Bullpen Report: June 29, 2018

It looks as if we have a full-blown committee situation in San Francisco.

That’s because Sam Dyson, who was annointed as the primary closer 10 days ago after Hunter Strickland broke his hand punching a door, has allowed six runs (five earned) in seven innings since said annointment. On Thursday, Dyson blew a save and took the loss against the Rockies, having given the visitors the lead by allowing DJ LeMahieu’s two-run homer.

After the game, Bruce Bochy told beat reporter Ann Killion that Tony Watson was “in the mix” to close. Killion also suggested in her piece that Will Smith and Reyes Moronta could be options in save situations. Erstwhile closer Mark Melancon may be, too, though she noted that he is not yet ready to take on the closer’s role on a full-time basis.

If any reliever from this group were entrusted with save opportunities on a regular basis, fantasy owners would need to add that reliever immediately. Watson and Smith have been outstanding, as each sports a sub-2.00 ERA with strong peripherals. Moronta’s control (40.5 percent Zone%, 13.3 percent walk rate) has been sketchy, but he has compensated by missing bats (29.4 percent strikeout rate, 13.4 percent swinging strike rate) and inducing soft flyball contact (average flyball distance of 294 feet, per Baseball Savant). Melancon has allowed no home runs and just two doubles in 10.1 innings.

Watson, Smith and Moronta in particular are worthwhile pickups in deeper formats, since they can help with ratios, even if they are splitting saves. Watson seems like the best candidate in the group to get a foothold on a more traditional closer’s role, but it may take awhile for this situation to develop.

Dyson’s performance was not the only concerning one in this particular game. In a back-and-forth contest, Adam Ottavino was summoned to help the Rockies hang on to a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. He began by striking out Nick Hundley, but then loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. That set Alen Hanson up to give the Giants the lead on a two-RBI double. Fortunately for the Rockies, LeMahieu got the lead back, and Wade Davis protected it with a perfect bottom of the ninth.

Ottavino has made 34 appearances this season, and over his first 32 outings, he had allowed a run or more in only two of them. Now he has allowed runs in back-to-back appearances, and his average fastball velocity has been just under 93 mph in three straight appearances. He had averaged 94.2 mph prior to that. Ottavino’s has induced swings on pitches in the zone at a 61.5 percent rate over those three games, which is nearly eight percentage points higher than his previous Z-Swing%. That’s not a welcome development for someone who has relied heavily on called strikes.

This may just be a blip on the radar for Ottavino, but he may not be as automatic going forward as we have gotten accustomed to him being.

Heading into the series opener with the Nationals,  Seranthony Dominguez had been granted each of the last three save opportunities for the Phillies, but it appeared that Thursday’s save chance was going to go to Tommy Hunter. The veteran opened up the top of the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead, but Hunter immediately got into trouble, allowing a Trea Turner single and a Michael A. Taylor RBI double. He did retire pinch hitter Adam Eaton, but when Davey Martinez sent right-handed Mark Reynolds up to pinch hit for Brandon Kintzler, Gabe Kapler called on Dominguez once again. Given that Hunter had been allowing righties to bat .333, while Dominguez had held righties to a .146 batting average, the move was hardly surprising.

Kapler had wanted to rest Dominguez after a 25-pitch outing against the Yankees on Wednesday, but he was able to dispense with Reynolds and Wilmer Difo on 11 pitches (though he did allow Taylor to score on a wild pitch). Dominguez is clearly not the Phillies’ sole closer, but he has now recorded the team’s last three saves and has had save opportunities in his last four appearances. The odds of someone substantially cutting into Dominguez’s save chances now seem slim, so I have removed the committee tag from the Phillies’ portion of the grid for now.

Quick hits: The Astros went nine straight games without a save situation, but they snapped that streak on Thursday by carrying a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning against the Rays. Hector Rondon got the call and notched his fifth save of the season. Rondon has now claimed five of the last six saves for the Astros…Fernando Rodney broke a string of 15 consecutive converted saves on Thursday. He was done in by wildness, following up a two-out Yolmer Sanchez single with a hit-by-pitch and two walks. Over his consecutive save streak, Rodney held opponents to a .395 OPS…Brandon Morrow made his first appearance since coming off the DL. He faced the final two batters in the Cubs’ 11-5 win over the Dodgers, allowing a Max Muncy single and getting Cody Bellinger to hit a fly to Albert Almora for the final out…With Edwin Diaz and Alex Colome both resting, Juan Nicasio got the save in the Mariners’ 4-2 win over the Orioles…Amir Garrett made his first appearance since taking a ball off his leg on Tuesday. He inherited two runners from starter Anthony DeSclafani and was charged with the loss as a result of allowing Eric Thames‘ three-run homer that put the Brewers up 5-4.