Bullpen Report: June 3, 2022

The 2022 version of Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
2. Injury News 
3. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
4. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
5. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save.)

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.

Notable Workloads

•Jorge López, BAL: 26 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Félix Bautista is a likely candidate for a save chance on Friday if López isn’t available.

•Clay Holmes, NYY: 26 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Michael King and Miguel Castro are likely candidates for a save chance on Thursday if Holmes isn’t available.

•Camilo Doval, SFG: 4 of last 5 days; 12 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Dominic Leone, Tyler Rogers, and Jake McGee are all candidates for a save chance on Friday.

•Paul Sewald, SEA: 30 pitches on Thursday; Diego Castillo, SEA: 26 pitches on Thursday. | RosterResource

Andrés Muñoz also pitched on Thursday (19 pitches). It’s likely that he or Castillo would be available on Friday. If not, and Sewald is also unavailable, Penn Murfee could be the most likely candidate for a save chance.

 

Closer News

•Craig Kimbrel, LAD | RosterResource

It was reported on Wednesday that Kimbrel would be unavailable for a couple of days to work on mechanical issues, but could pitch again by Friday. The Dodgers were apparently pleased with the results because they didn’t wait until Friday.

Facing off against the Mets in the opening game of a four-game series on Thursday, the Dodgers went to Kimbrel with a 2-0 lead in the 9th inning. In one of his most efficient outings of the season, he retired the side in order on only 12 pitches and finished the game by throwing a 97 MPH past Pete Alonso.

While Kimbrel has 11 saves in 12 chances, he had allowed a run in five of his last seven appearances to push his ERA near 5.00. Obviously, this is a step in the right direction for the 34-year-old, although it’s concerning that he hit a rough patch less than two months into the season.

 

Outlier Saves

•Wandy Peralta, NYY | RosterResource

In a best-case scenario, the Yankees would sweep Thursday’s double-header against the Angels. And, in that case, someone else besides Clay Holmes would have to close out one of those victories. A 6-1 win in Game 1 did ensure they could save their closer — Holmes did pick up the save in the team’s 2-1 win in Game 2 — but it was more of a nail-biter than it appears as evidenced by Peralta’s save.

With a 6-0 lead in the 8th inning, little-used rookie Clarke Schmidt ran into some trouble. After a leadoff single by Taylor Ward, he struck out both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. But a walk, RBI single, and another walk put the tying run on deck and a save situation was now in effect. Peralta retired Jared Walsh on a flyout to end the inning. He followed up with a scoreless 9th to close out the win and pick up his 1st save.

 

Committee Clarity

•Tanner Scott, MIA | RosterResource

Who’ll be the Marlins’ closer on a daily basis has been a question that often goes unanswered on a team that went 7-19 in the month of May. We do know that Anthony Bass has been their best reliever (2.18 ERA, 8 holds), but things haven’t fallen in place for him to pick up even one save. And he was likely unavailable on Thursday after throwing 25 pitches the previous day.

So, if the Marlins were to go with their most-rested option in a save situation, it was an easy call. Scott was the Marlins’ only reliever to not pitch during Wednesday’s double-header and it was no surprise when he got the call in the 9th inning with his team ahead of the Giants by a 3-0 margin. He retired the side in order, including a pair of strikeouts, to pick up his second save. The left-hander’s ERA is still over 5.00 after allowing five earned runs over his last 2.2 innings pitched, but he’ll likely remain in the mix for save chances.

•Ryan Thompson, TBR | RosterResource

On Wednesday, I included Matt Wisler in the “Outlier Saves” section and I wrote this about the Rays’ bullpen …

“Outlier saves are rare for the Rays because they are typically unpredictable when it comes to save chances and have several relievers who are capable of closing out a win. But, at least recently, they would seem to favor Colin Poche and J.P. Feyereisen in the 9th inning.”

It was true that Wisler only got the save chance because the game went into extra innings. But, on Thursday, the Rays were back to their unpredictable ways. Thus, a save for Thompson is being written about in “Committee Clarity”.

How Thompson, who has an ERA near 7.00, ended up pitching the 9th inning with a 3-1 lead over the Rangers really isn’t as unusual as it sounds. Two of the team’s best relievers, Poche and Jalen Beeks, were likely unavailable after heavy workloads on Wednesday. Jason Adam, Brooks Raley, and Feyereisen all picked up holds before handing the lead to Thompson, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his 3rd save.

The 29-year-old Thompson didn’t allow an earned run in his first 9.1 innings of the season, but had allowed 13 earned runs and 16 hits over his last 7.2 innings. Yet, the Rays felt comfortable enough to let this guy protect a two-run lead. And I guess this probably shouldn’t surprise anyone.

 

Losing A Grip

•Emilio Pagán, MIN | RosterResource

Overall, Pagán has been an important part of the Twins’ success in 2022. He came into Thursday’s game with a 2.12 ERA and a team-leading seven saves. And while he had allowed four homers, they were spread out enough that his history of giving up a lot of homers has not been a concern. In case you needed a reminder, he allowed 18 earned runs, including nine homers, over his final 17.1 innings of 2021 while with the Padres.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Pagán allowed his fifth homer of the season on Thursday, a two-run shot by Daz Cameron that ended up being the difference in the 3-2 loss to the Tigers. It was Pagan’s third blown save of the season. Allowing five homers over his last 13 innings isn’t as bad as nine homers in 17.1 innings. But it’s still bad enough for there to be some concern.

•Taylor Rogers, SDP | RosterResource

Rogers began the season with 11.2 scoreless innings and 11 saves in his first 12 appearances. He would allow a run in his next outing (more on that below), although he still picked up a save in that game, and then proceeded to pitch 7.2 scoreless innings with five saves over his next seven appearances. So, why the heck is Rogers even in this section?

The game in which he allowed his first run — May 10 versus the Cubs — was actually a bit concerning. After two outs to start the inning, it looked like it would be another easy save for the left-hander. But things quickly went sideways. Single. Hit batter. RBI single. Another hit batter. The Cubs were now within a run with Frank Schwindel up to bat and the bases loaded. Rogers had no feel for his slider and appeared to have no confidence. He threw nothing but fastballs to Schwindel, who barley missed a go-ahead grand slam by maybe two feet. It was caught at the wall for the third out.

It wasn’t until May 28 against the Pirates that Rogers would have another bad outing, but it was reminiscent of the May 10 game. By the time Ke’Bryan Hayes hit the go-ahead three-run homer on a hanging slider, it was clear that Rogers was in trouble.

Things weren’t any different in Thursday’s game against the Brewers. With a 4-1 lead in the ninth, Rogers allowed a leadoff single, hit the next two batters, and then had to groove a 3-1 fastball to Jace Peterson, who hit a bases-clearing triple. That was all for Rogers, who left the game without retiring a batter. The Brewers would win on a walkoff single by Andrew McCutchen.

While the overall body of work is still great, as well as his track record, the version of Rogers that has shown up for his last two save chances cannot be trusted with a lead. Robert Suarez and Luis García, who would be the top candidates to replace him, can also be shaky at times. But both can throw fastballs in the high 90’s with movement, allowing themselves a bit more room for error when they are having trouble locating their pitches.

 

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.