Bullpen Report: June 27, 2016
• Welp, it looks like Trevor Rosenthal has officially lost his job as closer. As for the possible replacements, Kevin Siegrist, Seung-hwan Oh and Jonathan Broxton have all been named. However, Derrick Goold suggests that Oh was warming up for the possible save last night and that he will get the “first crack” at the ninth. Accordingly, we have placed Oh as the closer in the grid below with Siegrist and Broxton behind him. I’ve added Rosenthal to the injured column, not that he’s injured but to keep him on our minds. I expect he’ll pitch in very low-leverage innings (he threw a scoreless inning allowing two hits and one strikeout down four runs in the ninth today) and if he’s able to turn it around it’s possible that he could reclaim the ninth inning. That would also imply that Rosie is pitching well, something he hasn’t really done at all this year with a 7.88 BB/9 and ERA estimators above four.
As far as relievers are considered – it doesn’t get much better than Oh this year as he’s been the 5th most valuable reliever, has a top 15 strikeout rate, a walk rate just outside the top 20 and a K%-BB% of 29.5%, 7th best in the league. Whether or not Oh gets the majority of save chances in Rosenthal’s absence, he’s worth getting excited about and using a claim on immediately.
• Jake McGee, who has been out for the last few weeks with a knee injury, is set to return this weekend to Colorado. As for a return to the closer’s chair, manager noted that was a “conversation we need to have” in their “ever-evolving” bullpen. Carlos Estevez hasn’t been pitching particularly well of late so I would think that McGee could regain the role relatively soon, especially considering they paid an actual price to get him via trade over the offseason. But first he has to prove his health and effectiveness as it sounds like Weiss won’t automatically just hand him the job immediately. Also of note is Adam Ottavino who is currently on a rehab assignment in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He will likely be eased in at first whenever he gets back to Colorado but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him get on the grid soon after.
• In other rehab news, Jonathan Papelbon threw a perfect inning for the Potomac Nationals (A+). He could return to Washington soon as well and would likely unseat Shawn Kelley upon arrival. However, that might short lived with the Nationals in the market for bullpen help.
• Trade Rumor Roundup: Things are pretty much staying in gear but it won’t be long until a lot of the rumors start becoming something of a reality. Dave Cameron argued that it’s not the time to trade Andrew McCutchen but he mentions that closer Mark Melancon is being scouted. It’s also tough to say who would replace Melancon because Neftali Feliz and Tony Watson could be trade targets at the deadline as well so Pittsburgh could see some big chances on the grid below. The Yankees trio of gunslingers is a rumor vacuum but there are other situations to keep a keen eye on like Pittsburgh. The Marlins have been a common name in many rumors, including bullpen help and in this case we hear them linked with Aroldis Chapman and Fernando Rodney. Ken Rosenthal’s latest among other things mentions Sean Doolittle trade interest and how “the demand for him will rise even higher if the Yankees refuse to trade their own left-handed relievers.” If anything that would help Ryan Madson’s value as he would lose competition for saves but he’s no sure bet to stay in Oakland either.
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
Ben, you and Fangraphs have had E. Ramirez as the handcuff to Colome in TB for at least a couple weeks, as I’ve been monitoring how to rank Cedeno vs. Giles and Nate Jones in an AL-only roto league. Closermonkey.com and ESPN have Cedeno as the next up. Any insight into why you have Ramirez first here over Cedeno?
Ramirez has been flat out terrible over the past month or so, and has experienced a 1mph+ decline in velocity on his sinker and his slider. Seems more of a candidate for a reduced role or dl stint in the short run, rather than for any kind of potential promotion.
Well we’re going to find out soon – Colome’s on the DL15
I sat Cedeno and Giles and left up Jones–bad call it seems. http://closermonkey.com/ is sticking with its call on XC and they seem more assertive about it than fangraphs.