Bullpen Report: May 13, 2016

So the Phillies bullpen is becoming a strength after a rough start, as Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez were perfect in the 8th and 9th, each striking out one. Neris continues to impress by not allowing a run in 17 of his 20 appearances, posting a 1.64 ERA (3.32 FIP). The FIP is high probably because of the 3 home runs he has given up, but outside of that he has looked very strong and also earned his ninth hold of the year for those of you counting. Gomez has also been such a pleasant surprise, despite really only a slight uptick in both his K/9 and K%. The ERA is down from last year (3.01 to 2.61), but the FIP has gone up (3.25 to 3.63). Still has been an excellent closer so far, but the question is how long will this last?

Matt Bush has been called up by the Rangers and pitched well in his first appearance, going 1-2-3 through the heart of the Toronto Blue Jays line-up, striking out Josh Donaldson to start the top of the 9th. According to MLB.com’s Gameday, he topped out at 97 mph. Matthew Kory wrote about Matt Bush touching 100 mph, and he’s been pitching well in AA. Granted the jump from AA to the MLB is large, he struck out 18 over 17 innings, walking only four with a 2.65 ERA (3.58 FIP). We’re not sure where he fits in terms of leverage just yet, but he is certainly worth monitoring.

Trevor May blew his second save of the year giving up 3 in the 8th. The 33.3 K% is very enticing, but those walks are a little high at 9.9%. Still surprised to see he has only one hold, but I guess holds are tough to come by when you are on an eight game losing streak. On the Indians end, Bryan Shaw struggled giving up a home run Eduardo Nunez and loading the bases after an intentional walk. Zach McAllister came into the jam and struck out the only two batters he faced. Wouldn’t say Shaw loses his status as next in line just yet, since he had not given up a run since April 24th. The 6.00 ERA is a bit scary, but that is more of the result of two miserable outings earlier in the year where he gave up a total of 9 runs 1.1 innings. Other than that, he has the better K% than McAllister and their FIP’s are not as far off as you would think considering the disparity in their ERA (4.07 for McAllister, 4.43 for Shaw).

Quick notes: Will Harris struck out 3 of the four Boston batters he faced tonight, pitching in the 8th instead of Ken Giles. Wouldn’t look too much into that as Giles came into a higher leverage situation in the 7th when the tying run was on second, which he got out of. After what seemed like forever, Ryan Madson earned his 9th save, as he and Sean Doolittle held down the 8th and 9th without giving up a run. Jake McGee had a perfect inning to earn his 10th save.

Closer Grid:

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