Bullpen Report: June 9, 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

•Daniel Bard, COL: Back-to-back days; 14 pitches on Wednesday. | RosterResource

Tyler Kinley and Alex Colomé have also pitched back-to-back days. Considering that neither Bard, Kinley, nor Colomé threw a lot of pitches in their Tuesday and Wednesday appearances and the Rockies aren’t likely to go into Thursday’s finale against the Giants without their three best relievers, I’d assume that all will be available again.

•Scott Barlow, KCR: 27 pitches on Wednesday. | RosterResource

Josh Staumont (only 17 pitches on Wednesday) is a likely candidate for a save chance on Thursday if Barlow isn’t available.

 

Outlier Saves

•Daniel Hudson, LAD | RosterResource

With Craig Kimbrel unavailable for at least the first two games of the series against the White Sox — he was placed on the Paternity list on Tuesday and will return on Thursday or Friday — it was Hudson getting the save chance against his and Kimbrel’s former team. The 35-year-old pitched a scoreless ninth to close out a 4-1 win and pick up his 5th save.

Hudson has probably been the team’s most valuable relief pitcher with Blake Treinen injured and Kimbrel struggling over the past few weeks. He’ll remain next in line for save chances, but a reminder that Kimbrel recently had to take a few days off to work on his mechanics. Any more setbacks and Hudson could take his spot.

 

Committee Clarity

•Matt Strahm, BOS | RosterResource

The Red Sox have won 20 of their last 28 games, including seven victories in a row, and their bullpen is a big reason why. No, Matt Barnes hasn’t returned to his pre-contract extension form — he had a 2.68 ERA, 19 saves, and 15.1 K/9 when he signed a two-year, $18.75MM contract last July — and Garrett Whitlock hasn’t returned from the starting rotation to become the savior of the bullpen. Barnes has been on the Injured List since May 31 due to shoulder inflammation and Whitlock recently made his ninth start of the season.

Winning so often has given their current group of relievers plenty of opportunities to prove that they can hold a lead. And just about everyone is getting the job done. In fact, they’ve gone from not being able to trust anyone with a save chance to feeling pretty confident when handing a lead of 1, 2, or 3 runs over to any of Tanner Houck, John Schreiber, Jake Diekman, or Strahm, who saved his second game in two days on Wednesday.

After Schreiber pitched a scoreless eighth and retired the first batter in the ninth inning, the 30-year-old Strahm came in to record the last two outs and close out the team’s 1-0 victory over the Angels. It was the lefty’s team-leading 3rd save of the season.

While it’s not out of the question that Strahm can become the Red Sox’s primary closer, this feels more like a committee. And with Hansel Robles due back from the Injured List very soon and a decent chance that Whitlock does return to the bullpen at some point — possibly once Chris Sale is finally healthy — they’ll likely continue to define it as a committee with several good options available on any given day.

•Diego Castillo, SEA | RosterResource

After a strong April, things quickly went bad for the Mariners and Castillo. Between Castillo’s 10th appearance of the season on April 30 and his 17th appearance on May 23, the Mariners lost 15 of 21 games while Castillo allowed 11 earned runs over 3.1 innings. Of course, there were plenty of bad performances to go around, but an unreliable Castillo would make it difficult on a team that plays so many close games.

Castillo’s outing on May 23, in which he struck out all three batters he faced, was officially the day he turned things around. Same for the Mariners, who have won 9 of 15 games since, while the 28-year-old Castillo has been nearly un-hittable. After striking out the side to close out a 6-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday to pick up his 5th save, he has now pitched eight consecutive scoreless innings with only one hit and one walk allowed to go along with 14 strikeouts.

It’s pretty clearly a co-closer situation with Paul Sewald and Castillo, allowing the 23-year-old Andres Muñoz to continue pitching in non-save situations and ensuring that Ken Giles can be eased back into a late-inning role once he returns from the Injured List. He’s currently on a rehab assignment and will likely return by the end of the month. Erik Swanson could also be back within the next week.

 

Losing A Grip

•None

 

 

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.