Bullpen Report: May 1, 2017

• Jeurys Familia has not given up many runs (1) since returning from suspension but he is not pitching too effectively either, having allowed six walks in five innings entering today. However, in the ninth this evening Familia pitched a scoreless frame giving up a hit and a double play to end the game. It wasn’t a particularly dominating performance but it’s always nice to see Familia not issue a free pass. On the season Familia now has ten strikeouts against six walks in six innings pitched. He’s very much the Mets closer but I wouldn’t release Addison Reed just yet either. This is mostly due to the fact Reed is quite good in his own right (18 strikeouts without a walk in 14 innings pitched) and also as some insurance in case Familia hits a rough patch. It goes without say that for those in Holds leagues, Reed remains a fairly elite option.

• We mentioned Alex Colome’s lack of whiffs in a few Bullpen Reports this year and although he threw a scoreless inning for his sixth save, he didn’t register a strikeout. In 13 innings pitched Colome has only eight strikeouts against five walks. Last year Colome had a strikeout percentage above 30% and this year it’s barely half of that. As we also said before, Colome is a good pitcher with a long and safe leash but it’s worth keeping tabs on his strikeout rate in the meantime.

• Raisel Iglesias threw 30 pitches yesterday and isn’t expected to pitch many back-to-back games (if any) so he was out of commission this evening for the Reds. In a one-run game in the eighth the Reds turned to Drew Storen who blew the lead after giving up a homer to Josh Harrison. Michael Lorenzen came on to throw a perfect ninth and tenth with three strikeouts and picked up a win in the process after Billy Hamilton had a walk-off hit on Daniel Hudson. Speaking of Hudson, he now supports a 9.28/4.99/4.89 ERA/FIP/xFIP pitching line and I’m putting Felipe Rivero ahead of him on the grid.

• Brad Brach threw a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the season, although he may not receive many more chances moving forward as Zach Britton is set to return soon. Ben Kaspick went over this last night and with Britton back the O’s should have a much more formidable bullpen. Brach and Britton is a particularly effective BB gun at the end of the game (apologies), and mixing and matching Darren O’Day, Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart in the earlier innings gives Buck a lot of options.

• I had previously noted Jacob Barnes as a low key saves sleeper in Milwaukee and it’s possible I spoke to soon as he’s struggled of late. On Friday Barnes allowed four baserunners and three runs while only recording one out. Tonight Barnes entered the game in the eighth and blew the lead allowing two runs, one off of a homer by Jedd Gyorko. Barnes still supports a fairly good 3.29/3.17/3.19 pitching line but he will have to shake off this rust to remain a saves sleeper. Their current closer, Neftali Feliz, allowed a homer to Jed Gyorko as well but otherwise held on for his seventh save. I suggested Barnes as a sleeper saves guy because Milwaukee has been known to trade their relief at the deadline and that could happen again this year. However, Feliz has also been pretty mediocre with a 6.27/6.45/4.55 pitching line after tonight’s outing that is supported by an unsustainable .167 BABIP. Feliz has been unlucky in other areas but he gives up a ton of fly balls with a 60% fly ball rate. Feliz still has a secure job but if he’s not killing any worms he will remain susceptible to a few bad outings via the home run which could change his hold on the job.

• Seung-Hwan Oh had put a rough start behind him putting up zeros in six consecutive outings but he gave up three unearned runs tonight in his second inning of work in the tenth. It’s hard to particularly blame Oh on unearned runs but he still allowed a three-run homer to Travis Shaw. Trevor Rosenthal and his new found control remain next in line in St. Louis but Oh will have to give up several more runs (earned or unearned) to lose this job as he’s still relatively safe.

• A few color changes: Hector Neris has obviously struggled of late and Philly has been somewhat noncommittal to him as closer so I’ve moved them to Red. Neris is still preferred over Benoit but Benoit can/will still be a presence in the ninth…until he’s traded at the deadline. Matt Bush‘s arm and Sam Dyson’s return kept Texas a yellowish green if you will but with Bush’s pitching indicating he’s healthy and Dyson continuing to be bad after coming off of the DL, it’s safe to say Texas is green now. To the surprise of no one, Fernando Rodney has been terrible and although no change has been announced, this situation is Red. JJ Hoover, Jorge De La Rosa an Archie Bradley could all see saves if a change is made. Although Bradley might be better utilized in the multi-inning role he has showed this year, I’m moving him as next in line for the time being.

Closer Grid:

	Closer	First	Second	DL/Minors
Arizona	Fernando Rodney	Archie Bradley	JJ Hoover
Atlanta	Jim Johnson	Arodys Vizcaino	Jose Ramirez	Mauricio Cabrera
Baltimore	Brad Brach	Darren O’Day	Mychal Givens	Zach Britton
Boston	Craig Kimbrel	Matt Barnes	Heath Hembree	Carson Smith
CHI (NL)	Wade Davis	Hector Rondon	Koji Uehara
CHI (AL)	David Robertson	Nate Jones	Tommy Kahnle
Cincy	Raisel Iglesias	Michael Lorenzen	Drew Storen
Cleveland	Cody Allen	Andrew Miller	Bryan Shaw
Colorado	Greg Holland	Adam Ottavino	Jake McGee	Mike Dunn
Detroit	Francisco Rodriguez	Justin Wilson	Shane Greene
Houston	Ken Giles	Luke Gregerson	Will Harris
KC	Kelvin Herrera	Joakim Soria	Peter Moylan
LAA	Bud Norris	Blake Parker	David Hernandez	Cam Bedrosian
LAD	Kenley Jansen	Pedro Baez	Luis Avilan
Miami	A.J. Ramos	Brad Ziegler	Kyle Barraclough
Milwaukee	Neftali Feliz	Corey Knebel	Jacob Barnes
Minnesota	Brandon Kintzler	Ryan Pressly	Matt Belisle	Glen Perkins
NY (NL)	Jeurys Familia	Addison Reed	Jerry Blevins
NY (AL)	Aroldis Chapman	Dellin Betances	Tyler Clippard
Oakland	Santiago Casilla	Sean Doolittle	Ryan Madson
Philly	Hector Neris	Joaquin Benoit	Jeanmar Gomez
Pittsburgh	Tony Watson	Felipe Rivero	Daniel Hudson
St. Louis	Seung Hwan Oh	Trevor Rosenthal	Kevin Siegrist
SD	Brandon Maurer	Ryan Buchter	Brad Hand	Carter Capps
SF	Mark Melancon	Hunter Strickland	Derek Law
Seattle	Edwin Diaz	Nick Vincent	Evan Scribner	Steve Cishek
TB	Alex Colome	Danny Farquhar	Austin Pruitt	Brad Boxberger
Texas	Matt Bush	Jeremy Jeffress	Jose Leclerc
Toronto	Roberto Osuna	Jason Grilli	Joe Biagini
Wash.	Shawn Kelley	Blake Treinen	Joe Blanton	Koda Glover

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]