Bullpen Report: May 13, 2018

The Orioles and Rays played a double-header on Saturday, and in Game 1 the Orioles gave the save opportunity to none other than long-time “LIMA” favorite Mychal Givens. He entered the game with one out and a man on first in the eighth inning, and proceeded to get Daniel Robertson to get under an 0-2 slider for a fly-out before allowing a single that Manny Machado could’ve made a play on.

With two-on and two out, Givens fired a 97 mph fastball to the inside-half of the plate on Brad Miller to get him to fly-out to Adam Jones on a fairly tough play. He came back out for the ninth, getting two quick outs on four pitches before going down 3-1 on Carlos Gomez. The end result was a groundball back at Givens for the final out. It was Givens first career save. Brad Brach did convert a save a day prior, and has tallied three-straight scoreless appearances with a 5/1 K:BB ratio since taking a loss on May 4th against the Athletics.

His struggles have been widely noted at this point and he’s allowed a baserunner in 13-of-16 appearances for the year – including the three appearances noted above. I won’t change this situation to a committee quite yet, but Givens could get a few opportunities until O’Day and/or Britton return. He’s currently sporting a 3.32 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 32% K. In Game 2 Alex Colome, Sergio Romo, and Jose Alvarado all received some work after not pitching a few days (Rays losing streak). They combined to go 3.2 hitless innings, striking out three and walking one. Colome failed to strike out a hitter for the second-straight appearance but he’s posted a clean outing in three-of-his-last-four.

Craig Kimbrel secured his 11th save of the season on Saturday after tossing a clean ninth inning against the Blue Jays. It only took him 10 pitches and he struck out the last two hitters on seven pitches to put an explanation point on it. He hasn’t walked a hitter since April 5th, but has seen a significant drop in F-Strike%, which could explain why he’s allowed a home run in three-of-his-last-nine appearances. His skills to this point remain elite and he’s started to ramp up his velocity recently as well (97 mph).

Matt Barnes wasn’t available because he had thrown for three-straight days heading into the game. Joe Kelly was called upon in the eighth inning and logged three strikeouts (all swinging) while allowing a two-out single to Kevin Pillar. On the opposite side, Seung-Hwan Oh and Ryan Tepera both received work. Oh came in with two outs in the seventh to retire Hanley Ramirez before pitching the entire eighth inning. He struck out both J.D. Martinez and Eduardo Nunez swinging while allowing one hit in a scoreless appearance.

Tepera notched three strikeouts in his inning of work, but yielded a two-out double to Mookie Betts followed by an RBI single from Andrew Benintendi en route to his fourth run allowed in his last five appearances. Tyler Clippard has received the lone save chance since Roberto Osuna’s absence, as well as a “closer appearance” on Thursday against the Red Sox in a tie game. Both he and Oh give up a ton of flyballs (63% Clippard, 48% Oh – both top-30 among RP) and own top-30 ERA’s among all RP (1.33 Clippard, 1.45 Oh). Clippard will likely continue to receive the bulk of the opportunities in the short-term, but if things go wrong Oh, Tepera, and to a lesser extent John Axford all present options for the role.

Ryan Madson converted a rare save opportunity on Saturday. He was able to strike out J.R. Murphy with one out and Ketel Marte on second base (fielding error) to help secure the victory. Sean Doolittle and Brandon Kintzler had both pitched back-to-back days, which left Madson and Shawn Kelly the chance to close things out on the back end against the Diamondbacks. A ton of fantasy owners are wondering when, not if, Doolittle will go on the shelf and leave the closing duties to one of Madson or Kintzler. Both have closing experience and similar output in K%, xFIP, and high-leverage situations this season. Our chart has Kintzler behind Doolittle at the moment, but I believe Madson could easily take this role if the opportunity presents itself. I’d advise owning both in deeper mixed formats.

Fernando Rodney converted his second save in as many days and his fifth in-a-row overall against the Angels on Saturday. The opportunity came in the 12th inning after Mitch Garver swatted an RBI double and Gregorio Petit drove him in as well in the top of the inning to give the Twins a two-run lead. Since April 26th against the Yankees (last blown save), Rodney has converted all of his opportunities spanning 7 IP. The strikeouts have been lacking (four) and he’s always going to walk people (five), but he’s getting ahead in counts (70% F-Strike) and inducing grounders (50%).

Addison Reed kept the Angels at bay in the eighth and ninth innings (tie game), giving up two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Reed is losing in xFIP to Rodney, but maintains a better K%, BB%, and ERA thus far. He’s the obvious choice to supplant Rodney if the wheels completely fall off at some point, but based on the Twins usage, they want to keep Zack Duke and Reed in the highest leverage situations. On the Angels side of things, Keynan Middleton was deployed in the top of the ninth inning – where a team’s closer would pitch – in a tie game. He kept the Twins off the scoreboard despite allowing a lead-off single to Eddie Rosario, getting Mitch Garver to fly out and Logan Morrison to strike out chasing.

Following the strikeout Eddie Rosario was caught stealing after over-shooting second base. He headed to third and was dead to rights. Middleton’s stuff and location were very good – he averaged about 96 mph and had good bite on his breaker. Justin Anderson and Jim Johnson were both absent from the game as the latter had already seen the Twins twice in as many days. Anderson has allowed three runs in two of-his-last three appearances, so he’ll probably be in less-stressful spots for the foreseeable future. With Middleton pitching where he did, I’ve moved him into the closer spot on our chart.

Quick Hits:
Felipe Vazquez snagged a win after holding a tie game in the eighth inning against the Giants and closing it out in the ninth following the Pirates taking the lead. He struck out one and walked one in his 1.2 IP.

With two on and no one out in the ninth inning of a four-run game, Brandon Morrow was summoned to close things out. He escaped without giving up a hit, striking out two and walking one on his way to his ninth save.

Aroldis Chapman walked three hitters in the ninth inning of a tie game against the Athletics but was able to escape the jam unscathed. It was the first time he had walked a hitter in five appearances. He didn’t factor in the decision.

A.J. Minter, Arodys Vizaino, and Dan Winkler all made appearances on Saturday against the Marlins. Minter’s was in the seventh while the game was still tied—he walked a hitter and induced a ground out to get out of the inning. Winkler hurled a scoreless eighth — allowing a double and inducing two ground outs. Vizcaino appeared in the ninth after the Braves tacked on two runs in the top of the inning, getting three-straight outs including one strikeout.

Cody Allen made his first appearance since allowing three runs against the Yankees on May 6th — striking out two Royals in a clean inning. It was a non-save situation.

Filling in for Raisel Iglesias, Jared Hughes got five outs (four on the ground) en route to his first save of the season. It’s looking like he’d be the closer if something were to happen to Iglesias himself.

Blake Treinen struck out one in a non-save situation against the Yankees on Saturday. He didn’t allow a baserunner.

Bud Norris, Jordan Hicks, and Greg Holland allowed a combined one hit with two walks and four strikeouts over three innings of a tie game against the Padres. Norris came in during the ninth inning – continuing to show that he’s the pitcher to own in St. Louis.

Shane Greene converted a very erratic save chance in Game 1 of a double-header against the Mariners. He allowed a hit and walked two but was able to escape the bases-loaded, two-out jam en route to his eighth save.

Brad Hand allowed one baserunner in his two innings of work (ninth and tenth), striking out two.

Wade Davis came back from a blown save against the Brewers on Thursday to post a zero in a non-save situation. He allowed a lead-off single but retired the next three in order to end things (two strikeouts). Adam Ottavino struck out two in a clean eighth inning. He’s the clear handcuff to Davis.