikes at a remarkable 25.3 percent rate and holding opponents to an .049 Iso. It’s odd that, prior to Friday’s game, Johnson had a 68.3 percent strand rate going back to 2014. If not for that, I would be so much more hopeful for improvement in Johnson’s 3.97 ERA.
Remember when it looked like Brad Hand was the Padres’ new closer? That’s a distant memory now. Brandon Maurer has now received each of the last four save opportunities for the Padres, and over those four innings, he has not allowed a run or a hit and has walked just one batter.
A.J. Ramos collected his seventh save on Friday night, pitching a clean ninth inning against the Diamondbacks with two strikeouts. He has not blown a save, but several of his non-save appearances have been adventures. Given Ramos’ history of wildness, it’s always good to keep tabs on his potential rivals for the closer’s role. That’s why it’s worth noting that Kyle Barraclough did not make an appearance in this game, even though he had only pitched in one of the Marlins’ last three games. Instead, it was Jarlin Garcia, Nick Wittgren and David Phelps picking up holds.
Barraclough has had a rough go over the past month or so, and one has to wonder if he has pitched his way out of a setup role. Since May 9, he has a 10.57 ERA with seven strikeouts and 12 walks over 7 2/3 innings. From the high walk rate, you might think that Barraclough has been exceptionally wild, but that has not been the case. He has actually been pitching in the strike zone more often. In the month of May, Barraclough had a healthy 47.7 percent Zone%, but he just wasn’t getting batters to swing. His 34.9 percent swing rate was the lowest for any qualifying reliever, and while he was freezing batters on pitches in the zone, he was also not getting many swings on pitches out of the zone. Hence, the 21.4 percent walk rate for the month.
Barraclough’s velocity has also dipped in recent appearances, and his average fastball velocity has not topped 95 mph in any of his last three outings. While his swinging strike rate has been plummeting for several weeks, over his last six games, Barraclough has induced a total of six whiffs on 120 pitches.
I will leave Barraclough in the grid for now, but Phelps (who has not allowed an earned run since April 21) has left him in the dust as the Marlins’ primary closer-in-waiting. Not only is Barraclough poorly positioned to get saves anytime soon, but for now, he may not have much value in holds leagues.
Saves roundup: Roberto Osuna (12), Wade Davis (11), Brad Brach (11), Maurer (9), Ramos (7).
Other closer activity: Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen both entered games with tie scores, and both were credited with a win. Ken Giles pitched the bottom of the ninth with a 7-0 lead over the Rangers, and he gave up a leadoff home run to Adrian Beltre. Then Giles set the Rangers down in order.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Al Melchior has been writing about Fantasy baseball and sim games since 2000, and his work has appeared at CBSSports.com, BaseballHQ, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster and FanRagSports. He has also participated in Tout Wars' mixed auction league since 2013. You can follow Al on Twitter @almelchiorbb and find more of his work at almelchior.com.
Grilli has pitched better as of late but I think Tepera has done enough to knock him off the grid. Looks like he’s the preferred guy in the seventh.