Bullpen Report: June 23, 2016

With A.J. Ramos unavailable to the Marlins following appearances in four of the last five days, David Phelps took the bump for Don Mattingly in the home half of the final frame against the Cubs. Phelps worked around a pair of hits in the ninth, fanned two and induced a flyout on 24 pitches (14 strikes) to seal the deal for Miami. That’s the third save on the year for the 29-year-old right-hander and the fourth in his career. For the better part of Phelps’ career he took the hill as a starter, but the Marlins have exclusively called on him out of the bullpen this season. The result? Career marks in ERA (2.48), FIP (2.37), K-BB% (22.6%), SwStr% (9.6%), a spike in velocity on each of his offerings and a lot less hard contact allowed (20.6% Hard% vs. career 32.2% Hard%) entering this evening’s effort. Rumblings around the interwebs indicate the Marlins could be buyers around the trade deadline considering their relative success without Dee Gordon, but if by chance they turn into sellers, David Phelps could be an interesting candidate for those seeking bullpen depth.

Fernando Rodney may have lost an important streak last evening courtesy of an official scorer controversy, but he rebounded nicely early Thursday in Cincinnati to record his 16th save of the season in as many chances. Rodney needed 17 pitches (nine strikes) for a pair punchouts and a worm burner off the bat of Brandon Phillips to finish off the Reds at the Great American Small Park. Rodney did surrender a free pass to shortstop Zack Cozart who advanced to second on a fielder’s indifference, but he was stranded on the Phillips groundout to short. Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter each dished an inning for the Friars to set-up Rodney, earning their 13th and 12th holds respectively. Maurer surrendered just one hit while fanning the side in the seventh while Buchter induced a single strikeout, a line out and a short pop up to second base.

Lots of talk about Fernando Rodney potentially changing teams at the deadline, which makes sense, but Heyman indicated Maurer could be on the move as well in a “dream deal.” Maurer is just 25, cheap and under team control until 2020, so not sure the Padres would feel inclined to move him. Sure, he’s had struggles (lack of strikeouts in ‘15, spike in walks/Hard% and bit by HR/FB monster in ‘16), but he’s missing bats again and the velocity looks swell. We’ll play the wait-and-see game, but speculating on either Maurer or Buchter wouldn’t be the worst moves at this time if you’re in need of saves, if you (or your league mates) haven’t done so already.

Santiago Casilla fanned a trio of Pirates on 26 pitches (20 strikes) to notch his 16th save of the season for the Giants. After a stretch of tough outings to start the month of June, the almost 36-year-old appears to be back on track. He’s saved each of his last four games with six strikeouts, no walks and just two hits. Casilla is now 1-2, 16-of-20 in save chances with a 2.48 ERA (3.23 FIP) in 29 innings on the hill. George Kontos (3), Hunter Strickland (10) and Cory Gearrin (13) secured holds in today’s Giants’ victory. The grid looks good in San Francisco.

Braves’ fireballer Arodys Vizcaino locked up his ninth save of the year today in a 16-pitch, seven-strike outing. Vizcaino issued a leadoff free pass to pinch-hitter Matt Reynolds, but induced a trio of line outs from the 1-2-3 hitters of the Metropolitans to close the show in Atlanta. On the year, Vizcaino is 9-of-11 in save chances with a 2.01 ERA (2.58 FIP), a 12.64 K/9 and owned a career high 56.2% GB% heading into tonight. The 4.31 BB/9 is the chief concern for youngster. The right-handed closer of the Braves is another name that could be on the move at the deadline according to the above linked piece. Like Maurer, Vizcaino is just 25, cheap and won’t hit his third year of arbitration until 2019. Per Heyman, teams will have to cough up a small fortune of prospects if they choose to shore up their bullpen through the Braves. And given we don’t know if/where he’ll be dealt, one might start floating his name in trade discussions to see what he could fetch at this time.

Quick Hits: Blake Wood hit the paternity leave list for the Reds on Tuesday. Blake will get up to three days to spend with his newborn before he’s expected to return to the team. In good faith, we’ll leave him in the second chair knowing he’ll be activated soon. Craig Kimbrel earned the victory after putting in two innings of work tonight. He allowed a hit and issued two walks, but fanned three and kept the White Sox off the board so the Red Sox could win it in the home half the 10th. Steve Cishek tried to pull a Kimbrel, but came up one earned run and an out shy. Cishek surrendered a trio of walks, a hit and an earned run to take the loss (now 2-4 record on the year), 5-4, to the Tigers in extras. Just as I was popping this on the site, Brad Ziegler blew a save and picked up a scab win for the Diamondbacks while Carlos Estevez took his fourth loss for the Rockies. More on that tomorrow…Light up the comments, kids!

Closer Grid:

Closer First Second DL/Minors
Arizona Brad Ziegler Daniel Hudson Tyler Clippard
Atlanta Arodys Vizcaino Jim Johnson Hunter Cervenka
Baltimore Zach Britton Mychal Givens Brad Brach Darren O’Day
Boston Craig Kimbrel Koji Uehara Junichi Tazawa
CHI (NL) Hector Rondon Pedro Strop Justin Grimm
CHI (AL) David Robertson Nate Jones Zach Duke
Cincy Tony Cingrani Ross Ohlendorf Blake Wood Jumbo Diaz
Cleveland Cody Allen Bryan Shaw Dan Otero
Colorado Carlos Estevez Jason Motte Boone Logan Jake McGee
Detroit Francisco Rodriguez Justin Wilson Shane Greene Bruce Rondon
Houston Will Harris Ken Giles Luke Gregerson
KC Wade Davis Kelvin Herrera Joakim Soria
LAA Huston Street Fernando Salas Cam Bedrosian Joe Smith
LAD Kenley Jansen Pedro Baez Joe Blanton Yimi Garcia
Miami A.J. Ramos David Phelps Kyle Barraclough
Milwaukee Jeremy Jeffress Will Smith Tyler Thornburg
Minnesota Brandon Kintzler Fernando Abad Kevin Jepsen Glen Perkins
NY (NL) Jeurys Familia Addison Reed Jim Henderson
NY (AL) Aroldis Chapman Andrew Miller Dellin Betances
Oakland Ryan Madson Sean Doolittle John Axford
Philly Jeanmar Gomez Hector Neris David Hernandez
Pittsburgh Mark Melancon Neftali Feliz Tony Watson
St. Louis Trevor Rosenthal Kevin Siegrist Seung Hwan Oh
SD Fernando Rodney Ryan Buchter Brandon Maurer
SF Santiago Casilla Cory Gearrin Hunter Strickland Sergio Romo
Seattle Steve Cishek Joaquin Benoit Nick Vincent
TB Alex Colome Erasmo Ramirez Xavier Cedeno Brad Boxberger
Texas Sam Dyson Jake Diekman Matt Bush Keone Kela
Toronto Roberto Osuna Jason Grilli Gavin Floyd Brett Cecil
Wash. Shawn Kelley Felipe Rivero Sammy Solis Jonathan Papelbon

[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.

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Chicago Mark
7 years ago

Good stuff Alan,
It happened late so you don’t have it here. But Madson pitched then Doolittle and got the save. Is there a change happening in Oakland?

ccovillemember
7 years ago
Reply to  Chicago Mark

Looks like they were playing matchups. Madson was sent in to face Trout and Cron and he did the job well.