Bullpen Report: May 1, 2015
Brad Boxberger struck out the side and collected his sixth save on the season for the Rays. He did it in a rather interesting fashion, with eight of his nineteen pitches being curveballs. According to Brooks Baseball, he’s only thrown the curve 3.33% of the time this season. He only threw the change once on Friday, after having used it over 40% of the time up to this point. Three weapons for Boxberger just isn’t fair.
Cody Allen pitched an inning in a non-save situation, giving up a hit and striking out one Blue Jay. His velocity was right in line with where he’s been at all season, as he continues to try to right the ship and get his ERA back down into single digits.
Jeurys Familia dominated the Nationals, throwing 16 of 19 pitches for strikes and getting two of his five outs via the strikeout. A five-out save! He threw eight sliders and generated four whiffs with the pitch. He has ten saves for the surprising Metropolitans. He comes at you with a 99 mph sinker and then gets you with a 90 mph slider. Good luck with that batters.
Jason Grilli bounced back from a shaky outing against the Nationals with a relatively clean ninth to nail down a one-run lead against the Reds. He gave up a hit and struck out one. This is good news for Braves fans in a week that was full of the kind of news that isn’t good. Jim Johnson pitched a perfect eighth for the hold.
Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller both kept their ERAs at a perfect 0.00, with Betances picking up his sixth hold, and Miller his ninth save. Why couldn’t Joe Girardi have just said in March that he was going to go with Miller? Who cares if he wasn’t sure? Just make a decision and stick with it. You’re a leader of men, your team looks to you for clarity and direction. So do we Joe, so do we. Miller sits fourth among relievers with a ridiculous 37.0% K-BB%. Betances is behind fellow pen-mate Chris Martin(24.4%) with a strong 24.1%. If he could rein in the BB% a bit, that gap would widen, as he sits seventh in the majors with a 38.9% K%.
Steve Cishek picked up the win, pitching a scoreless ninth. If you look a little deeper, there’s still some cause for concern with him. His velocity is still down almost three ticks across the board. Of the 24 pitches he threw last night, only two were offered at and missed. Since he didn’t get a single strikeout last night, he still has fewer strikeouts than earned runs allowed. Ken Giles was allowed to stay in to pitch the bottom of the ninth after throwing 14 pitches in the eighth. After walking Giancarlo Stanton to lead off the inning, Giles gave up a walk-off double to Marcell Ozuna on an 86 mph slider that didn’t do much except get laced into the gap.
Tyler Clippard notched his second save of the year for the A’s, but the interesting story in this one is on the Texas side of the diamond. Neftali Feliz came on with two outs in the eighth, with the Rangers having given up four runs already, but still nursing a one-run lead. He gave up a double. Then a single. He escaped further damage when Mark Canha was caught stealing to end the frame. How many more missteps will be allowed by a guy with an ERA of 5.79 and a paltry 8.7% K-BB%? Next in line is Keone Kela, and is he really that much of an upgrade, or more of a cosmetic change? His 8.2% K-BB% isn’t any better, and his 4.50 xFIP is just a shade more palatable than the 4.84 that Feliz is sporting. Neither are really any good. The Rangers bullpen is one of many reasons that the Rangers are last both alphabetically and in wins in the AL West.
The Astros eighth straight win was completed with the usual Pat Neshek–Chad Qualls–Luke Gregerson trio. Gregerson pitched to an ERA of 18.00 and got the sexy stat, while the other two didn’t allow a run. Nothing seemed amiss with his velocity. He probably just knew that he had a three-run lead and it would be okay to give up a couple runs and they’d still win? Nelson Cruz absolutely murdered his first pitch of the inning 469 feet off the train, and Logan Morrison jerked a pitch outside at the knees over the fence in right. Gregerson is fine.
Of Note: Pedro Strop hasn’t allowed a hit in weeks, and mowed down the Brewers in the eighth, allowing Hector Rondon to pick up his fifth save in the ninth. Greg Holland’s pectoral will throw a simulated game on Saturday. It’s believed the rest of his body will also be in attendance. Pay attention to this if you need to set your lineups before games on Monday, because he could well be activated and be available for the bulk of the week. Wade Davis earned his fifth save in his stead. Glen Perkins added save number seven to his totals on Friday. Santiago Casilla got his third win, after blowing the save in the eighth when he gave up a sacrifice fly. So he got an out and blew a save.
Closer Grid:
[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]
Darren contributes to RotoGraphs when he isn’t watching the Braves or shoveling snow. Follow him on Twitter @shinesie.
Casilla’s save was blown because Pagan couldn’t get the ball out of his glove and a good grip. Had he done so, he was well shallow enough to throw Aybar out at the plate. This one lies on Pagan, no doubt!