Bullpen Report: June 5, 2017
• Not a standard save in Chicago tonight as Mike Montgomery went 3.1 innings for his second save of the year. Wade Davis had thrown a couple days in a row so Koji Uehara received the save opportunity last night for the Cubs. Wade Davis is now ready to pitch but was actually placed on paternity leave. We won’t take him off the grid for such a short break but look for Uehara to get a look in the ninth if an opportunity arises tomorrow. Montgomery has only pitched out the pen to start the year and although his ERA dropped to 2.21 after tonight’s outing, his 3.78 FIP and 4.29 xFIP and 26 strikeouts against 20 walks in 36.2 innings don’t paint the picture of someone worth rostering at the moment.
• Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias each pitched a perfect eighth and ninth respectively to close out the win for the Reds against the Cardinals. Lorenzen has been more good than great but is cemented as the main setup man. Iglesias on the other hand has been outright fantastic, allowing only two earned runs in 29.1 innings pitched this year. His 0.61 ERA is a little misleading but a 3.30 SIERA and 10.79 K/9 are plenty good for fantasy owners. A correction might be on its way and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his ERA jump a bit but both Iglesias’ move to the pen and his role within are rock solid right now.
• No save situation in San Francisco as the Giants scored in the last two innings but Hunter Strickland closed out the end of the eighth with Mark Melancon putting up a zero in the ninth. Melancon started off the season with a loss and found his way to the DL with a minor injury but is pitching to a 2.20/2.19/2.89 line with a 15/1 K/BB ratio. As usual, his lack of elite strikeouts prevent him from being an upper echelon closer but he continues to find a way to finish games efficiently. Since 2013 Melancon has thrown 305.1 innings with a 1.83 ERA. If the Giants don’t get on a major winning streak Melancon could be on his way out but I would still bet on him finding his way to the ninth rather than be relegated to setup duty on a different team.
• Kelvin Herrera entered the game in a non save situation and allowed a couple of runs off of a Yulieski Gurriel homer. Herrera’s ratios are still fantastic with a 24/4 K/BB in 23 innings but he’s allowed six homers thus far, inflating his ERA to 3.91. Herrera isn’t an extreme fly ball pitcher and nothing suggests that homers will be an issue for him so in spite of the Royals stinking this season I would consider Herrera somewhat of a buy low opportunity. The homers should even out and you will likely get a closer with an ERA around three with excellent ratios, point to his ERA inching near four and make a deal.
• Ken Giles is still the man to own for saves in Houston still but they aren’t lacking quality alternatives as we saw tonight. James Hoyt allowed a homer tonight but also struck out two while getting four outs tonight and now has 30 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. Will Harris lowered his ERA to 2.22 while striking out two in the eighth and now has 27 in 24 innings against only three walks. Michael Feliz finished the game in a non-save situation and also struck out two, bringing his total to 35 in 25.2 innings. While Giles’ job is secure, it’s not out of the question to suggest he’s the fifth best reliever on the team, as I didn’t even mention Chris Devenski. The Astros are in first place for several reasons but their dominant bullpen has certainly been one of the major reasons why.
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
The Reds somewhat mysteriously tweeted yesterday that Lorenzen may see time in the outfield. FWIW
Oh also, Melancon has a full no-trade as do Posey, Bumgarner, Crawford and Pence. Samardzjia has a list of 21 teams he can’t be traded to. Going to be tough to trade any of those guys.
That’s a good point I forgot which probably cements Melancon keeping the ninth inning but he might be OK moving to a contender.